QUACY Stephan Coates, known as ‘DJ Avalanche’, is currently pursuing a career in music and is diligently working on taking it to the next level. In fact, HJTV Music Awards recently recognised his ‘She Ready’ as the Best Groovy Soca Song for 2015.

According to him, this song, which he sang in the Carib Soca Monarch for 2015, created quite a buzz locally and overseas as well.

Coates, 28, was born and raised in Georgetown to Jacqueline Cates and Brian Boyce and has five siblings. He is currently the music coordinator for the National Communications Network (NCN) which entails sourcing all the music for the company and censoring them to ensure they are clean before they hit the air.

Coates is also in charge of some of NCN programmes in the sense of monitoring what reaches the public. “It’s an important job because if anything bad goes out there, I am the first one they would call,” he explained in an interview.
He has been working with NCN for the past five years, four of which he spent in the newsroom as a cameraman. Presently, he is based in radio as the music coordinator.

SINGING

Coates is also a recording artiste and a DJ for the past 14 years. He participated in this year’s Carib Soca Monarch and was placed in the top ten finalists. This is actually his second time in the competition, and on both occasions, he made it in the top 10. “I’m looking forward to going again next year,” he said.
Interestingly, he has also participated in the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited’s (GT&T) Jingle and Song Competition in 2007 and 2009 where he was also placed in the top 10 on both occasions. He likes soca, reggae, and dancehall music.
Coates explained that growing up, he wanted to become a drummer. “Music was always in my thoughts growing up. So that’s why I am trying to pursue a career in music and maybe that’s why I am a DJ as well because music is something I always wanted to do since I was a little boy. I used to be singing; any little tin cup I get I hit on it just to make a rhythm or something,” he recalled.
Presently, he is the DJ of ‘Morning Mayhem’ on 98.1 FM every day from 6 to 11 am and of ‘Late Night Vibes’ on Friday night from10 to 12pm. He also does parties, Bar-B-Ques, weddings, etc. (He can be contacted on telephone number 641-9800).
“I didn’t get a chance to learn to play the drums but I started singing at about age 11 and started recording at the age of 18 with my first song. I came from a long line of singers including a cousin, my grandfather, a few aunts.”
Though accepting that he is not at the point in his career where he wants to be, Coates said he is confident that he will soon reach there. “I give myself roughly five years to get there. Once I put my mind and heart towards it I know I can do. I don’t view just view music as a hobby but as a business as well. If you want to break into the market out there you have to be competitive and keep bringing good stuff to the table. I won’t say I will reach at the point where I want to be in five years but I will be in a better position than where I am right now.”
Currently, Coates said he is recording with DP (Darrell Pugsley) Records who is his producer. “I see myself recording a lot of songs in the future, like I said break into the market and get that hit song out there.”

More local support needed

Coates finds the music industry in Guyana to be a challenge in his path to success. “I think Guyanese in general need to support their own some more. The support is there but a lot of people don’t support in the way that they should support,” he offered.

He said the various radio stations ought to be playing more Guyanese music as well. “They don’t have to stop playing the foreign music but pay some more attention to local artistes. If you look at Trinidad and Jamaica where the artistes make a living off of music, they embrace their artistes to the fullest and they show them that support. At the end of the day, you still have to go into the studio and pay for your studio time. So it’s something that is very costly. We need financial support but we also need people to embrace us some more. I think we could do better,” he said.

Coates finds artistes such as ‘Natural Black’ and Eddie Grant to be very inspiring to him.
He believes that goals can be achieved if only people remain positive and focused. “In life, there are always challenges and no one can face your challenge for you. If you don’t step up and put your game into everything you do, you will always be conquered by your challenges. Stay focused, put your best foot forward at all times and keep believing because if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody will believe in you,” he advised.

Coates is soon to be married to Faresa Aluddin and they have a son, Aiden.

 
By Telesha Ramnarine