– 2018 Carib Soca Monarch Brandon Harding

HE ROSE to prominence in 2011, winning the GTT Jingle and Song Competition and drove off with a brand new Toyota IST. It was clear from then on, that Brandon Harding was destined for great things.

Fast forward seven years later (2018), he returned to Guyana (from St Lucia) to easily take the coveted Carib Soca Monarch title and the competition’s $1.2M first-place prize.

Harding’s track, “Alive”, an infectious and euphonious song that speaks about positivity and rising above challenges, is currently the most rotated song during Guyana’s celebration of Republic Day/Mashramani.

“It feels good to know that I get to accomplish something as an artiste, especially coming out of Linden. It also feels really good to be in the same mention with ‘Jomo’ and ‘Adrian’ (Dutchin); those guys I always wanted to be like and I look up to them,” Harding told the Pepperpot Magazine in an exclusive interview.

The 23-year-old who hails from Coomacka, a predominantly Amerindian Village in Linden, believes that his win at the Carib Soca Monarch was by no mistake, since he has been riding a wave of success while living in St Lucia.

“I’m two-time ‘Soca Switch’ champion (2016, 2017) and the Piton Soca Starz champion (2015) in St Lucia. I entered the St Lucian Soca Monarch a couple times as well, but I never won,” Harding said. “So when people see me here, I want them to understand that I am proof to youths that you can make a living off music coming from Guyana because music is all I do and it’s how I take care of my two children.”

Brandon’s success story comes with its fair share of struggles, as the Lindener explained, “Coming from Guyana alone is a fight-down so I really use to be sidelined a lot. The good thing is that I never stopped working and pushing hard.”

“I learned to understand that not everyone will like you, and that’s one of my biggest challenges in life and more so in music; dealing with someone. It has helped me to get here, [to] winning the Soca Monarch and it will help me further,” said Harding.

Asked about what this present success does for him, Brandon told the Pepperpot Magazine, “It gives me a sense of pride. I didn’t do any promotion for the song and people started playing it. The song I won the Monarch with has been out since last December, but it never played in Guyana. So thanks to the Carib Soca Monarch, people heard it and fell in love with it.”

“Winning the Soca Monarch also makes me a little more marketable and also forces me to work harder,” he said. “However, it doesn’t change who Brandon is right now, which is a humble man. People in Guyana probably still see me as the little boy that won the jingle competition years ago, but I’ve grown so much since then and fell deeper in love with music. I take my craft way more serious now.”

He added that “Based on the success of my entry in the Carib Soca Monarch and the feedback, certainly I will be trying my best to have plenty of my music reach Guyana. I want to thank everyone here (in Guyana) for being very receptive to my new music and I promise that I will continue to do Guyana proud.”

Harding, who sings with the DYP Band, plans to enter the St Lucia Soca Monarch this year where he will be hoping to better his previous showing in the competition.

“I always represent Guyana wherever I go, so in St Lucia, like I always do, I will be flying that Golden Arrowhead in that competition,” said Harding.