He's one of the most persevering musical performers, but the man called Ras Indio has enjoyed very limited success in Belize. That's why he took his quest for recognition and fame took to the 5th annual Shambala Fest in Canada. He stopped by our studios to say that while there he simply got mad love.
Alfonso Noble Reporting
Ras Indio
"Anybody knows where Belize is?"
Crowd
Yeah!, Yeah! (Shouting)
That's Ras Indio at the Shambala Fest held in Vancouver Canada and while it might seem strange to be asking that question, for Indio it wasn't because he was the only Belizean artist at the fest. For this artist who's been around cutting record after record, the Canada tour was simply amazing especially because he went out on his own.
Ras Indio - Artist
“The Shambala festival was the most amazing festival ever I’ve been in my life. I’ve been around the world with my father. We’ve been to Europe. We’ve been to parts of the U.S. I’ve been through Mexico but this trip to Canada open up my eye and made me realize that you have some really loving people out there.”
“It was a beautiful experience. Just like I said over there you know. It was a blessing to be over there first of all. And the response from the people, it's like a saying that they say: 'the prophet is never recognized in his own hometown.' That's what it felt like because when I get out there everybody's hands just gets up there... you know what I mean.”
And for Indio who's had his taste of stardom the experience has become somewhat like a booster, after all he's been around for some time now with limited success.
Ras Indio
“I don't believe that it's people that are not supporting. It's not our general public. It's the people in promotions who are not giving us the respect as artists to put us on shows, give us the spotlight, you know what I mean. Like people just don't want us there. Certain individuals who just don't want to help us with that.”
Despite those “certain individuals”, Indio now says that he can look past them an concentrate on the outside, outside of Belize that is, where he feels that the potential for his music is great.
Ras Indio
“It just open up my eyes to make me realize that there is a whole other world out there to make this music reach you know. I mean this message, this music Push up the Fire, that I am bringing to the people. There is a whole world out there it's not only Belize.”
“This music here is going to go far if I can get out there. Next year I plan to go back definitely and be on the Shambala Fest again and you know from being in the Shambala fest I ended up doing three other shows.”
“It makes me feel that I've been putting in for the past 4,5,6,7,8 years cause that's how long I've been doing this is starting to pay off. and I still have a lot more work to do. It's only the beginning, it's only the beginning and it builds up a lot of spirit in me.”
And that's good for this artist especially after this Shambala experience re-ignited his drive to keep on trying.
Indio says he plans to return to the fest next year