Randay: “Born To Make Music”

When asked how his breakfast was as we began our talk from his home in Brossard, Qc., Randay shared with me that he had had eggs for breakfast and had scotch bonnet peppers from the Caribbean with them to give them a little zip. Then he began to laugh.
The Montreal born singer whose parents hail from Debe, in south Trinidad draws much from the musical legacy of the island.
The electro/dance/disco/house singer born Randy Roopnarine was a fan of all the great soca singers from Trinidad as well as Bajan stars like Rupee and Alison Hinds.
“Soca influenced me and my style,” says the Indo-Trinidadian who also pointed to the island’s Chutney style which combined traditional East Indian music with calypso and other styles in the West Indies.
“Chutney music is absolutely beautiful and allowed me to explore my international side and I think it’s important to represent your roots.”
But the dance music crooner pointed to disco as having the biggest influence on what he does: “I think disco was one of my favourite styles growing up since I was a kid. My parents played all that stuff. I was a fan of Donna Summer, Cheryl Lynn. I loved The Bee Gees, They were really good. I loved ABBA”
Randay began singing in the school choir in grade six. He also began writing lyrics for future songs that impressed a supporting music teacher who began collaborating with the young crooner.
The two soon began creating demos together with Randay’s music teacher accompanying him on guitar. His love for music continued into high school where he continued singing in the choir until he graduated when he left music to pursue a modeling career attempting to trying something different.
But music came calling again and it’s a good thing that it did.
He’s currently charting on Quebec’s ADISQ charts with his mid-tempo dance single “What I Gotta Do” on Montreal’s La Chapelle Records. “What I Gotta Do” is currently sitting at #19 on the province’s top 100 charts of Quebec releases.
La Chapelle is a wonderful home for Randay’s records as it’s been one of Montreal’s premier labels for disco, house and EDM with releases from local artists like Phoenix Lord and Amelie Paul as well as international veterans like Carol Jiani and Robin S.
He’s currently working on an e.p. set for release tentatively set before the end of 2021 or possibly early 2022.
“My first album was called “Renaissance” and was released back in 2015. It was an independent release. It was more in the style of EDM, pop. Now with a whole new lot of changes happening, this e.p. is going to be a little more pop, dance.
When pressed about how he felt about the recent positive reaction to “What I Gotta Do,” he was almost in disbelief.
“It’s really insane actually. I don’t even know what’s happening,” he said chuckling embarrassingly.
“I had not expected any of this. I just woke up this morning with news from my manager that the song (“What I Gotta Do”) moved up to number 19”(on the Quebec charts.)
“It’s crazy, every week that goes by to hear this is crazy. We’re in the top 20 of the top 100 and we just wrapped up a music video.”
His fan base, affectionately known as “The Electrolytes” are dear to him and he says he works almost exclusively for them in his creative endeavors.
“I have some new tracks for The Electrolytes are my fans and I love them. They’ve been there with me since the beginning. They’ve seen my downfall. They’ve seen my accomplishments but one thing they never did was give up on me. Then just to see the (artistic and professional) evolution was like wow! They’re like you done this and you’ve made it so far. It just gives me so much life and energy. It just makes me so happy to see them!”
“What I Gotta Do” is currently available as a single on all streaming platforms.