MICKAEL GUIRAND is the lead singer of popular HMI group CARIMI.

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KM: How does a successful group stay hungry in the HMI without slipping up?

MICKAEL: “Hey pat,

So many sources of motivation Pat, this is a hard one… We are competitors by nature but the hard task is to keep going at it without letting go, The “mode lage” phenomenon…

A very important aspect of the business that we have come to respect is to never forget that everything starts with the music… Success, money, recognition, girls, traveling, awards and more… Music is the connection that we have with our fans and its quality will determine everything else…

Staying hungry in the HMI may also come from a combination of things like the true love of music, the evolution of the market, the competition(what the other top bands are doing), the critics, opportunities presented to us for new markets, an upcoming big event, also the excitement of working with new artists,… It’s the understanding that something may make the band so much better and the sweet reward of accomplishing the task… As a successful band, we find motivation in every little things that we find throughout the year… I know that right now our motivation is at peek for Carnaval season and also for the upcoming album…

ALso I strongly think that every band has one member that they always qualify as a malade… never satisfied, always looking for something else, something different… He is the heart of the band and drives every other members crazy… It’s really hard to have a group and keep everyone focus at all times, so many other things going on in our lives, and still give a 150 percent every gigg, every week end…

I think that every band has their formula, every musician has their own personal goal that they are trying to achieve… it’s hard to determine a specific reason but all that I know is that it’s there, and without it we would just cease to be who we are, and who the fans have come to expect us to be…”

Bands in Boston, Montreal, France, and other HMI spots, have failed to crack the HMI market in a SERIOUS MANNER TO STAY.

We asked NU LOOK maestro ARLY LARIVIERE his thoughts on that. This is what he told Kompa Magazine.

ARLY: “I DON’T THINK SO AT ALL. It’s all about PRODUCTION. It has nothing to do with the city, country, or state where a band is based. There was a time, only N.Y bands such as PHANTOMS, ZIN, SYSTEM BAND that used to be popular. TOP VICE for so many years, was the only FLORIDA band that was traveling outside of Florida to go play elsewhere. DZINE got their foot in the door for the N.Y market, only because a personal friend of the group PIERROT JOACHIN, made the group come to N.Y and perform at a special event, which in turn produced the famous MAD DOG “Live’ that gave the group it’s popularity.”

ARLY continues “I think it’s about PRODUCTION and “VOLONTE”. People from these other states, if they want to have a band to make it big in the HMI, they have to have confidence in their product. It’s all about PRODUCTION. If a product is good, the public is NOT going to care what state or city that the group that did the song came from.”

Thanks ARLY.

KM: How does a group keep themselves grounded or down to earth after becoming popular? We are all human, and there are bound to be times or opportunities when the group or some members in the group get their egos inflated by all that success.

ROBERTO MARTINO: What’s up bro..I know that it exists where some people let it get to their heads when they reach some kind of success and i think it has alot to do with the understanding of the business…

Growing up, we were always in the limelight with My dad being very popular! My family was always into music so therefore we were used to the environment. Since we were really young, we were used to being around musicians and hanging out in clubs, sleeping behind Top Vice stage in Miami. When we used to come for vacation here in Miami, my dad would drag us to every bal from Thursday until Sunday and we were passionate about it.

We would sometimes play a song at halftime were people used to just be amazed lol.. IN this business you always have to prove yourself over and over again to stay on top of the game and having a big head will never help. You need to stay focused and understand that it’s a business just like any other.