I guess you can say, when you come from a musical background, music is hereditary. Well in the case of Show Time band member and B.V.I super producer Alton Bertie, music isn’t only in the genes, it’s in the blood. With music theory being a part of the standard B.V.I primary school curriculum Alton (like most of us) had no choice but to study it, but when Alton graduated to high school he took up playing the Saxophone as an elective. It was during this time that Alton was introduced to the classical style of play. Alton would soon move on to jazz which he instantly fell in love with. When asked about his love of jazz, he replied, “Once you can play Jazz you can play anything, everything else becomes easy.” Like anyone who aims to be the best at their craft, Alton played his Saxophone for countless hours. On school breaks and vacations, Alton would play his instrument for ten hours a day, a tradition he continued on to college. You may be thinking all work and no play must make Alton a very dull boy but Alton says, “I was active growing up, playing sports like basketball and baseball. I was even on the national soccer team but eventually the music took over.”

While in Berklee College of music in Boston Alton had the opportunity to be a part of various bands and take part in various “jam sessions” (sort of like free style ciphers in rap). Alton says, “I’m very grateful to have attended Berkley because it made me the musician I am today. During my time there, I had the opportunity to play and connect with some very popular and talented musicians such as Joshua Redman, Sunny Smith (St. Thomas song) and Andre Haywood (plays Trombone for Winston Marcellis).” When asked about his transition from playing in jazz bands to playing calypso for Show Time band (currently the B.V.I road march champions) Alton had this to say. “Jazz is the foundation for me but soca is my culture so the transition was easy, now as far as production and beat making go, I listened to instruments and what each player is doing and I am versatile on many instruments: I play bass, drums, saxophone, horns and keyboard. Therefore, when it comes to making beats I just transcribe all of that stuff from me actually playing the instrument. I know the different elements for each instrument. Me personally I do not do ‘Sampling’ (an aspect of music production where the composer takes pieces of an existing beat or vocal and uses it as a part of his or her own production). I feel sampling kills creativity. I feel people need to dig deep within them to find creativity because anyone can sample and just put a beat behind of it but it takes someone who actually knows what they are doing to create something from scratch and that what makes the “ABX experience 100% organic naturally. I do not consider genres when I sit down to make tracks but I can make them all: R & B, soca, reggae, dancehall rap, I can do it all.”