London

The arranger instructs via his bluetooth headset... not really

Outside of Panorama, however, it seems the unstoppable rise of the sound system is squeezing steelpan out of the Carnival proper. Although the bands are still included in the Carnival line up, they are given low priority when it comes to getting them out among the crowds, which some see as a portent of things to come as Carnival continues to chase the tourist coin.‘Everything revolve around the sound system, the DJ, the masqueraders or whatever,’ says Anise ‘You have Carnival in Brazil, Germany, all over the place. What made our Carnival different was the fact we have steelband. And that real root, what made Carnival a unique thing, has been lost.’

Stewards routinely place steelbands as buffers between floats laden with speaker stacks, and while steel drums aren’t exactly quiet, they’re still an acoustic instrument (the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th Century, fact fans), and as such no match for the kilowattage of your average flatbed-mounted DJ rig. Feature continues

‘You have all these stewards, and they come from a backroad, they don’t have a clue how this thing was started, no one ever briefed them on what was what.’ Says Anise ‘So a steelband comes down the road, and it’s like “Just stop! What you doing in the road?’”, and we’re like “Because if we didn’t start this shit you wouldn’t be standing here in the first place!” Personally, I’ve been disillusioned, you know.’But it’s not just Carnival itself which seems to be nudging steelpan toward the sidelines. Since the lease on their longstanding home in Ladbroke Grove came up eighteen months ago, Ebony have forced to move their rehearsal space five times, and are yet to find a stable new address. They’re currently using a school classroom in White City, but that too is seen as a temporary arrangement.

See? Like a metronome: the others watch him

‘Something is going on, I don’t know what it is, y’know,’ says Anise ruefully ‘but recently steelband is being pushed out of the whole Notting Hill area. You’re taking youngsters off the streets and getting them involved in something they can identify with, and then you get pushed away. I don’t think people in the community realise how important this is. A lot of youngsters out here find a means, an avenue – they discover they had a talent for something. But for some reason, bit by bit every year steel bands just getting edged out more and more. And I don’t understand, because they’re providing something for the yout’ to keep them off the streets and outta mischief. Last year we had to move places twice – those people who get involved, get disillusioned. They see us getting shut down and think nobody cares. They’re gonna end up on the streets, getting into mischief, idle, doing nothing, because there’s nowhere to come.’