SHERISSE Collymore has been in love with music since she was a child. She would gape in sheer glee at musicals like The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz on TV, hoping that someday, she, too, could become a singer. Now 30, having dabbled in calypso, soca and other genres, the lead female vocalist of Temperature the Band said her love for music remains paramount.

Collymore told WMN teachers at her primary school, St Peter’s Private Primary School in Gasparillo, recognised her interest in music since “nursery days.”

“I was only three years old and I must say kudos to them,” she said.

Barely being able to enunciate and pronounce words properly then, she joked that she gave the performance of a lifetime singing a parang tune at a school event.

“It was called Ay Ay Maria…I was as brave as can be on stage singing,” she said, laughing.

She said the school also did a lot of plays and musicals, which led to her interest in theatre.

“And I was so happy, because all I wanted to do was just sing.”

Kaiso kaiso

She recalled watching Calypso Monarch on TV with her mother as being a life-changing moment. It was then her interest in kaiso was born.

“It was the semifinals at Skinner Park and I saw Karene Asche and Kizzie Ruiz on stage. I told my mom (Ermine Collymore), ‘Mommy! Mommy! I could do that! I want to do that!’ She said, ‘Are you sure?’ and I said, ‘Yes, Mommy, I want to sing kaiso.’”

Her mother then liaised with songwriters and her kaiso journey began.

“I was competing all over TT. Sometimes I would go as far as Toco and Valencia, and I really enjoyed doing it.”

[caption id="attachment_1132243" align="alignnone" width="683" height="1024" alt=""] Sherisse Collymore is the lead female vocalist of Temperature the Band. - Photo by David Allen[/caption]

She would also write some of her own songs.

“I think that’s when I realised I have a little competitive streak in me.”

She also thanked her mother for not pressuring her, which she found common with child singers back then.

“I'm so happy for that, because if I told her, ‘Mommy, I don't want to sing this, I don't want to go here, I'm good,’ she wouldn’t force me."

She continued music at Gasparillo Secondary School, went on to win Miss Sanfest in 2009, and placed third in Junior Calypso Monarch in 2012.

She said back then, she actually wanted to become a journalist or communications professional.

“My mother knew I loved music, but she wanted me to also do something I could just fall back on in case it didn’t work out. And she wasn’t one of those parents who (force careers) on to their child, either.”

Transition to soca

When Collymore realised COSTAATT (College of Science Technology and Applied Arts TT) had programmes in music, she pitched the idea to her mother, saying: "If music doesn’t work out for me, I could always become a (music) teacher."

She has an associate degree in music and is working on completing her bachelor’s.

She said it was at COSTAATT that she met two Kyles who, unbeknown to her, would help kickstart her soca c