A team win

Kevin Small credits his three back-to-back wins to his small, close-knit team of family members.

On Kadooment night, the bandleader was named Designer of the Year. He also won in 2017 and 2018. He was surrounded by members of his team when he spoke to Bajan Vibes.

“My team, we are always very humble about it and we will remain humble because we know what it takes to get where we are. We are actually here sitting; we just finish unpack our trucks and got back to the band house and being greeted with this news – we know the night is yet young… We are very happy about it, the stars do align and this proves that Kevin Small and Fifth Element, we’re not a one-hit wonder. We are here to stay…”

The 27-year-old said this victory is especially meaningful given his journey.

“For me, it is always an overwhelming experience because at the end of the day, I know what tough times I would have gone through as bandleader and in turn, my team would have gone through in terms of production and trying to meet deadlines and so on. My team is super involved in this process from beginning to end…”

The trained and certified chef said he always had his sights set on a hat trick.

“I think each and every year is very different from the last and doing the hat trick is a super, super, overwhelming feeling. From the time I started 12 years ago, that was something that I really, really wanted to do. It was one of my goals and attaining that goal really speaks volumes to the lengths and depths Kevin Small will go to for the creative art form here in Barbados and eventually the wider world…”

The bandleader wants to continue on this success journey and hopefully, build a legacy in masquerading.

“Who knows, maybe we will be the next 40-year veterans of this thing. We enjoy it so much, we do it because we love it. We love dealing with the kids, we love dealing with the parents and our adults. We love seeing people enjoy themselves in things that we would have poured our heart into and created…”

Fifth Element Mas – De Gold Coast also copped prizes in several other categories – Historical, Traditional, Most Colourful Small Band, Best Individual Male and Presentation of Year. Justin Poleon won Winston Jordan Award – Flag Person of the Year while the band also placed third in the Republic Bank Small Band of the Year and won third place for the George Dear Award for Best Band on the Road. (IMC)