‘I cannot imagine my family being more proud’

It’s a bit difficult to tell if Michael ‘Mikie’ Bennett is more honoured at receiving the Order of Distinction (OD) because of the recognition it places on his sterling work in the music industry, or for the amazing effect it is having on his entire family.

“I am quite honoured. I feel quite special,” a pleased Bennett told The Gleaner at Monday’s Ceremony of Investiture of National Honours and Awards at King’s House. “But, what it has done for my family … I can never imagine them being more proud.”

He shared that several members of his family – some of whom came in from overseas – were in the audience to watch him receive his medal, and they had planned a big celebration for later that day.

“Some of them could hardly wake up this morning because of all the celebrating last night,” Bennett said, adding that he was not quite prepared for their reaction.

“Yes … to be honest, their reaction surprised me. They are used to me getting Grammy Award and this award and just being publicly acknowledged … but, for them, this is the biggest thing,” Bennett said, as he shared another instance when the family again showed up in a huge way.

“ After all the success I had, I got a job at UTech to coordinate a programme and I couldn’t believe how proud they were of that. Let me tell yuh, somebody went out and bought a whole new wardrobe for me because dem seh ‘Is pure T-shirt yuh wear.’ And I seh, ‘But look how long I’ve been doing tings?’ No sah … that was different … UTech, dem proud,” the CEO of Grafton Studios said, chuckling at the memory.

Bennett, who is a producer, composer, musician and singer reiterated that the OD, for him “is the icing on the cake”.

“I’ve never thought about an OD all along. We thinking ‘bout Grammys and we thinking ‘bout hit songs on top of the charts ... to be honoured like this feels really special,” he said, even as he went on to explain just how fulfilled his life is as a creative.

During his musical journey, Bennett has worked with artistes such as Maxi Priest, Shabba Ranks, Roberta Flack, Cyndi Lauper, LL Cool J, Doug E Fresh, Caron Wheeler, Beres Hammond, Buju Banton, Aswad, David Hinds (Steele Pulse), Third World, John King, Nicholas Brancker, Chris Alman and Toni Norville. He has produced and written music for major industry figures who have won or been nominated for Grammys, including Shabba Ranks, Ziggy Marley, Maxi Priest, and Dennis Brown.

“The creative space for me is such a reward for life. You never get tired of being in the creative space. You go in with an idea and couple hours later you can leave singing something … and I am aware that very few people in the world get to appreciate that space. And I feel privileged just to be a musician and to be a part of that fraternity. Music is its own reward,” said Bennett, who was once a member of the now-defunct singing group, Home T .

Music school

Quizzed if there’s anything he would have done differently during his 45-year music career, he shared that, at one stage, he contemplated attending music school. Bennett knows chords, and is knowledgeable enough about music theory to have a conversation with musicians, but he has never done more than about two weeks of classes.

“One day, I started guitar lessons with Seretse [Small] and I was going through the very basic. The same evening, I had a session at the studio and I wanted him to play some guitar on a track for me. And I was telling him what I wanted. When we finish the session, he said, ‘Listen, we need to design a programme for someone like you. Two hours ago, you were this nervous student trying to do something and two hours later you are arranging something and you are operating at a totally different level.’ He said that the traditional music programme is not designed for someone like me and I understood,” he said.

Additionally, his “dear friend Mia Mottley” told him something which he never forgets.

“Mia Mottley said ‘I’m glad yuh didn’t go to study music officially, because you would probably have lost a little of your instinct.’ So I am not arguing with her,” Bennett said smiling.

Born into a Christian family, church is where Bennett’s musical talent was honed. At the age of 12, he was influenced greatly by guitarist Mikey Chung, who would help him put his lyrics to music. He has not looked back since.

Bennett was awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Officer by the Jamaican government “for his outstanding and influential contribution to the Jamaican music industry”.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com