A Tinge of Grey

Shay Grey, Trinidad contemporary rock scene 

Shanice Juman aka (Shay Grey) is a rock and roll soul. She is an alternative contemporary artiest operating in Trinidad & Tobago. From the young age of 9, she recognized her musical affinity after getting a toy synthesizer for Christmas and never let her love for music go. 

"Well when I was much younger, maybe 9 or so, I received a little toy synthesizer for Christmas and instantly fell in love with music and always singing. From then on, I upgraded to a keyboard and wanted to be a pianist. I was always into adult contemporary music, all types of rock and alternative as well. In my mid-teens, my cousin bought a guitar and that was basically all she wrote. I switched to guitar and music impacted me during the usual phases any teen goes through. Songs that I write are always about love and life, and when I play, it's like I'm in a totally different world."

As a female contemporary musician from Trinidad where rock music is mainly viewed as bands of screaming guys and distorted electronic guitars, Shanice is a rear gem of talent to find when performing love songs at rock shows. 

"Honestly I'm still trying to figure out where I belong in Trinidad. For the genre that I'm in, it's difficult to find a firm and major fan base. Trinidad love crossovers. This led me to aim for Europe as my target, and eventually broaden the spectrum. The rock community here has diminished too; most of the bands are screamo"

If your a fan of music from Dolores O'Riordan from The Cranberries then Shay Grey is right up your ally. Her music has a touching effect on a listener. She is a musician at heart and inspired by her musical idols.

"Internationally, my idol is Sarah Mclachlan. Her vocals are just heavenly, and her lyrics have so much depth to it. Another artist that I adore both vocal and lyrics wise would be Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie it's the same with him. My other artistes would be Alanis Morissette, Jewel, The Cranberries, Dido, and Blink 182 when they were still together. For a while I wrote about love, ya know. "The usual". Breakups, makeups, but I try changing it up sometimes and write things about life. Experiences. Most of my songs are very personal, but some I just imagine. My most important goal is for the listener to relate to what I write and feel the way I feel when I perform it."

Unlike most of the major rock performers in Trinidad, Shanice is a solo act and confident in her abilities. She shook her stage fright off as a child and can get into her "zone" for a crowd without any nervousness.

"Well I won't count the time I performed in church when I was yay high. The first time I performed was when I lived in the U.S. but that was a cover song. It was for my High School's talent show. I was definitely nervous with the spotlight only on me, it was very intimidating. The first time I officially introduced myself was at a Sports Bar, Fuel at the time, it's renamed The Vault now. Getting into the music and losing myself chases away the nerves. Although I remember having my debut on Synergy TV, I was a bit nervous, and I noticed myself being nervous and I just told myself to just imagine you're alone in your room."

Shay Grey plans to take her music career further after completing her degree. She plans to take her talent to London. Her music is available at her Facebook , Sound Cloud, Youtube and shaygrey.wix.com .

Story by Jesse Bonterre
Interviewer Elizabeth Subance