Kes the Band
Born and raised in the southland Kees, a former resident of Palmiste San Fernando, attended the Cedar Grove Government Primary School and then Presentation College, where he obtained seven Ones in CXC, two As and two Bs at A’Levels in Sciences. With those accomplishments, Kees’s parents wanted him to become a doctor, but he had another profession in mind—one he dreamt of as a child—to become a singer. This dream came true when he became the front-line singer of cover band Imij and Company. However, in 2005, he exited the band to form his own—Kes The Band which includes two of his brothers.
Since branching out, Kees has managed to achieve significant success on a worldwide scale! Along with his band he has released several albums, with more than a dozen tracks making it into the top ten of major Caribbean charts. Additionally the band has won numerous awards for songwriting; toured globally, performed at major festivals and events in the United States, Canada and Germany; opened for acts such as Sean Paul, Musiq Soul Child, Usher, John Legend, and Rihanna; and had their music featured on television shows broadcast on MTV and BET, as well as licensed tracks to popular games on major video game platforms.
In November 2007 Kees was flown to Nashville Tennessee to work with multiple Grammy Award Winner Desmond Child. The song he co-wrote with Child was recorded by American Idol Ace Young and is featured on his self title album. At the 2009 LA ASCAP Conference Kees was selected out of hundreds to perform at the showcase and left everyone clamouring to meet them. Kees is certainly creating an empire for himself. With a household name, good looks and unbeatable talent, he is definitely here to stay and here to take the music of T&T to the international world.
In 2011 KES continued showing growth with the release of their fourth Album “Wotless” in early 2011. The album’s Title song was one of the most popular for Trinidad and Tobago’s 2011 carnival season as well as many other carnivals in the region.”Wotless” was born from a collaboration between KES and Trinidadian born Singer/songwriter/producer Kerwin Dubois. Kees won the International Groovy Soca monarch competition that year with “Wotless” following an unforgettable performance on Carnival Friday (Fantastic Friday) at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Trinidad. The song continues to break the band into new markets all around the world. Other album gems included “Where Yuh From” (an anthemic piece calling out to everyone to celebrate and love their homeland, produced by KES and MADMEN PRODUCTIONS), Ah Ting (another strong collaboration with Kerwin Dubois, featuring Kees and Kerwin on vocals) and Come Gyal (produced by KES and 1ST KLASE PRODUCTION).
KES collaborated with Snoop Dogg on a remix of their carnival release STRESS AWAY (produced by 1st KLASE and KES). The single was well received and marked new territory for KES. The band also began raising the bar locally with respect to music videos with the release of the video for STRESS AWAY. The Band released more albums with tracks such as “Precision Wine”, “Stress Away”, Million, “People” and “Coming Over” enjoyed heavy rotation on local radio stations.
