Machel Montano Interview With Vivaa in Hollywood, 2014
Hollywood Carnival weekend brought Machel Montano to Los Angeles for several days of Soca, Carnival and Caribbean culture — but away from the performances and the road, there was also time for a conversation.
On Monday, June 23, 2014, Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson sat down with Machel Montano at Xen Lounge in Studio City, California, for an original Julianspromos interview.
The conversation took place during The Epic After Party, following a weekend that had already included Machel performing in Hollywood and Caribbean mas taking over Hollywood Boulevard.
Julian C. Hackett shot and edited the interview, continuing the Julianspromos coverage from its first Hollywood Carnival assignment.
Machel Montano with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson at Xen Lounge during Hollywood Carnival weekend 2014.
Machel Montano in Hollywood
By 2014, Machel Montano's career had become inseparable from the modern international growth of Soca.
That year's Hollywood Carnival brought him into a developing West Coast Carnival scene where Caribbean music, mas, fashion and entertainment were coming together in Los Angeles.
Machel was visible throughout the weekend.
On Friday night, he appeared at Pure Happiness at Bardot alongside Lyrikal.
Saturday brought Hollywood Carnival onto Hollywood Boulevard, where Epic Mas participated within Extacy Mas during an early stage of the band's development.
Then on Monday night, Machel joined the Carnival crowd again for The Epic After Party at Xen Lounge.
It was during that final night that Vivaa caught up with him for this interview.
A Different Side of Carnival Weekend
The interview offered something different from the performance and road footage captured throughout the trip.
Instead of Machel commanding a stage or being surrounded by the energy of Carnival, viewers got a more direct moment between artist and interviewer.
For Julianspromos, artist interviews had already become an important part of documenting Caribbean entertainment.
Vivaa's role was not simply to introduce performances. Her one-on-one conversations helped give viewers access to the personalities behind the music and created another layer of coverage around major Carnival weekends.
Watch Machel Montano With Vivaa in Hollywood
Vivaa & Machel Montano
The Hollywood conversation was part of a longer history between Machel Montano and Julianspromos.
Vivaa had previously interviewed Machel during Girl Power in Miami in 2011, giving the archive multiple conversations with him from different stages of both his career and the development of Julianspromos.
By the time they met again in Hollywood in 2014, the setting had changed considerably.
This time the conversation was taking place on the opposite side of the United States, during a Carnival weekend that was helping establish Los Angeles as another destination on the international Soca and Carnival calendar.
That progression — from earlier interviews in established Caribbean markets to coverage on the West Coast — also reflected how widely the culture itself was traveling.
Hollywood Carnival Grows on the West Coast
Hollywood Carnival was still relatively young in 2014.
The Los Angeles Culture Festival was celebrating its third annual edition, bringing a week of Caribbean and multicultural events to the city before the Carnival parade reached Hollywood Boulevard.
For artists such as Machel, Hollywood offered another opportunity to bring Soca and Carnival culture to audiences outside the traditional Caribbean diaspora strongholds.
It also brought together different parts of entertainment culture.
Musicians, designers, DJs, filmmakers, Carnival bands and personalities moved through the same weekend, giving Hollywood Carnival an identity shaped by both traditional Caribbean Carnival and its Los Angeles surroundings.
Machel became closely associated with that developing movement and with Epic Mas during this period.
Machel at The Epic After Party
The interview happened during a night that was an event in its own right.
The Epic After Party at Xen Lounge featured Machel Montano alongside guest appearances from Jillionaire of Major Lazer and London Future, with Anya Ayoung-Chee and Director X hosting.
Julianspromos also captured an extended Machel performance during the party.
Rather than repeat that entire story here, the full performance, flyer, event history and photo coverage are preserved in the dedicated Epic After Party article.
Read the full Epic After Party story →
https://julianspromos.com/archives/epic-after-party-xen-lounge-hollywood-2014
Machel Montano & Vivaa Photo Gallery
The photographs from Xen Lounge preserve moments surrounding the interview and give another look at Machel and Vivaa during the Hollywood trip.
Machel Montano and Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson at Xen Lounge during Hollywood Carnival weekend in Los Angeles, June 23, 2014.
From the Julianspromos Archives
The Machel Montano interview with Vivaa in Hollywood is one piece of a much larger collection created during Julianspromos' first Hollywood Carnival assignment.
Over several days in Los Angeles, Vivaa and Julian documented Carnival from several different angles.
There were performances.
There was mas on Hollywood Boulevard.
There was extensive photography.
There was nightlife surrounding the Carnival.
And there were artist conversations such as this one.
The Machel interview is important because it preserves the personal side of that weekend. While the other footage shows what Hollywood Carnival looked and sounded like in 2014, this conversation puts one of Soca's most influential artists directly in front of the camera during that period.
With Vivaa conducting the interview and Julian shooting and editing, the piece also represents the interview format that had been part of Julianspromos since its early years and remained central as the platform expanded into new Carnival destinations.
Explore the Complete Hollywood Carnival 2014 Coverage
This interview was part of a three-event Julianspromos journey through Hollywood Carnival weekend.
Friday, June 20 — Pure Happiness
Machel Montano and Lyrikal brought Soca to Bardot in Hollywood on the night before Carnival.
Read Pure Happiness Hollywood 2014 →
https://julianspromos.com/archives/pure-happiness-hollywood-2014-machel-montano-lyrikal
Saturday, June 21 — Hollywood Carnival
Julianspromos hit Hollywood Boulevard with Epic Mas and Extacy Mas as Caribbean Carnival took over the streets of Los Angeles.
Read Hollywood Carnival 2014 →
https://julianspromos.com/archives/2014-hollywood-carnival-highlights
Monday, June 23 — The Epic After Party
The weekend continued at Xen Lounge with Machel Montano performing live before his one-on-one interview with Vivaa.
Read The Epic After Party 2014 →
https://julianspromos.com/archives/epic-after-party-xen-lounge-hollywood-2014
