Prepare to be shocked and awed

Forget the image you may have of Ericka “Lady E” Symonette, and who you haven’t seen for the year – not even on social media – because come the new year, she said to be prepared for a new-look, rebranded artist.

Symonette has taken the forced COVID-19 downtime and used it positively to re-evaluate herself and her brand. She said people should make ready to be shocked and awed when she debuts her new wardrobe and new music.

“Lady E got a waistline I didn’t even know existed,” the singer/songwriter told The Nassau Guardian. “I’ve been on a fitness and self-enlightenment journey that I never had time for before. I went from working out not at all, to twice-a-day workouts. When you see me back on stage, I will have a little more whine…a little more jook – and at age 40, you have to look damned good,” said Symonette.

“One of my inspirations has been another local lady, because she was also a fluffy woman…and we’re proud of our fluff, but when you’re big it’s based off bad eating habits. I changed my habits, and have been working out.”

The COVID-19 downtime has also afforded her the opportunity to pen a number of songs – singles she is in the process of recording. She has recorded one of the six songs so far with producer Rik Carey of C Sharp Production Ltd. and expects to have the remainder of her recordings completed before Christmas for a 2021 blitz.

She’s storing songs to be released next year.

While not wanting to release too much information about the single, she said the sound is a “hybrid” that she worked on with Carey, whom she described as a talented producer with a unique sound. Symonette said the singles will be something to look forward to in the new year, but people should remember that when she writes her music, it’s like baring her soul.

“It doesn’t make sense as an artist to put anything out there right now, because you can’t market. I’m going to come out the gate with five songs that I will be introducing systematically because I like to do the entire packaging with music videos,” she said.

“In The Bahamas, we make monies off performances and Bahamian entertainers depend heavily on functions, party events. Everything is quiet… Twenty-twenty has been hard,” said Symonette.

Since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in The Bahamas on March 15, the only event she received a call about doing was the virtual Independence Day celebration. All the festivals and regattas she was booked for were shut down due to the pandemic.

Symonette said she made use of a negative circumstance and ensured it was a positive for her.

She believes negativity brings negativity. And that people should be using the COVID-19 downtime to make it about building up and not breaking down.

“I thought about things I wanted to improve, and my body was one of them, and I spent a lot of time with my child,” she said.

Symonette said she gives God thanks she has a job and can make her mortgage payments.

An air traffic controller by profession, taking to the stage satisfies Symonette’s soul. And at the same token, she is happy she is not financially dependent on industry gigs, with entertainment at a standstill.

When Symonette first started in the industry, she had thoughts of wanting to be like powerhouse entertainers Trinidadian soca artist Destra Garcia; or British-born, Barbados-based soca artist Alison Hinds; or her Bahamian role models – T’Rez Hepburn (deceased), Emily “Sweet Emily” Austin and Maureen Duvalier, whom she never met but listened to on the radio and whom she describes as a pioneer in her own right. On the male side of things, her role models, she said, include the likes of Ronnie Butler, deceased, and Dillon “D-Mac” McKenzie.

But Symonette is at the point where she is a fan of sounding like herself, and nobody else.

“Why spend your life…your short time on this earth trying to sound like everybody else? Just being yourself is enough,” she said.

“I want to be the Bahamian superstar that I know that I am. I want to be able to reach young people and encourage more young people to be unique and themselves. I know that I’m not the Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey of The Bahamas – but I write my own music and co-produce my own music, so I own it lock, stock and barrel. Royalties are paid to me, and when I die, my royalties will go to my child.”

Before her Lady E alter ego made her presence known, Symonette said, she grew up in a non-musical/entertaining family. She said it was more of a strict, matriarchal society in which her mom, Claudette Nixon, worked a lot, and she was raised by her grandmother, Alma Williams.

Symonette remembers spending a lot of time on the porch entertaining herself and of receiving toy keyboards for Christmas on which to tinker. Her only outlet was attending church, so she joined the church choir, then her school choir, before eventually joining the Bahamas National Youth Choir, which allowed her to see the world.

The entertainer in her was dying to get out. When it did, she said, she caught a lot of flak from her family.

“They wanted me to stay in church and sing in church – because who comes home after 10 [at night]?”

But in those early days, she said, the only studio time available to her was late night, after everyone else was done.

Her mom is now her biggest fan.

When she embarked on her solo career, Symonette started out doing background vocals for the likes of Ronnie Butler, Fred Ferguson (Cacique Awards), Sweet Emily, T’rez Hepburn, Ira Storr and Colin McDonald among countless others.

In 2016, she was dubbed the original Bahamian road fever queen after capturing the Music Masters competition at Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival. And no one could put the lid back on the passion she has for music and entertaining.

“I think that when you come on this earth you have a particular purpose and a job to do – and when you meet up with your purpose, it’s easier to do whereas other people find it hard and tedious. That’s how you know you’re in your purpose. I like music because music completes me.”

Symonette even confesses to having dreams about the stage.

But she ensures she doesn’t live in “la-la land” when it comes to the business side of things. She stands her ground for what she believes and what is fair.

“As a female in the industry, I feel as though people often mistake strength for bitchy when you’re really being protective, and when if you’re a man they would say he’s guarded. In the industry, you will have some people who will try to blackball you and make you feel insignificant – no matter what, your talent will always carry you.”

As the pandemic rages on, Symonette encourages people to stay strong, be humble and recognize God in this time.

“This is a time to really reflect on who we are, and this too shall pass. Don’t be discouraged; look at a door closing as another being a greater opportunity.”

Looking ahead to 2021, she sees it as her year to be an ambassador and to engage in lots of travel. But right now, she said she’s being patient.

“Yes, things are bad, but you have to be smart with your move and making decisions.”

She also encourages people to surround themselves with positive people and to be realistic.

“A lot of people haven’t woken up to we’re in a pandemic and we have to be safe,” she said.

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