Señor Gomez Speaks on Mas'

Black Crow Connecticut Carnival

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Staff Article
Interview Recorded: May 15, 2005
Posted: June 12, 2005

If You Could Bend Wire

I went to the Crop Over for about eight or nine years before I stopped. Then I had another assignment in Miami University with Chalkdust. My section after lunch at 1pm was "If You Could Bend Wire". At this seminar were mas' people from all over the world. I explained and so on, but it was when I started to bend the wire is where thing started. And when I reached a certain portion, I would stop and explain how you must use your thumb, how you must have your tools before your approaches; you must have your measuring tape, tweezers, pliers, then you are prepared to work. Whichever artiste or bandleader brings a costume for you to make, you have to know how you approach it, because some of them will just bring the costume without any structural designs or anything, so you have to more or less know what you are doing.

I started making a crow because a crow is a popular thing in America. I wire-bent one; I made a crow from wire. Along the line I was explaining to them and they would stop me and say, "But this is marvelous," because they seeing you bending it and it looking the same. I completed it and put them together. I made it with the toes so that when the breeze blows it could rock. Well boy, you could imagine the applause. Chalkdust talked about Carnival the way I always talked about it because they were trying to pull down the Carnival. Chalkie said, "I want to share a quotation from our deceased Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams." He said, "They want the Carnival, well they take it; they want the pan, let them take it, but you know what they cannot take away from a Trinidadian? The spirit of Carnival." When the questioning came about, they asked, "Mr. Gomez how did you learn this, and how did you come about this?" It went on, and they were also saying that they couldn't understand how I do it. Other people were saying they never thought for one moment that I was with this talent out there.

The essence in the thing is to work and make it work. They found it was beautiful and wanted to know where else do I go. I told them I go all about. After that I came home after a successful Labour Day. Of course I go and work for a lot of big bands for Labour Day too. I worked for Big Mike and them and anybody that came. There are some young bands like Junior Carnival I work a lot for, but I contribute; I do not charge them like big bands. I tell them just give me a little something because I want a little legacy; I want a contribution ... to have input. I always want my name called. Even in my band here, nobody pays. I give them material and I bend all these things here and I decorate.

I do not make any big set of money, but I still give back something to my area however small it is. Since Carnival I haven't stopped. These things that I am making here is for next year Carnival for Mount Hope Connection. My wife plays with them and I played with 'B.O.S.S.', I shared myself this year. In my band, after 'Starlift' stopped bringing King and Queen, we were the only band, 'Blue Diamond', and they would not mention us at all, but they mentioned Gomez, but they didn't mention anything like, they didn't see 'Blue Diamonds' or anything like that. Again, as I always say, is the area too. I have been respected and everybody knows me. At one time I went to photocopy some stuff and a fella said, "This thing I am seeing here, is that you?" I said yes, and he said, "Boy you know how long I am hearing about you. You sure that is you? Only last week I read about you. You know what I like about you? You say you are born in the area and you are still in the area." I am happy about it. I went to Manchester England and I did some wire bending, and it was also good there too.

There was another Trinidadian who showed them how to do wire bending. I told them that was in the past, we are a little more advanced. What happened was, they saw me digging one wire. I could take one wire and do the whole thing here, it will take a little more time but it will be more structured, more strength. When they saw me doing my thing, they said, "No, he told me to do so." I said, "No, come we will do it so." I met the gentleman on Borough Day and he said, "Gomez we working to bring you back a long time because the people were asking for you. Since you came you showed them the different approaches." The thing used to be falling down and so on, just like in Barbados. The first set of people that I thought to make big bat, was with a fella named Mendoza Burling.

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