Anila 'Nella' Mulzac – Where Words Fail, Music Speaks!

Aug 2

Aug 2 Anila 'Nella' Mulzac – Where Words Fail, Music Speaks!

Anila aka Nella has completed her B.A. Musical Arts (Special) at the University of the West Indies in June 2020. She is employed with the Multicultural Music Programme Unit (MMPU) under the Ministry of Education as a music instructor in different primary schools in Trinidad. Nella is also the pan tutor at St. Patricks Newtown Girls’ R.C. and has her own music school, “Elite Music Academy”. St. Patricks Newtown Girls’ R.C entered the National Junior School’s Panorama for the first time in 2019 with her sister and Nella’s arrangement of “Iron Love” by Nailah Blackman.

Nella has always believed in giving back to the community. Over the 2019 August vacation, she hosted a free music camp to the St. Dominic’s children’s home. It was a success and the boys loved it. They played games, had a movie day, a fun day, field trip to the fire station as well as learned simple tunes on the steelpan. Hopefully this would become an annual venture as requested by the home.

Nella is a proud member of the BP Renegades Steel Orchestra. Although she sees herself as Renegade, she had the privilege of playing with the Caribbean Airlines Skiffle Steel Orchestra for 2020. It was not intentional as Nella originally decided not to play for the large band panorama but the “Pan Jumbie” in her had other intentions. Single pan, small band and medium band panorama had finished and there was five days remaining till the large band panorama; she found it difficult to abstain from playing as the adrenaline from playing in the previous categories was still pumping.

Apart from BP Renegades Steel Orchestra, the only other large steel band Annie admires is Caribbean Airlines Skiffle Steel Orchestra. A few years back she promised herself that if for any reason she does not play with Renegades she would play with Skiffle and so said so done; the opportunity presented itself this year. She hastily made arrangements the Monday before Panorama and by that Monday night she was in their pan yard learning their tune of choice "Wrong Again". Her message was, don’t be fooled, one cannot expect to just “fall in” a large band five days before the final competition and play on final night unless you have “links” or you’re well known in the pan world. She stated, “I had to bring my “A game”, I had to prove myself; only a handful of people knew me in the band. By the Tuesday night I had learned the whole arrangement so it was just to "soak it" with the band in the rest of days leading up to the competition. Changes were continuously being made to the arrangement up until the morning of the panorama. It was a little frustrating but exciting as it expanded my musical ability to grasp and retain the music faster. The members of the orchestra were very friendly and welcoming. The management made me feel like I belonged to Skiffle, like it was my home band. I loved the vibe and energy they transmitted and I enjoyed my time there.”

Nella joined the BP Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra in 2010 and was placed on a double-seconds pan; she soon made the switch to tenor in 2012 which has been her primary instrument to date.

In 2014, Nella performed in her first large band panorama with Duvone Stewart's arrangement of Winston Scarbrough's "In De Minor". She joined the senior stage side in 2015. The transition from the youth orchestra to the senior orchestra was an easy one.
She is proud to be a member of the BP Renegades Steel Orchestra. Everyone who knows her, knows that she is a true Renegade. Nella is so obsessed with them that she always wears her Renegades’ jersey any chance she gets. She even wore them to Skiffle practices and also wear them to work at times.

Nella’s musical aspirations is to learn to play the flute and also migrate and teach music. She was not a huge steelpan fan in the beginning, in fact she disliked it. She was one of those persons who thought, "steelpan music is noise" but she soon grew to like it, love it actually. Now that the ‘Pan Jumbie’ has captured her, she cannot stay away from the instrument.

PP: What was the first musical instrument you played?

AM: The tenor steelpan was the first musical instrument I played.

PP: When were you first introduced to the steelpan instrument?

AM: Probably since birth, I honestly do not remember as steelpan has been a part of my family since before I was born.

PP: When did you start playing pan?

AM: I started playing the steel pan at the tender age of 5.

PP: What is the name of the First band you played for?

AM: Newtown Girls’ Steel Orchestra

PP: What steel bands have you played for?

AM: Over the years I’ve played with quite a few steel bands. Listed below are the different bands I’ve had the pleasure of performing with:

♫Newtown Girls’ Steel Orchestra

♫St. Francois Girls’ Steel Orchestra

♫BP Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra

♫BP Renegades Steel Orchestra

♫Tunapuna Tipica Steel Orchestra

♫Skiffle Steel Orchestra

♫Sforzata

♫Gonzales Sheikers

♫Woodbrook Playboyz

♫Genesis Pan Groove

♫Stardust Steel Orchestra

♫Potential Symphony

♫Courts Babonneau (St. Lucia)

♫NLCB Buccooneers

♫La Horquetta Pan Groove

♫Belmont 5th Dimension

♫St. Margarets Superstars

♫La Famille United Steel Orchestra

♫Harmonites Steel Orchestra

♫Cocorite Road Pan Groove

♫Stryke Stars

♫Pan Elites

♫Fusion Steel Orchestra

PP: When was your first panorama?

AM: 2010 - St. François Girls Steel Orchestra

PP: What steelband competitions have you taken part in?

AM: Trinidad and Tobago Junior and National Steelband Panoramas.

PP: Tell us more about your experiences in these competitions and how it has assisted in your musical journey?

AM: There is no I in team, one person cannot go onto a stage alone and win a steelband panorama, it takes the whole band to do so.

· It aided with my sight reading- music scores were distributed amongst the different sections of the band and I had the opportunity to read the score along with some other members.

· I was able to observe and perform different musical arrangements from many arrangers which helped me to develop my own style of arrangement and composition skills.

PP: What was the most challenging thing you have done to do with pans?

AM: Learning a panorama tune in days

· Improvising in front of classmates

· Scoring out an arrangement for the steel pan from my head

PP: What is your role/position in Renegades Steel Orchestra?

AM: I’m a seasonal player of the BP Renegades Steel Orchestra and past captain of the BP Renegades Youth Steel Orchestra for 3 yrs.

PP: What is your favourite pan to play?

AM: I don't have just one favorite pan. Although the tenor is my main pan, I like to play almost all the steelpans (I'm not a huge fan of the Double Tenor)

PP: What other musical instruments do you play?

AM: Piano and I also sing.

PP: Who are your inspirations both to do with pans and musically?

AM: Steelpan performer: Keishaun Julien. I admired his YouTube videos when I was growing up.

Steelpan arrangers: Jit Samaroo, Andrew Charles, Duvone Stewart, Arddin Herbert

Choirs/Groups: Hillsong, BYU Vocal Point, Pentatonix, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Evanescence

PP: What are your hopes for pan in the T&T and globally?

AM: Standardization of all steel pan instruments; to have the ability to go into any pan yard and not have to re-learn the format of any steel pan

PP: What is your vision for pan in the future in Trinidad &Tobago and Globally?

AM: Once again, standardization- Steelpan performers should be comfortable to go into any pan yard/institute and be able to play any pan without having to re-learn its format.

- Documentation of steelband history- The history of steelbands should be documented as they are a part of our history. While there is a lot of documentation on the history of the steelpan, there isn’t a lot of documented information on specific steel bands. Most steelbands don’t focus on documenting their existence which shouldn’t be. A steel band’s life story should be preserved and updated regularly instead of letting the band’s history die away with their founding and senior members. There are members (past and present) who come and go and are unaware of the band’s history and this should not be so.

- Steelpan education courses- There should be more steelpan education courses made available to the public. The world needs more pan makers, tuners, educators, ambassadors, performers etc. to keep steelpan alive.

PP: What are your musical aspirations for the future?

AM: To travel the world and experience playing in the different panoramas all over

PP: What do you think needs to happen for the steelpan instrument and its culture to be more widely recognised on all musical platforms?

AM: I believe there should be a greater exchange of players from the Caribbean and other parts of the world so that outside players would get to experience our steelpan culture as well as bring their own culture with them.

Panpodium salutes Anila ‘Nella’ Mulzac for her love, dedication, commitment, enthusiasm and loyalty to the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago and her band, Renegades. A truly talented, humble and subservient musician.