Oscar Pile Speaks: Explains why young men were involved in the steelpan.

Oscar Pile Speaks: Explains why young men were involved in the steelpan.

Oscar Pile (1922-2008) was the founding captain of the Casablanca Steel Orchestra and a pioneer in the steelband movement. This recording was made during a conversation between Professor David V. Trotman and Oscar Pile circa 2000.

Trinidad & Tobago

"Well what we are speaking about here - the era we speaking about here – the majority of the [steel] pan man from the early days was unemployed. And they eager for this new invention. [It] was something that everybody – the guys in the ghetto craved, and [as] fast as one invented something on the [steel] pan or played a new tune on the pan, he couldn’t wait for carnival or any festivities. So, the guys now, unemployed as I said, have no sense of direction. We just played music, and we happy, and that’s it."

45 seconds