SN: You are known to the public as Mista Vybe, but what name were you given at birth and where were you born?

Vybe: I was born Patrick Gordon - Vybe was a stage name I came up with. An acronym meaning Versatile Young Black Entertainer. the Mista part kinda happened by accident later on lol. I was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and raised in Trincity - North-East Trinidad.

SN: How would you describe yourself?

Vybe: Hmm... laid back, reserved offstage unless I know you very well and I'm comfortable with you. Funny at times. Thoughtful - I really believe think too much for my own good most of the time lol. Above all creative - that's what I live for. I'm a big geek too - I love computers, gadgets and whatnot. And finally… BLESSED and THANKFUL.

SN: When not working, what do you do for relaxation?

Vybe: Hmm... well I'm always working... always creating, writing, thinking about new projects, music and otherwise. That's fun to me. But aside from that... watching TV, listening to music, watching movies, reading... and hanging out with the rest of the Crew (i.e. The Big Artist Crew) as much as humanly possible.

SN: What is your worst nightmare?

Vybe: Hmm... waking up and not being able to create. I couldn't live without that. Just a little writer's block will send me nuts. I can't imagine living like that permanently. Either that or losing my friends and family... I don't even like to think about that.

SN: What is the most embarrassing experience that you have ever had?

Vybe: Oh gosh - so many things, so little time!! Hmm.. off the top of my head I can remember tripping and falling onstage once in Canada while performing with the crew.. I think I was singing "Ting 4 D Road" self! Lol!

That's a safe story to tell... I could tell a million embarssing stories featuring my Dad cause he's hilarious... but the one I already told you will do. lol

SN: If you leave Trinidad where would you go to live and why?

Vybe: Definitely St. Lucia! I love it there. I don't know exactly how to explain it. But every time I've been there since the first time, it feels like I'm HOME.

When I go to other countries I'm usually like "This is really nice, but I can't wait to get home" cause I love Trinidad very much. But St. Lucia... I could easily stay there for a long time. Plus I get alot of love there from the people... they really appreciate me. Big up Ninja Dan, Nicole David, Curty, Kayo, Penn and all the rest of my Lucian crew! I'm going to buy a house on the beach in St. Lucia one day - watch! ;-) Lol!

I love Toronto too but only in the summer. Cyah take the cold at ALLLLLLL!! lol!

SN: How do you see the Soca industry in the year 2010?

Vybe: Hopefully in a better situation than it is now. The BUSINESS of this industry needs beefing up seriously. And we need to take more of a global viewpoint.

I think it is way past time Soca stopped being JUST about Carnival. I am doing my little part along with the Crew... the rest is up to God.

SN: How important is technology for you as an artist? What do you use to communicate with your fans? (e.g. Blog, myspace, hi5, email etc)

Vybe: It's very important to me... Thanks to the state of technology today I can get my music out to millions of potential listeners with a few keystrokes on my computer instead of waiting for years on a record company to come and find me and do the job for me one cd at a time and one radio station at a time.

I can record a whole song on my laptop instead of paying thousands of dollars to use a giant recording complex or something like back in the days (look out for the return of Mista Vybe the producer soon lol) ... and most importantly I can communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world with a few touches of a button or some keystrokes... that has helped trememndously. I

 don't know where my career would be without cell phones and the internet especially.. I've made alot of good contacts through Myspace, facebook, etc.

What am I on? MSN, Yahoo, Gtalk, Myspace (check the myspace blog out), Facebook, PromoteYourSpace.net, Reverb, Hi5.. any where I can promote my music, I'm there!

SN: What are your thoughts on piracy? Help or hindrance?

Vybe: Hindrance in a financial sense. Its hard to invest thousands of dollars recording and then have someone steal your music and sell it without you benefiting from it.

Something really needs to be done about it at home in Trinidad and on a global scale.

SN: How long have you been singing?

Vybe: All my life. My mom has cassette tapes of my singing Sesame Street songs for the family when I was like 3 or four.

SN: What/Who are your musical influences?

Vybe: That's a long list… and it varies day to day. The foundatikon is classic music of course.. old school R&B, pop, Rocm, Soca, Calypso, Techno/House, Reggae/Dancehall…

My dad and Mom played a lot of records daily when I was growing up so I know all of that is inside my head somewhere driving me. And then when I was a teenager I discovered and fell in lov with Hip Hop which helped me appreciate all those older influences in a new way.

Huge Prince fan (to this day). Huge Michael Jackson fan as well (the music anyway lol).

Other than that, I hear something every day that's new and inspires me. I try to draw from everything.

SN: What do you think you bring to the industry?

Vybe: Great songwriting skills… I'm very confident about my writing. An international view point.. because I used to do glob al music before and had a POP record deal years ago… so I'm not usually just thinking about next carnival and that's it – I'm thinking "What will connect with the whole world?".

Hmm… energetic performances when it comes to Soca. I'm known for that I think. And great vocals. After over a decade of professional voice training since my preteen years and then getting to work in the studio with pros like Toni Toni Toni, Teddy Riley, Blackstreet and Diddy… I think I can safely say I do nice vocals lol. Oh and ORIGINALITY.

There is only one Vybe… period! In a nusthell, I like to think of my self s "the Thinking Man's Soca SUPERMODELROCKSTAR" lol

SN: What would you like your musical legacy to be?

Vybe: I would people to say "his work was GREAT and CREATIVE and DIFFERENT" and to think of me a someone who always pushed the envelope and never just did what everyone else was doing. Maybe even as being a bit ahead of my time, perhaps?

SN: How does singing/performing in front of a crowd feel?

Vybe: It's a natural thing or me. I've been performing since I was like 4 or 5, so I don't get nervous or stressed. Usually I can't wait to get up there and do my thing. And you connect with a crowd and the give you back that same energy you're putting out onstage..

It' a real high. Like being intoxicated almost. The next best thing to me after being in the studio writing/recording is performing live.

SN: How do you choose the songs you sing?

Vybe: Well I write pretty much all of my material.. so.. it comes to me.. and I think about what I can do with this song and when is the best time to put it out.. if I should do it together with someone… is it something I can "sell" to the djs home or would it be better shopped to labels or something… it all depends.

It's a constantly ongoing process in my head. Anyone that knows me knows I'm ALWAYS thinking about what song will be next and the best way to get it recorded and out there.

SN: Out of all the tracks you have ever recorded, what would you say is your favourite?

Vybe: I have a few favourites… "Ting 4 D Road" is pretty much my favourite Soca tune I've done… "Always On My Mind" (featuring Michelle Sylvester) might be my overall favourite ever… I also really love the title track from the Big Artiste's Crew's first album "Get Together" because it was the first time (and the only one so far) I got to work with the whole Crew on one song – we all sing on it. Definitely one of my all time faves. I love the song as a song, love the message of the song and then… all five of us together on one tune.. can't do better than that.

SN: How do you approach composing a song and where do the ideas come from?

Vybe: That's kinda hard to explain.. It's a natural thing for me. I was always humming melodies I made up since I was a child but it was only when I was in my late teens that I realized I had been WRITING songs all this time.

So, its not like I have a complicated process… melodies and lyrics are always popping into my head. Some take longer to finish up than others... Sometimes I'll just hear someone say something or read a phrase and BOOM – a whole song comes into my head… ("Ting" was like that).

Sometimes it's just the chords first ,or just the chorus or the beginning of a verse, or the whole song melody with no lyrics… and after that it's like trying to find the hidden pieces of a puzzle.

If I can focus hard enough they will show themselves eventually. I read once that the R&B artist and famous songwriter Ne-Yo got his nickname because his producer said he could "see" the music like the character Neo "saw" the matrix… The first time I read that I thought "That's EXACTLY how it is with me!"

SN: Do you write with anyone in particular or use a particular writer? Why?

Vybe: More often than not it's just me. I'm always BEGGING my good friend Nadia Batson to write me a song but she always laughs at me and tells me I don't need her. Funny enough I ended up writing "My Posse" for HER this past carnival.. but I still haven't gotten my tune yet – I waitin' Nadie!!!

Anyway, once I have the basic idea, usually I'll bounce it off Nadia and my lil sister Ms. Alysha… they're good at helping me fine tune things or pointing out some little things I might have missed.

Alysh and I write a lot of her tunes together – or least she started out that way.. I'm very proud that she started writing on her own now and doing well at it – like her 2008 tune "Work Him Out" she wrote all on her own.

Nadi and I collaborate a lot, mostly cause when she gets stuck she'll call me lol! I wrote the bridge for "Sleeping In Your Bed" (by Michelle Sylvester) and the pre-chorus for Tizzy's "Bounce"… plus Nadia and I recorded two songs that we wrote together ("Start D Race" on the Piton Riddim and "Chica" on the Response riddim).

I love collaborating with other people so I do it anytime I can.. but for my personal recordings as an artist.. up till now it's almost all me that wrote everything.

SN: Do you think music has the power to influence everyday life and events?

Vybe: Music is the soundtrack to life. No doubt about it. If you're sad you put on a sad song. If you're in love, you play love songs. I you're happy you might put on some uptempo R&B or Soca or dancehall… Can you imagine if you couldn't do that? And look how much good projects like "We Are the World" and "Spice Up Grenada" have done in dire situations just by making a song. You can't deny the power of music.

SN: There has been an increase in soca videos over the last 5 years. Do you feel that it is imperative for an artiste to have a video?

Vybe: It certainly helps… with youtube on the internet drawing more millions of viewers every day… and more tv sations popping up in the Caribbean and worldwide every day… a video is the next best thing you can have after a good song or along with a good song. It's a great way to market yourself.

SN: Can you describe the process of turning your songs into a video? Do you have a lot of input?

Vybe: The two videos I've shot so far have been very basic… I’d like to do something a lot more.. creative as far as videos go. My next one will step up the game I think… Right now I'm in the process of editing the video for my 2008 single "Life". But after that, I'd like to do something a little more… out there. Not just a normal "soca video" if you know what I mean.

"Life" was already a step in that direction but I woud like to take it further.

 Log on to www.myspace.com/mistavybe or www.myspace.com/bigartistecrew for more… Thanks to all the fans and supporters! I love you guys! Bless!!!