PHOTO : PATRICK HODGSON
JOHN ORPHEUS
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It ’ s
mango season for Antonio Michael Downing , better known in the music world these days as John Orpheus . July in Trinidad is when the mango trees bloom . “ It ’ s like mangoes everywhere – you can fill your basket , your pocket , they ’ re on the ground , they ’ re rotting , it ’ s just so many mangos . That ’ s been 2021 for me . It ’ s been just like abundance .”
At 46 years old , there is suddenly a lot of interest in Downing ’ s story and art . His tough but extraordinary life and artistic career is memoir-worthy , for sure . And so , unsurprisingly his memoir , Saga Boy : My Life of Blackness and Becoming , has done well . The book examines his journey from Trinidad to the tiny northern Ontario town of Wabigoon at 11 years old , growing up there with his older brother as the only Black kids around , and being raised by a stern evangelical aunt . Art , especially music , became his mental and literal escape from that place . He makes his way to Kitchener and then Toronto , and along the way he tours Europe with some British music legends , wears and discards various personas and genres – like the punk rock rapper Mic Dainjah , and the soul crooner Molasses – and refuses to grasp commercial success if it requires sacrificing his own vision . There are innumerable ups and downs , revelations , and tough lessons learned along the path of his illuminating journey . In Saga Boy the book , Antonio Michael Downing breaks open his mind and heart to examine that story , and on Saga King the album , John Orpheus celebrates the place where the journey has brought him .
“ After like 20 years of being an independent musician , it ’ s interesting coming into relevance as I get older . It ’ s kind of funny . I ’ m like , ‘ Jesus , why can ’ t you give me this 10 years ago ?’” Orpheus says , more with a tone of amusement than frustration , and noting that he ’ s working with a label ( Linus Entertainment ) for the first time . He adds , though – and the book makes clear why – if he had commercial success at a younger age , it “ would have probably killed me , to be honest .”
“ It ’ s a different kind of gratification , because I feel like I was always like , ‘ Don ’ t be that old dude who ’ s still trying to make it . Don ’ t do that . If you ’ re not doing it by a certain point , then stop ,’” he goes on . “ And then I just felt like , as long as I had something to say and people cared enough to check for it , then enjoy yourself . Just go do it and do
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