Phanuel St.
Phanuel St. Vil is a Haitian-born Reggae-Pop recording artist and musician, living in Miami Beach, FL. The music that originally influenced Phanuel was through his Uncle, who played the guitar around the family as he entered grade school. The main music in his life at that time was Compas, a modern méringue musical genre in Haiti with European and African roots, that natives have been dancing and singing to since the 1800s.
Phanuel was just 7 years old when his Uncle moved to Miami, FL. His Father worked in Nassau, Bahamas and his mother tended to raising Phanuel and his siblings. Around 9 years of age, Phanuel noticed a void in his life due to his uncle not around anymore for him to listen to his music. So he set out to build his own guitar from scratch. He began visualizing how he could make a guitar on his own since his family was not able to have the means to purchase one. Phanuel picked up an empty aluminum cooking oil can his grandmother was finished with and preceded to shape it and cut a whole in center for acoustics. He asked his mother for money to go to the market and set out to buy guitar strings instead. Then proceeded to attach the strings, which he then played on this handmade instrument for about a year. Soon after, he desired an electric guitar. The sound of this guitar inspired him to try and make his own, and his family gave witticism when he set out on this journey. He would take apart his mothers radio so he could listen to his music amplified by pulling the wires from the speaker and attaching to his original guitar. Mrs. St.Vil was not pleased with this.
At the age of 14 he heard of a well-known music band in Port de Paix that seperated. He jumped on a bus to the city and began asking around where the leader of the group lived. He showed up to their doorstep and expressed his passion for music and proceeded to convince the man to rent his base, guitar and amp for 2 months. Phanuel would continue to do that until he ended up purchasing the gear within a year. Soon thereafter he started his own band called Nostage. Eventually gaining lots of fans in his small town and neighboring cities, which lead to him getting paid to perform. Just around 15 years old, the Mayor of Ansafoler, Haiti reached out to Phanuel and asked him to put together a free concert for the people and promote the Mayor’s initiatives through his performances.
At the age of 16, Phanuel was sent to the Bahamas to live with his Father. That is the moment when reggae music impacted his musical creativity and identity. Artists such as Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley, Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Gregory Isaac, Shabba Ranks, Ninjaman, Dennis Brown, Cobra and Sanchez were a few of his inspirations. Reggae music was Phanuel’s inspiration while living in Nassau, Bahamas, but he sought for something more and the following year he begged to move to the U.S. (Miami, FL) to live with his Aunt and Uncle. In 1996 he met Candice, a friend of his Aunt’s who sang as a backup singer for Teena Marie, a Billboard Hot 100 artist who collaborated with Rick James. She noticed right away Phanuel’s super star that shown bright. Eventually they began recording and singing hooks with together. Which then led to her managing them as well. With failed attempts, in 2002 she stepped away from their last recording project. Yet, Phanuel kept his fire burning strong. Phanuel’s first song recorded was titled “Take a Little Time.” When on tour, he brings his live band which he calls “Jah Face.” His latest single release and music video for 2015 features melodies sang by The Latin Queen, titled “I’m All Alone.”
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