"I had to reinvent myself," was the reason reggae artiste Brahyhan Art gave for his two-year absence from the local music scene.

ART. I want people to appreciate my music for what it is - undiluted and real (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

At the time, his single Get It was receiving considerable attention from radio jocks. But Art had issues with his handlers - Chris Smith Management - being located in Canada.

Cutting ties, Art told Splash, was a difficult decision, especially for the fact that Chris Smith Management handles multi-platinum-selling artiste Nelly Furtado.

"My management was so far away, a lot wasn't happening for me," he said. "There really wasn't any intimacy, and I wasn't getting the attention that I needed as an artiste."
Although the break-up was inevitable, they parted company without rancour and, said Art, they still enjoy a good rapport.
With the ties severed, Art started his own label, Junction File, and joined forces with Robert Chin-Sung and Mark Jennings of Swing Song Productions. Under that union, Art has voiced two new singles, Your Love and Fresh Start.

With the country experiencing many changes at the moment, he acknowledged that the lyrics of Fresh Start are quite fitting for this period, but stated, "The song was done long before this new spirit, it really is about me making a fresh start in my life, coming with a new impact and hoping the masses of Jamaica and even the world will gravitate towards it."

Breathing a sigh of relief after his explanation, as if it was a sentiment that had been weighing on him for some time now, he continued, "I have been working hard in the studios and took myself out of the spotlight, so right now I have a lot of products and am ready to hit the road again."
Art, whose real name is Bryan Grant, said he was born in Murray Mountain, St Ann. He declined to say what year, for when he was asked his age he smiled and said, "I am 16 and I'm not moving from right there."

His slight Peter Pan complex seemed to send him into reminiscent mode as he began to speak about how he got into music. "From I can remember I was playing the guitar," he said. "Music has always just been in me. It was my mother who taught me the first three primary chords, and my brother Robert, who was a recording artiste known as Ray Grant, who also inspired me to get into the business."

Art admitted that during the years he attended Aabuthnott Gallimore High School, music took a back seat to other things that were going on in his life.

"My father said I was bad," he explained, adding that he dropped out of school before his parents moved him to Kingston where he resumed his education at Kingston Technical High School. But still, he did not have music on his mind.

It was not until he enrolled at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts that he began strumming the guitar again, majoring in Caribbean, Latin American and Jazz Studies.
His talent was recognised early by Noel Davy, who, without putting Art through an audition, gave him his first real gig as a guitarist for Lucinano's former and Sizzla's current backing, Fire House.

"I loved the experience," he said, "but always knew I wanted to do my own music, and to be a solo artiste."
Today, in his estimation, is that time to shine. "There comes a time when you have to get things together, put things in perspective and hope that everything will connect, so this, I feel, is my real start, my fresh start!"

Influenced by greats like Dennis Brown, Beres Hammond, and Toots Hibbert, he has no plans of stopping anytime soon. "I want people to appreciate my music for what it is - undiluted and real," he said, adding that he is committed to music "for the long haul".

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