A staple at soca events for close to eight years, Leighton "DJ Lantern MD" Myers is a medical doctor by profession. He is also involved in music production with friends under the BussEarz Records umbrella.

Tonight, DJ Lantern MD, alongside Kurt Riley, Bloodline Franco, DJ Smoke, DJ Matt Camps, Cyclone, and Fyahmatic are slated to turn up the musical thrills at another staging of Hardwine at the Mas Camp in St Andrew.

"You can expect the customary high-energy mixing of your favourite hits (old and new). Hardwine has always been an event where the focus is to ensure that all patrons have a wonderful musical experience," DJ Lantern MD told the Jamaica Observer.

He shared how he prepared for the event.

"When you've played at an event several times, you have a good understanding of what patrons expect and what you need to deliver to meet the expectations. I don't pre-plan my sets, it's an ongoing assessment of what's needed at the specific time you're playing to maximise the energy during your set," he said.

DJ Lantern MD is from Montego Bay in St James. He attended Cornwall College before studying medicine at The University of the West Indies (Mona).

He listed Hard Fete; Position by Bunji Garlin; Long Live Soca by Voice; Mental Day by Kes; Spirit by Machel Montano; Shake the Place by Machel and Destra; Come Home by Nailah Blackman and Skinny Fabulous; Drink and Party by Viking and Ding Dong; and Sugar Cake by Patrice Roberts as some of the hot soca songs for this year.

Marlon Thompson is a director for Hardwine. He said all is set for tonight's event.

"Everything is in place to make tonight amazing for our patrons. We began our set-up from Thursday and its looking great so far," said Thompson.

— Kevin Jackson