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Dike Samai is the first Trinidadian to hold a Master of Music degree in Music Theory and Composition Screen Scoring and he hopes he won’t be the last. In fact, he hopes that by successfully completing this degree programme, he will be able to inspire others, not only those wanting to pursue a career in music composition but others who want to pursue careers that may seem “out there” to many. In May 2021, in the middle of a pandemic and while relocating to Trinidad, he successfully completed his degree. He has proven that with a determined mind, one can achieve one’s dreams.

I was a very inquisitive child. I was one of the “Okay…but why?” children, always wanting to know why things were the way they were.

In my last year of primary school, I took part in the school’s Carnival Calypso Competition with my own composition. I have no recollection whatsoever of the content though! Haha! Around that time, I also learned to play the steelpan, which happened quite by chance. One Carnival Monday, my mother had put me on the float to rest my legs and while there, my attention fell on a young lady playing what I now know to be a Double Seconds pan. I looked at her hands and how they were moving and eventually, I made a connection between the melody I was hearing and the patterns her hands were following. When the young lady took a break, I moved toward the instrument. My mother returned to the float to see me playing along with the band on the Double Seconds! That was 21 years ago. I haven’t stopped playing since!

The foundation of my music journey
At Presentation College, San Fernando, my interest in music grew. I didn’t know I really liked music until I got to Pres. I joined the school’s choir and participated in the annual musicals. I owe a lot of my formative musical years to Ms. Cynthia Leemack and the late Mr. Anthony Leemack. Miss Leemack drew me into the choir very early in Form 1 and we started to learn music with lyrics written on a sheet of paper. For some songs though, she wouldn’t have it available so she would give us the music scores. It was then that I started to apply the music theory in class to actual performing. That link, combined with just how much I liked the sound of the different voices together, the chord progressions and the emotions, were the foundation of my musical journey.

My ongoing interest in music and pan led me to The University of the West Indies, St Augustine where I pursued a Certificate in Music (Pan) followed by a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. In my penultimate year, my sister and I had gone to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. There was a scene where Dobb, the house elf dies. During that scene, the music shifted my focus and I started to pay attention to the emotions that I was feeling. I began to wonder how the same instruments (the orchestra) could make me feel a range of emotions. Perhaps the textures? Or maybe it was the timbre or a host of other combinations. It was at that moment that I decided what I wanted to do.
With a goal in mind and no idea how to achieve it, I enrolled in a Certificate in Orchestration for Film & TV at Berklee Online. For me, this was really where the fundamental understanding of orchestration and composition as well as how to apply it to visual media, took place.

Getting on track
Around that time, I met Jared Prima from Tobago, my first collaborator and a fellow Fulbright scholar. I scored the second and third installment of his drama trilogy, “The Witness”. Later that year, in 2015, the score for The Witness Part 2, was nominated as a finalist at the Los Angeles Shorts Awards.
While all of this was happening, I was also the Musical Director and Arranger for Fusion Steel Orchestra. We took part in the annual National Panorama Competition in the small band category from 2015-2018, securing a spot in the National Finals in the last three years.

In 2018, I applied to the Fulbright Program with the hopes of being able to pursue a Master’s degree in film scoring. I was blessed to be accepted and eventually made my way to New York University to begin my Master of Music degree in Music Theory and Composition: Screen Scoring. Before I left for NYU, I had set a goal to be the first person of colour to win an Academy Award for best film score. After spending time in school, in the NY environment, and in the industry as a whole, that goal has changed. I don’t know what the goal is now, but I’m 100% sure that I’m on the right track. When the time is right and I’m ready, the rest will be made known.

Did I feel safe?
When the pandemic hit in 2020, I was basically living in Ground Zero. At that time, NYC was the epicenter and the number of cases and deaths were staggering. The streets were mostly empty except for the continuous and ominous wailing of the ambulances. My roommate (fellow Trini Fulbrighter, Kerri Chandler) and I kept each other focused as the days wore on.

A few months after that, George Floyd was murdered and the ensuing protests erupted. NYC was not spared as I remembered seeing damaged NYPD vehicles parked along the street on the way to the subway. As any black man would be, I was livid. I was aware of the social climate at the time and I was definitely aware of how I could be perceived to be to others. Did I feel safe? I’d be lying if I said yes.

“Through God, all things are possible”
Throughout all these new and quite surreal experiences, I had support from my family and friends. Although I was isolated, I was still able to connect with others through video chat etc. I had a lot of support in the US as well. I must mention Tamara Johnson (and the entire Ifil family) for allowing me to stay with them when the lease on my apartment was up. I couldn’t enter into another rent agreement because I didn’t know when I was going to be granted an exemption to return to Trinidad. Studying in a pandemic when you don’t know where you’ll be sleeping in the near future, was definitely something for which I wasn’t prepared but, through God, all things are possible.

Soon after, I received the exemption and the day after, I was in Trinidad. I spent a week in state quarantine (while trying to log in to classes on less than stable wifi connections) after which I was finally able to go home: about twenty weeks after I initially made the application for exemption. In May 2021, I graduated in my backyard, having been presented with a myriad of obstacles, and overcoming each one. I now stand as the first Trinbagonian to receive a Master of Music in Music Theory & Composition: Screen Scoring. I’m ready to make a positive impact in my local community.

The box does not exist
Every day, our youth are bombarded with negativity from all sides. Some see a criminal life and fast money as a risk worth taking. It’s a separate pandemic that has even more potential for destruction. This is why I think that there should be more positive role models for young black men. Given the uniqueness of my degree programme and the career path I am pursuing, I will love to offer guidance to other young men and help encourage them to focus on their future plans. I want them to know that regardless of how “strange” or “out there” people may think their interests are, don’t stop pursuing them. They need to know that the box in which society tries to put them and insists that they’re that and that alone, DOES NOT EXIST.

Many may still be confused and inundated with concerns of their future. I totally understand that. It can be overwhelming because of the vast number of choices available. To help narrow those choices down, I think that you should look at areas that you genuinely enjoy doing. I love music and I love to create so I knew that a career somewhere in the field of music was the right fit for me. As a realist, however, I know that many people can’t afford to pursue their passion because it may not be as lucrative or they may be in immediate financial need. It really is a tough spot in which to find yourself and I don’t have a magic answer for it. But as simple as it sounds, try to write your plans down, identify the pros and cons and plan how to achieve what you finally decide to do.

You can learn more about Dike by visiting www.dikesamai.com