Dancehall.Mobi

“IT’S A HOLIDAY yeaah, sunny day” is the hook that stole summer 2009 from the track, ‘Holiday’.

While most may be familiar with Ding Dong, who deejays in the song, Chevaughn Clayton who sings the hook is no stranger to the music business.

Some might know the singer as the ‘voice’ of the eclectic band C-Sharp. Chevaughn has a long history of music behind his still growing career. Born into a musical family, Chevaughn has been singing since his days in his church choir, having received his first vocal training from his older sister. In addition to singing, he can also play the drum and keyboard. From the choir, it was on to Edna Manley College in 2003, where he became a member of the Further Notice band, now known as Notice productions (producers of ‘Holiday’).

When the original lead singer for C-Sharp left, Chevaughn was asked to step in, and has been with them since 2006. He said, “Our musical chemistry is wicked, we write together effortlessly. In the band, everyone has a role.”

Describing the band as a Jamaican pop band playing everything from roots to a mix of rock, Chevaughn’s personal taste in music is more outside the box. For the singer, his taste favours bands like Queen and Dave Matthews, but with ‘Holiday’, he showed that dancehall is also part of his catalogue.

According to Chevaughn it was a rainy day when he came up with the catchy hook for ‘Holiday’ at Notice Studios.

“We were there listening to the beat and thought it brought out something very bright and nice and so I started the bridge first and sang a whole heap of things before the holiday idea came out. We had the idea to have a number of artistes on it and Ding was one of them. We carried the demo to him and he heard it and did the first verse the same time and then went to studio,” he explained.

For Chevaughn, he never thought the song would have been as successful as it is and was tentative to put his name to the track. Being the lead singer of a popular band, Chevaughn didn’t want persons to think he was going solo. And after talking it through with the band, they decided a few collaborations could only help make the band more popular.

In the works, he has a collaboration with Craig Jackson from Voicemail, Ding Dong and Chris martin called ‘Tables’, as well as a song with Elephant Man called ‘Happy’ – all for Notice productions. Also in the works is a song featuring Demarco for Foota Hype.

Chevaughn is also busy with C-Sharp on the road, where they sometimes perform ‘Holiday’ together. They are also working on an album. He said: “So far we’ve got offers from three different companies, but presently we’re coming up with a finished idea for the album.” Watch for more from Chevaughn and C-Sharp in 2010.

- Contributed