Lisa Pierre
I start of by saying “Welcome and I hope you have enjoyed looking through our website and may have learnt something new about Vincy Alliance Mas that you never knew before”
As one of the founders of this wonderful mas band my intentions from the outset was to ignite and promote our fabulous Caribbean culture through the art form that is ‘MAS’.
From a young age living in the U.K. but always always visiting my parents Origins (St.Vincent & Barbados) to see and experience Carnival was so exciting. My adrenalin was pumped each and every time - like I had never experienced this before! So much so that I would look for this exact feeling and experience in the U.K..
Fast forward to over fifteen years and my search was still ongoing. I joined one mas Band ‘Soca Saga Boys’ to be exact in the year 2000 at that time the owner ‘Tony’ (RIP Tony) was so accommodating and the vibes was live. It reminded me a bit of Vincy and Bim and what I had experienced over there. I became involved and would join them year after year. News soon travelled to all of my friends and family. We would trek down to Notting Hill to join his float. Sometimes we even took heavy pots of food to the float to feed the masqueraders lol
Although I experienced this, something was still missing for me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until Vincy Alliance Mas was born.
I’m very proud to have witnessed from the beginning in 2012 starting with a ‘name, idea, passionate leaders who love to have a good time, and a bunch of people who believed in us. We knew there was a gap in the market but had no truck for Notting Hill at the beginning. However our important message and idea that we would unite Vincentian people in the U.K. to come together and celebrate our nation was our drive’.
Here we are, with a successful mas band! Our determined and passionate team work behind the scenes to ensure Vincy Alliance Mas stays alive, is always fresh with new concepts, continues to educate children where we can and also within our local community, produce exceptional events along with promoting unity at Notting Hill Carnival.
#OneTeam
Arnaldo Pierre
My name is Arnaldo Pierre Director and co-founder of Vincy Alliance Mas. I have always been and forever will be passionate about my tiny undiscovered Gem of the Antilles island St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I attended the Bethel High School and the St. Vincent Technical colleague. In 2008 I then joined the British army and walked away with a wealth of knowledge including leadership skills and project management. This aided me greatly in the operations of a mas band containing 300 masqueraders.
Born and raised in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and taking part in the local carnival was always an experience every child dreamt and looked forward to being a part of. On moving to the UK, the excitement was always real looking forward to the one day we are allowed in the UK to rediscover and showcase our culture on the streets of London. Everything was almost perfect other than the fact there was no representation from my beloved island. This prompt me to take the necessary steps in 2012 to join force with my other associates to born what is now the most successful Vincentian band in the UK mas band better known as Vincy Alliance Mas.
I also hold experience in being apart of a young leader group, held the position of Fund-raising officer at the Wycombe multicultural organization. I also collaborated and lead major projects with SV2G and Action4youth.
My knowledge and experience are demonstrated into the day to day running and managing of our successful mas band which I am proud of be a part of.
Chanique
Hey, Chanique here.
I am the newest member of the Vincy Alliance Mas team, saying that, it has been 3 years now and a masquerader for many more years.
Being the only masquerader of Vincy Alliance mas to have played in costume each year, there is no surprise that my role in the team is primarily to deal with costumes, from liaising with designers to ensuring our masqueraders are satisfied and have a memorable time on the road. We work very closely as a team so I am not limited to costumes only but will often also be involved in t-shirt design selection and distribution among other roles.
For me, Vincy Alliance mas is more than a team and a mas band- we are a Family!! This is also felt by our masqueraders. Most of us have a Vincentian background but we cater for all nationalities and there is always a feeling of inclusiveness.
The best part for me of being a part of Vincy Alliance is the vibe and buzz in the band on the road on Carnival day, NOTHING beats this and all your hard work and trials for the past year gets becomes a memory.
Sandra
Hi, my name is Sandra.
Native german 🇩🇪, and moved to the UK 🇬🇧 in 2008.
My first trip to Vincy 🇻🇨 was in 2014 with friends, who became my extended UK family. I played mas for the very first time with 'Blondie Birds & Friends' and had an experience of a lifetime. This is were the love to soca music 🎶, culture and people has started.
I have joined Vincy Alliance Mas in 2015 as Fun Mas and started to get involved very quickly as I enjoyed being part of the team. I was welcomed with open arms and felt being part of the VA team without any hesitation.
Now I am in charge of the after sales and ensure that our customers are looked after, feeling welcomed, the same way, as the VA family has made me feel, from the very first day.
I love being part of the VA Team, helping, supporting and embracing my passion to the 🌏 (world).
DjHotheadUk
As the main in-house DJ, I was born and raised in Questelles, St. Vincent and The Grenadines. Most people knew me growing up as “Clock” (never liked sleeping). I attended the Questelles Government school, Bishop’s College Kingstown and St. Vincent Technical College. I then migrated to the UK in 2007 and is now widely known as DjHotheadUk. I grew up around music which developed my interest in this field which has now transformed me into a multi- genre Disc Jockey who is very talented, versatile and enthusiastic for just over a decade.
Being a member of Vincy Alliance Mas band gives me great satisfaction that there is a foreign entity that pushes our local culture in the UK. We aim to deliver the quality events ensuring our local and international fans enjoy every experience with us. We have a very loyal, unified and committed team which makes it easy to achieve our goals and more so value each other’s opinions. Being a day one member of the team, I have endured the challenging times that comes with all the planning and executing that occurs which only improves our team cohesion and that’s what makes our team special which is now evident in our growth internationally.
Shenika
Hey! I’m Shenika!
I create the designs of the costumes for Notting Hill Carnival.
What do I like about being apart of VA... first of all, VA is not just a team, we are like family...
We all work well together, contributing and bouncing off of each other’s ideas! We are all very open minded, and we all have strengths in different areas which create a balanced workforce.
And we try to create this unique experience of bringing a piece of the Caribbean culture to the UK for mascaraders, to make sure they get there money worth and fully enjoyed their experience at Notting Hill Carnival.
We are “🎶 One Team... 🎶”
Dennis Barker Jr
Dennis Barker Jr AKA Kofi seems to have inherited the vibe from his father and namesake, who was also a turntable specialist/DJ.
Kofi started out with his father's record collection, then began making mixtapes with a turntable and CD's.
As he went through school, he honed his skill by keeping abreast with present and past hits. The soundsystem Hypa-Active Sounds was catalyzed in Demolition Kid's house where Shaney Hypez and Kofi would meet and spin tunes from midmorning to late evenings. Kofi's prowess grew, it was as if he had his hand on the pulse of the party scene, and he knew just the right song to select for the revellers.
This propelled the group to compete and win the King of the Dancehall DJ competition over veteran DJs such as Scratch Master.
This win led to a stint on SVG's number one radio station for several years at peak rotation, where he was dubbed 'King Kofi'.
Since then Kofi's passion for musical selection has remained with him even overseas particularly the UK, as he has continued to share his unique flavor at fetes and Notting Hill carnival as part of the Vincy Alliance Crew.