Pastor John Yarde Jr has been having a phenomenal year.
From the release of his debut album 1st John to the resounding success of his first Christmas single Caribbean Christmas, his name has been on the tongues of many while also blowing up the airwaves.
But the young pastor would tell you, ‘it was all intentional’.
“This year went as I would have hoped it would. My team and I were intentional about what music and songs we wanted to put out there. I am happy about the success so far but we definitely planned for it and I’m happy everything is going according to plan so far. I am grateful things have gone well. The response has been overwhelming,” he said.
Yarde told Easy his success this year meant in no way that he was the best, but he felt good to know that his music was taking off and doing well.
“I’m very happy, proud and contented with where I am at present. We also invested a lot this year and spent a lot of money this year so I’m glad things are going well,” he added.
Where 1st John is concerned, Yarde said the response has been absolutely amazing.
“We distributed so many CDs and the online sales have been great as well. I’m glad that the music is being received and the ministry is growing, I have kids walking up to me and telling me they love my music and glad to meet me and stuff like that, it’s so humbling,” he said.
As for his new Christmas single Caribbean Christmas Yarde said he wasn’t surprised the song is doing well, but is again humbled by the response.
“Fans determine if a song is going to be popular. I’m really humbled that the people like it so much. Now I’m feeling a bit pressured because 2018 is next year,” he said.
He told Easy where the concept came about for the song.
“‘I got the concept for this song last year. ‘5:47 and the sun is about to rise’ that’s all we had at first. The melody was there, that came easily, so I sat with it for an entire year. I listened to it ever so often. I decided to talk about what we experience here in the Caribbean at Christmas. But the song to me is a standard song. You can easily reference the song to Justin Bieber’s Mistletoe or Bruno Mars’ Lazy Song, because they are all standard pop songs. Pop music by nature is very catchy,” he explained.
But for all those fans already awaiting his next Christmas song, Yarde said unfortunately, he’s in no rush.
“Caribbean Christmas was two years in the making, hopefully, it doesn’t take that long again. But I’m in no rush. I do want to make a contribution at this time of year. I would love to do a cover of Bumba’s Why Can’t This Christmas Feeling Go On,” he added.
And even though he’s doing well, there’s no slowing down for the humble young man. In fact, he said, there’s now work to be done.
“They’re some goals that I haven’t reached as yet. There’s still a lot of work to do with the album. Touring, travelling, music videos and so on. I am committed to offering the best at all times. In the New Year, I have so much that I want to go after. Vocal training is one of them. I never really spent time training vocally so I will be doing that. My eyes are fixed on where I want to be,” he said.
Yarde added: “I’ve already started writing for the next project, whatever it is. However, it’s not an immediate priority. Spreading the music, getting into new territories, that’s the plan for 2018.” (DB)
