Sharon Carpenter is a US-based TV host and award-winning broadcast journalist of British and Indian descent. She can currently be seen covering star-studded red carpets and movie premieres for BBC America and AMC Networks. Sharon delivers breaking updates on the royal family as a regular contributor on E! News and CNN and shares her film expertise on Good Morning America’s “Binge This.” She is a guest LA correspondent for top-rated UK morning show, Lorraine. Sharon is also the host of Let’s Go Live! – her Instagram Live celebrity interview series. Guests have included Chris Rock, Claire Holt and Sean Paul. The social media show, which she created during the pandemic, has received both a Telly Award and a Webby Awards Honor. She is also the President of Carpenter Media, LLC. Check out her website at: www.sharonlcarpenter.com<http://www.sharonlcarpenter.com/>.

Carpenter was spotted at DJ Private Ryan’s “Soca Brainwash” festival event by Overtime Media, who subsequently interviewed her about her first Trinidad Carnival experience and other topics of interest. She recently hosted a Trinidad Carnival Recap chat with Kes The Band’s lead singer, Kees Dieffenthaller on her IG Live show.  

OM: How long have you known about Trinidad and Trinidad Carnival? When did you first become aware of this island/ phenomenon?
SC: When I was attending university in New York City, one of my roommates was from Trinidad.  Every year he’d be gone for 2 weeks to party it up at Trinidad Carnival, then he’d come back home and fill us in on all the fun and the action. He’d tell me it wasn’t for the faint of heart and back then I probably considered myself exactly that, haha.

OM: Do you have Caribbean roots/heritage in your family tree?
SC: I don’t, believe it or not, but I grew up in the UK around a lot of Caribbean people and West Indian culture has had a HUGE impact on youth culture in particular in Britain over the years. It’s influenced all of us in some form or fashion.   Growing up, I loved dancehall which we called ragga music. When I was 16 or 17, I started attending the Notting Hill Carnival. I went for the hip hop and ended up staying for the soca.

OM: How did you end up in Trinidad for Carnival 2023? Was your interest more personal curiosity or professional intrigue or both?
SC: Both to be honest. I’ve been to Crop Over in Barbados several times — which I absolutely love. Back in 2019, I was out there with Krave The Band and last year I was there with Krave and Bajan 1966. I always have an amazing time.  Loving Crop Over gave me the desire to experience Trinidad Carnival. A couple of my really good friends in LA had planned their trips this year so that made me want to go even more. DJ Private Ryan is a good friend of mine and he introduced me to Jonny Mack and the EPIC Carnival Cruise folks. They invited me to be a “captain” on their cruise that would leave from Barbados and head to Trinidad for 5 days at Carnival. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity.  I saw that awesome talent like Deejay Puffy, Father Philis, Mr. Vegas, Destra Garcia, and Rupee would be on-board. It was a no-brainer.

OM: We’ve seen some of your positive posts about it, but give us some more details please. How was the Epic/Trinidad Carnival experience for you and what did you learn that you didn’t know before?
SC: It was AMAZING. Words can’t even express how fun it was.  Once I arrived at Barbados airport I bonded with some of the Americans who’d just flown in for the cruise as we took the shuttle bus to the ship. The fun kicked off from there.  The first night, as we sailed to Trinidad there was a white party on the deck by the pool. Have you ever partied to soca music until 3 am (everyone else went until 6 but I was trying to pace myself, LOL) in the middle of the Caribbean Sea with the gentle motion of the waves assisting your dance moves? Haha. Not many people have. There was unlimited food and drink available on the ship which was all-inclusive. I had an amazing view of the ocean from my cabin balcony. The ship was its own really cool community.

Once we got to Trinidad, the cruise had tickets for us to all the best fetes from Machel Montano’s The One Show, where I stayed until 5 am, to Private Ryan’s Soca Brainwash, where I spent my entire Saturday. Both were incredible! Monday Mas was super fun but Tuesday Mas was the highlight. EPIC got me a stunning custom costume for Yuma that was designed by Jonny’s mum, Sonia Mack. I had a blast on the truck and even more fun on the road. We then headed back from Trinidad that evening and partied the night away yet again on the way to Barbados. I made some lovely new friends on this trip and walked away with a ton of amazing memories that will last a lifetime.

OM: How familiar were you with Soca music prior to this Epic trip and how has this massive dose of the genre affected your playlists, soundtracks, music-inclusive routines and tastes in general?
SC: I was a big fan of soca thanks to Crop Over. When I first did Crop Over, I remember my Bajan friends telling me I’d hear nothing but soca music for the next week. I didn’t know how I would handle that initially but once I experienced some of the fetes and saw the pure joy, fun, and energy from the crowd when the big songs came on, I was immediately in love.

Soca is now one of my favorite genres. The beats are SIICK. Since I’ve been back in the US I’ve been playing all the big tunes back to back to back. It helps transport me back to that happy place and it’s great to work out to. By the way, fun fact — I interviewed the King of Soca, Machel Montano on my Instagram Live show during the pandemic. We chatted for about 90 minutes. It was so insightful and the audience loved it.

OM: How do you see Caribbean and Carnival culture impacting on the US mainstream, the entertainment industry and other major markets of the world in time to come? How close are we to some major breakthroughs for Soca and Carnival culture?
SC: It’s been great to see Machel and Bunji have some mainstream moments here over the years. Both perform a lot in the US And Bajan artists like Father Philis are doing so too. These artists having a physical presence here makes a big difference.  Also, with more and more Americans and Brits hearing about Trinidad Carnival and the Epic Carnival Cruise, seeing our posts and just how much fun it is, they want to try it out for themselves — and once you do Carnival you love soca music. It lives in your heart forever.

Nicki Minaj participation this year got a lot of mainstream attention. Collaborations with other types of artists are a great way to get the music out there. I’d love to see a soca song go viral on TikTok. And the DJs are also a key part to all this. Private Ryan with his super hot soca mixes and Puffy who blends genres like a champ are doing a great job of pushing things forward as they’re being heard all over the world.

OM: How does Trinidad and Tobago differ and stand out in your mind compared to some other destinations around the world that you have visited and experienced? What do we offer that cannot be found or experienced elsewhere?
SC: Trinidad is the Queen of all Carnivals. It’s a “must” to experience it at least once in your lifetime. The people of Trinidad are beautiful inside and out. The food is delicious. The music is amazing. The vibe is like no other. Everyone (and that’s A LOT of people) is just out to have a great time and celebrate life with the people they love — and strangers who then become friends!  I didn’t get to see much of the island because I was feting all day and all night, haha. But I’ll be back to hit the beaches soon enough. Epic memories are made in Trinidad.

OM: Will we see you again for Carnival 2024? Would you want to experience some different aspects of the festival next time (maybe some things you heard about, but were unable to try) or would you instead prefer to recreate the experience you had this year?
SC: I would want to do it all over again the exact way I did it this first time with the EPIC Cruise — maybe with a beach or two added in.

OM: Have you adopted any Trini slangs, habits, mindsets, behaviors and/or mannerisms that you can’t or don’t want to get rid of since leaving our shores?
What do you miss the most?
SC: I miss the incredible feeling of unity that we all experienced when songs like Skinny’s “Come Home,” Bunji’s “Hard Fete”, Kes’ “Mental Day” or Machel and Patrice’s “Like Yuh Self” were blasting from the speakers.  There’s nothing quite like it.  I found energy within myself that I didn’t know I had.  We all did.  It was a tremendous bonding experience. Soca makes me happy. Trinidad Carnival was the trip of a lifetime… a very special time.

Photos courtesy Sharon Carpenter.
Sharon with EZ Billy (from Barbados) Photo by Overtime Media