Beautiful sounds from Garrette and Axel
THOUGH they are from different cultures, Garrette Simmonds and Axel Jed Alinsub found common musical ground in New York City six years ago. In August the duo, known as Garrette and Axel, released the EP Better Late Than Never.
Marketed by their G&A Recordings label, the five-song piece contains the dance song Beautiful, which recently entered the South Florida Top 30 Chart.
Simmonds, who is from Kingston, met Axel who hails from the Philippines at a concert in New York. They began working together shortly after and recorded one song, Break Me, before collaborating with co-producers Joel Edwards and Dsharp on Better Late Than Never.
“Even though our taste in music is completely different from each other, musically we are very in sync. It is that diversity that has impacted our sound and given us our unique vibe. Merging the Caribbean and Asian backgrounds has given our music a very eclectic sound,” said Garrette in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.
Their influences range from Sean Paul and Shaggy to Brian Mcknight, Usher, Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.
Utilising G&A Recordings’ limited budget, Garrette and Axel have worked with Jamaican music industry veteran Fitzroy Francis to push Beautiful through Spotify placements, blog reviews and Tiktok videos.
Being an independent act, they believe taking control of their affairs is important.
“Having our own label gives us creative freedom, which allows us to do the music that we love. Also, it allows us to go in the directions that we want to go in,” said Garrette.