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Jamaica in the Hauz

Jamaica-born Nyesha MekaDayz and Tanisha SunnyMarz Hamil are sisters. They are also entertainers, dancers, singers and recording artists who live in Park City.

Talent runs in their family. Their father Errol Grant is the lead singer for the Patwa Reggae Band, and their cousin Swainson Holness is the group’s keyboardist.

So, it was only a matter of time before the women decided to form their own production company called 11 Hauz.

The two spoke in a tag-team manner with The Park Record about their goals and upcoming projects a few weeks ago.

"We had been talking about pulling together a company for years, but we made it official last year," SunnyMarz said.

"We wanted to make an entertainment company that offered dance, music and writing, but more importantly to celebrate our Jamaican culture," explained MekaDayz.

The sisters want to spread the "good news" of reggae on a cultural basis, something many people in the United States aren’t familiar with.

Not only will 11 Hauz present music, vocalists and choreography, but it will eventually venture into scriptwriting and filmmaking.

"We are from Jamaica and we want to let people know that our culture has a lot more to offer than what most people think about," said MekaDayz. "Sure, we love the reggae artists like Peter Tosh, Bob Marley, The Wailers and Beres Hammond from back in the days, but when you think about it, there aren’t a lot of people who know about the dancehall music of our culture."

"Dancehall is a little more raw," said SunnyMarz.

"Like with rap music in hip-hop, you have your rawness and that’s what dancehall is to reggae," MekaDayz explained. "It has a lot of African and Latin moves in it. The music can be angry, but it can also be happy and subtle."

Dancehall emerged during a time when Jamaica was going through a political uprising.

"The people formed the dancehall culture because of the government and politics and then it moved to the nightclubs, and it became the club beat to reggae," SunnyMarz said.

While mainstream reggae is usually about peace and unity, dancehall, especially the videos, are provocative, "raunchy and crazy," said SunnyMarz.

"In Park City, when we perform, we will tone things down a bit," she said. "It will still be sexy and hip-hoppy, but not so vulgar."

"I can be vulgar if I want to, but it would be at a private event," MekaDayz said with a laugh.

11 Hauz is currently working on launching SunnyMarz’s solo career as well.

"Through the company, I’ve signed a 15-song demo recording contract with a little management team called Big Ackee Music and have recorded seven songs so far," she said. "Out of those seven songs, they’ve already mixed two songs and plan to drop the songs in New York, Europe and Jamaica in the next two weeks on a mix CD."

The two songs are "Red Light," which, said SunnyMarz, is true to dancehall form and is a little raunchy and suggestive, and "One Kiss" that is basically someone lamenting the waning of the "red light" love affair.

"It’s about picking up the pieces after the passion is gone," she said.

SunnyMarz also shot a video for "Red Light" through 11 Hauz, and then another director, Abdiel Ibarra, asked her to visit New York so he could film a second video.

"Right now, the management at Big Ackee is in the process of deciding which video is best to release," SunnyMarz said.

In the interim, the Hamil sisters have shifted their focus on local productions.

MekaDayz teaches a dancehall movement class every Monday night at Bar Deluxe in Salt Lake.

"I create the choreography and people learn how to do dancehall," she said. "I also will have a class at Basin Recreation in October. I had one there earlier this year, but since the season was so slow, we took it off the schedule and will start it up when the weather cools down."

In November, the Hamils will present a night of Jamaican culture at Bar Deluxe that will feature the Patwa Reggae Band and a dancehall DJ.

"I’ll be singing my two singles," SunnyMarz said. "And Meka will sing also."

"While I usually like to leave most of the singing up to Sunny, so I ca focus on dancing, I’m a singer as well," MekaDayz said.

The idea for the show sprouted from a concert they presented called "Decorate Di Dancefloor" at the Egyptian Theatre last year.

"That show was for everyone," MekaDayz said. "This one will be more for an adult audience."

With managing 11 Hauz, working on new moves and writing and recording songs and videos, the Hamils have a lot on their plate, and sometimes things can get lost in the mix.

That’s where their mom comes into the picture.

"We owe a lot to her for helping us keep focused," SunnyMarz said. "She’s one of those crazy Jamaican ladies, but has a lot of wisdom."

The sisters rely on each other as well.

"For all of our lives, my sister and I have been in many different entertainment groups, and that is our calling and passion," MekaDayz said. "It’s hard to juggle, but we manage to stay focused. I have Sunny and she has me. She’s my backbone and I’m hers."

"If one of us forgets something, the other will pick up the pieces," said SunnyMarz. "We have so much to do that we have to make a priority list and the priorities are always what’s coming up next."

Both women want 11 Hauz to be a success.

"Our goal is to be a big production company for reggae itself as a whole and we want to give something that gets people excited," MekaDayz said. "That way the Jamaican culture will be able to grow."

For more information about 11 Hauz Productions, visit http://www.facebook.com/11Hauz?sk=wall&filter=1

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