He was born Delyno Brown on August 5th 1981 in Charlotte Amalie, capital city of St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands were colonised by the Danes and used for the sugar and slavery trades in the 17th century before being purchased by the United States in 1917. St Thomas, at the archipelago’s western end, has a land mass of 32 square miles and a population of just over 50,000 – 18,000 of whom live in Charlotte Amalie.

Delyno was the fourth of six children by his father Irvin, a calypso, Latin and jazz drummer and radio personality who drove a taxi to support his family. Irvin had a son and two daughters from a previous marriage when he met Pressure’s mother Carol, who worked as a secretary. Delyno arrived first of a further three. While music came from his father’s side, his mother’s family were gifted in sports. His uncle is Will Peterson who played basketball for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Delyno dreamed of playing pro baseball until age nine, when music took over.

His ambitions to beat the drums like his dad were temporarily thwarted when the band instructor at Lockhart Elementary school insisted he play trumpet instead. “Everybody wanted to be a drummer” he explains “so I picked up the trumpet. I had no choice because I loved music, so I’m going to be a part of this band no matter what”. This would be the first of several instances where his musical desires being stymied led him into something new. Like gushing water, Pressure’s talent would flow in all directions to get around obstacles and burst through artificial dams.

He also took up the steelpan – a melodic percussion instrument originally made from disused oil containers. He joined Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra – a government organisation “My mum and dad placed me in so I wouldn’t be on the streets doing anything… you know”. Invented in Trinidad allegedly in response to percussive African drumming being banned by the British, the steelpan has a significant history and could be seen as influence on Pressure’s rhythmic melodious style. “It brought an African feel. It has a spirit where you can play any song on just one drum”. Yet back then, Delyno viewed it as a compromise compared to kit drumming. “My father was a known drummer in the community so I was like ‘Steelpan is good but I want to take this on a different level’”.

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He was born Delyno Brown on August 5th 1981 in Charlotte Amalie, capital city of St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands, to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands were colonised by the Danes and used for the sugar and slavery trades in the 17th century before being purchased by the United States in 1917. St Thomas, at the archipelago’s western end, has a land mass of 32 square miles and a population of just over 50,000 – 18,000 of whom live in Charlotte Amalie.

Delyno was the fourth of six children by his father Irvin, a calypso, Latin and jazz drummer and radio personality who drove a taxi to support his family. Irvin had a son and two daughters from a previous marriage when he met Pressure’s mother Carol, who worked as a secretary. Delyno arrived first of a further three. While music came from his father’s side, his mother’s family were gifted in sports. His uncle is Will Peterson who played basketball for the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks. Delyno dreamed of playing pro baseball until age nine, when music took over.

His ambitions to beat the drums like his dad were temporarily thwarted when the band instructor at Lockhart Elementary school insisted he play trumpet instead. “Everybody wanted to be a drummer” he explains “so I picked up the trumpet. I had no choice because I loved music, so I’m going to be a part of this band no matter what”. This would be the first of several instances where his musical desires being stymied led him into something new. Like gushing water, Pressure’s talent would flow in all directions to get around obstacles and burst through artificial dams.

He also took up the steelpan – a melodic percussion instrument originally made from disused oil containers. He joined Rising Stars Youth Steel Orchestra – a government organisation “My mum and dad placed me in so I wouldn’t be on the streets doing anything… you know”. Invented in Trinidad allegedly in response to percussive African drumming being banned by the British, the steelpan has a significant history and could be seen as influence on Pressure’s rhythmic melodious style. “It brought an African feel. It has a spirit where you can play any song on just one drum”. Yet back then, Delyno viewed it as a compromise compared to kit drumming. “My father was a known drummer in the community so I was like ‘Steelpan is good but I want to take this on a different level’”.

- See more at: http://unitedreggae.com/articles/n1471/041814/interview-pressure-2014#sthash.xek981uU.dpuf

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