Eshe and Arrested Development…STRONG…er than ever
Grammy award winning Arrrested Development recently kicked off their U.S. and Canada tour with performances at the Tom Joyner Cruise and the Essence Music Festival.
Their new album “STRONG” featuring “The World Is Changing” was released overseas, www.vagabondmusiconline.com/fr_strong.cfm . It reached and stayed for several weeks on Japan’s Top 10 MTV International.
(Singer, dancer and choreographer, Eshe, Interview with Flaimahmy, July 22, 2010)
FM: I understand that Eshe means life in Swahili. Can you tell us how you got your name?
E: Actually it does and my whole name is Montsho Eshe; you can say it “Mont sho Es shay” and it means black life. It’s a really fun story. My sister was pregnant with my nephew at the time the group was about to release a record and everybody in the group had all of these cool names outside of their real names, their government names. I was looking for an African name for my nephew in this African book and I ran across that name, Eshe, and I loved it. I was like ’wow’ this describes me because I’m very energetic and a bubbly person so I liked the name. It was as simple as that.
FM: As a child did you dream of being a writer, musician and choreographer?
E: Actually, I wanted to be a lawyer and I wanted to dance for Alvin Ailey. That’s what I wanted to do. I grew up in the arts. My mother owned a dance school for over thrity-five years. I’ve been dancing since I was two years old and I’m thirty-five now. I taught my first dance class when I was fourteen. I think I choreographed my first piece when I was fifteen or sixteen. It was to Prince when he did the Batman soundtrack, that song that he had on the soundtrack. That was my first piece.
I’ve always loved to dance; I’ve always loved music. Truly, I really thought I was going to be a lawyer and dance with Alvin Ailey. I kind of fell into the music thing. My sister was into it heavily because I’m the youngest. How I got in the group, actually it was my sister’s audition and she didn’t want to do it and she passed it on to me because she was doing some other work with James Brown and other artists at that time. So, she was like, “You want the audition?” I was like, “Sure.”
I just went in and auditioned for fun; I was thirteen years old when I auditioned for Arrested Development.
FM: Wow. How did your parents feel about you auditioning so young for a major group?
E: This was in the eighties so the group was at its beginning stages. There was actually just Speech and the other co-founder who was Headliner; it was just the two of them and then I came into the flow. My mom was extremely supportive because again she was a woman of the arts who owned her own dance school so she said, “If this is what you really want to do as long as you stay focused in school and be good in school and don’t get in trouble, you can do it.” I was like, “Ok.” It was just fun for me. My dad lived in the house but he never was really engaged in what we were doing. It was more so my mom. I kind of looked to her for direction.
FM: You have a seven year old daughter. Are you and her dad conservative parents or liberal parents? What’s your parenting style?
E: That’s a great question. I’m saved and I’m a Christian and I try to live a Holy life. I try my best. I’m not perfect. You know honestly I don’t let her listen to certain music because I don’t listen to it. No cursing around her, I don’t do that. No drinking, No smoking. None of that. I try to raise her right and keep her sheltered from some things but not to the point where she’s shellshocked when she’s in the world. I take her out with me on the road. She’s home schooled. She’s a very smart young lady. She takes gymnastics. I teach her dance. She’s very active in church. She loves going to church. She loves God and she loves learning. She’s just a happy child. Her lifestyle is different from other kids her age, number one, because of what I do for a living and since she was two months she’s been touring. Her first trip was Hawaii and she went to Europe when she was two and a half going on three. She travels with me all the time. My mother and I are very very close so it’s really the three of us always together.
When I’m out of town and I can’t bring them because sometimes they come on the road with me, my mother keeps her for me and watches her. There are other family members who help as well but it is mainly my mom. She’s with me pretty much all the time. Her dad is very supportive of her as well. I try to be open but she’s a little firecracker.
FM: Is your daughter interested in performing?
E: Oh yeah. Actually, she’s been in two of our videos. She has already done a pilot for a reality tv show about talented young kids in agencies. I keep her active at church so she does her speeches and dances. I don’t push her to do anything that she doesn’t want to do but it’s funny how a lot of the stuff that she has done she didn’t even audition for, people just asked, “Can she be a part of this?” I’m like, “sure” and I ask her does she want to do it and she says yes. You know it’s interesting how things have just kind of fallen into her lap. I tell her all the time that she’s so great and she is fearfully and wonderfully made and she’s blessed. She has such a spirit of success on her and prosperity and love. She just has such a good heart as a kid. She has kind of an old soul too. She’s truly a blessed child.
FM: Awesome. Now Arrested Development has kicked off its U.S. and Canadian tour. You performed at the Tom Joyner Cruise and The Essence Music Festival in New Orleans recently. You’ve also performed in Dubai. So few Americans know anything about Dubai. How did you prepare for that performance and how was the experience?
E: We did what we normally do. You know, just our regular show. We didn’t know what to expect because we hadn’t been to Dubai. A lot of people had told us how beautiful it was and how strict it was over there. When we got there, because it is a very strict Muslim country, a lot of people were covered up and you definitely always want to respect the culture whereever you go, that part was very interesting just seeing the culture…the dress style. People kind of look at you a little strange.
It was beautiful. I actually love it there. It was hot, whoooh as I don’t know what, but it’s really really hot there. I was like, “I’m from the south but I’ve never felt heat like this.” It was beautiful. The people really received us. Honestly, a lot of the shows, it was a lot of Americans there and people from all over the world because of a lot of people over there teaching English or working because it is such a very rich place . There is a lot of construction and building going on. It’s a lot of Americans in Dubai, you would be surprised, a lot.
FM: I want to go to Dubai one day definitely.
E: You should go; it’s beautiful. They have huge malls. They have a mall that has an actual ski resort in it and it’s real snow in the middle of the desert. Isn’t that amazing? They have mosques in their malls so that at a certain time you hear like a bell ring and people then go and pray in the malls. It’s deep. It’s a beautiful place. We’ve been there two or three times.
FM: You are writer and choreographer for Arrested Development’s new album entitled, STRONG. That’s a “strong” position for a woman in an industry still dominated by men. How has the industry changed in your opinion?
E: Well, you know, as they say, it is what it is. When I first got in of course I was only thirteen. When we came out I was sixteen. I was still very much a kid. Coming into something like this that is such an adult business you have to grow up really quick and a lot of things you are not prepared for. You learn by trial and error. This is a very male dominated business. It’s unfortunate sometimes. I was speaking with a friend of mine the other day and I was saying in this business a lot of times it is very sad that people say, ”I want to do this with you, I want to work with you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah” and really at the end of the day what they are trying to do is what they were doing at the beginning of the day, they are just trying to date you or connect with you on another level other than business.
It’s unfortunate because I feel like a lot of times a lot of great female artists are overlooked for that reason because they are not going to give in to selling their soul just to get a record deal. You hear about that so much. That part saddens me. It’s not everybody in the industry but it does happen and I think honestly not just in music but that happens in the world. A lot of people do things to climb up the ladder of success which is very unfortunate.
When I first got into it, I never knew what a groupie was or any of that and just seeing it from that perspective and being on the road and seeing that and just being a young girl in the business and not knowing a lot of things from a business aspect, learning by trial and error, it was heartbreaking. Honestly, for a while I stepped away from the music industry for like two years. I didn’t want anything to do with it… at all…period.
It was funny because during that time I really heavily got into my Word and into God and in the sense of direction for my life. Then God sent me back on out and people kept calling me and asking me if I could choreograph this and can you do this and can you do that. Part of the reason was that I was just heartbroken by how people treat one another. I’m one of those people who trys to believe in the good things versus the negative things in people or situations. It was heartbreaking for it to continuously keep going on and on and on.
I’ve seen so many young girls be taken by the industry because of that and they don’t want anything to do with it because of how you get treated by a lot of the males in this industry. It’s really sad. It’s really sad.
FM: You’ve stated that your goal is to be a legend in print, film and music? Do you feel as though you are on target?
E: Oh yeah, definitely. I’m right where God wants me to be. You know throughout the years I’ve been through a lot in my life. A lot. But, you know it’s amazing because all those experiences build character, they sharpen your character and I praise God for them. They have made me the person I am today. Everyday my goal is to be a better person and to do what God wants me to do. I feel like I am in that place. I’m more seasoned now. I’m more wise, more grounded and I’m excited about the future that is in store for me.
It’s beyond what I do. Let me say this. If I don’t hit the mark of God’s purpose for me, then a nation is lost because under me it’s people that I’m supposed to touch, it’s people that I’m supposed to meet, it’s relationships that are supposed to develop and every situation that comes about is for a season, a reason or a lifetime. It’s a reciprocal effect. You get something from them, they get something from you whether it just be encouragement or you’re speaking something into their life or being positive or loving or something.
If I’m not where I am supposed to be then a whole nation of people will be lost. I try to really stay in line with the Creator, in like, “Where do you want me to be? Where do you want me to go?” I feel like I’m definitely in the right place.
FM: You are Director of Performing Arts Ministry at Solomon’s Porch Ministries in Decatur, GA. What is your core teaching in this ministry?
E: Oh, man. My core teaching in my dance ministry is to build strong Christians as well as dancers so not only are you teaching people how to dance but you’re being mother, you’re being sister, you’re being friend, you’re being counselor, you’re being mentor because they are watching your lifestyle. A lot of times when we’re having rehearsals they may come in and get on issues of home and you have to deal with that before you can even move forth to the dance aspect of it.
It’s a blessing because I’ve been teaching a long long time and a lot of the kids have been with me since they were babies and they are getting ready to go off to college. We just did a dance conference at my church and a dance concert last Sunday. It really blessed my heart because people who attended have seen my kids dance for years. They were saying that something happened, something shifted with them, because they had never seen them dance like that and give their all. Just like my mother taught me, these are skills that they can take with them the rest of their life. They can always teach somebody how to dance and make a living off of that and sew into some other young person’s life.
For me, the core is to build great people and to let my life be an example. Sometimes, you definitely fall short; I definitely fall short. I try to be a great example for those kids because they are like my kids and I love them very very much.
FM: We consider you to be a Fly Mommy. Tell us in your own words what makes you a Fly Mommy.
E: Oooh…ok…What makes me a Fly Mommy? That I love my daughter. That there is nothing that I would not do for her. That I am there for her. That I support her. That I respect her. That I have been nurturing the gift that God has given her. That I try to be the best example I can be. That I had a great mom to follow. Also, on the flip side of that I try to be cute, I tell my daughter, “When you grow up your friends are going to be like dang, that’s your mom, I thought that was your sister because you’re going to have a really cute young fly mom so just get used to it.” So she’s like, “Ok, mommy.” I just think character makes you a Fly Mom. I try to be the best for her and she is so awesome.
