Music surrounds us in our everyday lives. It engulfs us. It teaches and inspires us. But, music drives some people more than others.
Moses Beckett is one of these people. Music has been in his life since he was a child. At a young age, he was singing along with the radio, now he is listening to his own voice on a CD.
Beckett, a junior mass communications major, began his singing career at the age of 12. He entered into a group called City Kids. Beckett, along with other children, sang songs on Nickelodeon and the Disney channel.
Beckett was part of this group until the age of 15. But, his boss at City Kids saw something special in him.
Terryl Daluz, the manager of City Kids and an owner of an independent recording company, decided that Beckett, along with Jason Boubourn, and Doron Flake, were different from the rest of the kids.
“We worked well together,” said Beckett. “He saw something very special about us.”
Thus, the R&B group On-point was born.
On-point’s first concert was big. They opened up for Carl Thomas, an R&B singer who is on Puff Daddy’s label.
“It was weird that we started out so big,” said Beckett.
On-point also does shows in Connecticut and Massachussetts. They have performed at the Hartford Civic Center.
Beckett and On-point have been together for three years now. At first it was fun and games, but last year things got more serious when they decided to record their first album.
“It was fun, discouraging at first, but very fun. But, it was time to get more serious,” said Beckett.
Daluz’s independent recording company, Connect-Cutz, decided to have On-point make a CD to be released last May. The CD is a self-titled album. It can be purchased on cdnow.com, amazon.com or a local CD store, FYE.
“It was a very exciting time, but a lot of work. I had to do that and go to school. It was hard, but a lot of fun,” said Beckett. “I am not sure how this year is going to turn out yet. School hasn’t really started yet, but I don’t think it will be that stressful since we are not recording.”
Besides music, school is important to the band. Boubourn and Flake are currently juniors at The University of Southern Connecticut.
“I definitely want to be in school. You never know what is going to happen in the record industry,” Beckett said. “If I was home I would be sitting around, I would go to school then go home. I like going to school. It is fun and it gets me out of the house.”
Beckett had many influences that got him to this point in life. The first is his mother and his family. They are supporting him and his band through thick and thin.
“My mom is the band’s biggest fan,” said Beckett. “All our parents are really supportive. They come to all our shows and they all have our CDs.”
The second set of influences is in the music world itself. Beckett said Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston got that passion flowing inside him, and he loves the way they sing.
On-point is still on the move even though they are out of the recording studio. In about a month, the band will be flying to Miami to open for a rap group.
The band also finished helping fellow artist Thomas. On-point was asked to help him write a part for one of his songs.
“This was a big deal,” said Beckett, “That was my biggest accomplishment.”