The Daily Herald -Michael Howorth Maidwell

Recap your story: I left to pursue my studies in Holland in the summer of 1996 but I really had no clue as to what it was I wanted to study. So that I would have a friend in class, I first chose electrical engineering because that was the choice of my close friend. I was scared I wouldn't have anybody to clown around with in school, especially since I didn't feel too comfortable speaking Dutch. Before I had attended one class though, I decided to switch to marketing management, as I thought it was more up my alley. In a way it was, but shortly into the study, I realized I didn't want to lead the life of the average marketing management graduate. I didn't see myself working for a big firm, it was just not me. I should leave that to people who actually have a passion for marketing! Early in the study, I started getting into music and writing songs, and this was when I felt I had found my true calling. I started writing original songs with my close friend Jacob Streefkerk, also from SXM. He played guitar and soon we had formed our own band, Orange Grove. In 2001, I was accepted into Rock Academy along with two fellow band-members from SXM: Jacob and Edsel Eusebius. It was not easy making it into the school and when we were accepted, Jacob and I gave up on the marketing study, even though we had almost completed it. We moved from Utrecht to Eindhoven and began taking music more seriously. Since then there has been no looking back.

What St. Maarten district are you from? Pelican Key

Where did you go to school on St. Maarten? Caterpillar Playschool, Butterfly Kindergarten, Sister Regina Primary School and Milton Peters College (Havo)

What is your favourite St. Maarten memory? So many!! When I was a kid growing up in Pelican, before it got ugly over there, before the hotel was built right over the magnificent underground caves, when my friends and I could find so much to do in the Pelican bush, we'd explore the beach, bush, caves, ponds and hills. We'd go over to Kim Sha and play in the dredged up mud-sand. We'd go paddling out to sea on a long wind-surf board in search of bigger fish with our spear-guns! A memory that will always stick with me, and I am sure with a lot of kids growing up around Simpson Bay in those days is the Kim Sha fire-works! And then that long period where so many kids found out how to break into the warehouse and steal the supplies! We are talking about a big group of kids from the area who were all living the dream of every 10-year old boy! And somehow Kim Sha always had enough left when the year ended to still put on a show!

What was your biggest surprise when you left the island? How strict the rules could be enforced here in Holland. I remember in my first year, my friend and I getting stuck in a train station after having missed the last train. It was in a small station (Zoetermeer) and there was nobody around, just the two of us. We walked into the town, dead quiet like a ghost town, nothing to do at all. So we went back to the station and started playing some songs, as my friend had his guitar with him. Nobody was there to see or hear us, as nobody was passing through the station that late, it must have been around midnight. After a few songs, a couple police officers walked up to us to ask if we had a permit. We told them we were obviously not playing for money, but just to keep ourselves entertained and warm. They said it didn't matter and we were to stop right away or they would lock us up. Can you imagine? We couldn't play music for our own entertainment outside even though nobody was watching!

What are your accomplishments? Our album Fingerprint. That is my greatest accomplishment as a song-writer till now I believe. We in OG are extremely proud of this album and we hope everybody on SXM has heard it. And those who have not should go pick one up at a local shop on the island (Tri Sport, The Art Gallery, Good Cards, Top Carrot, etc.) or download it online, legally, illegally, whatever. We just want to know that SXM knows what we have recently put out there because we truly believe it is fantastic!

What are your goals? To put OG on the map! To make it a house-hold name, so to speak.

What makes you special? More special than the next guy? Well, I don't know. What makes me, me? You'd have to ask my friends I think. I think most of them would say I know how to tell a good story. I also get myself into lots of situations that make up for good stories, maybe because I like to just go with the flow, and flow with the go.

Where do you get your drive? My mother and father: Malcolm and Liz Maidwell. They came to the island quite a while ago with very little (financially speaking) on a small sailing boat. They worked hard on their ideas and always put all their love and energy into whatever it was they were doing. They always radiated positive energy, love and kindness and in doing so, they made lots of great friends along the way. Plus they were always there for their children! My parents set the bar quite high. It gives me and my siblings great joy to make them proud of us! It is the most we can do in return.

How long have you been gone? 14 years already!

Do you have any advice for the young people of St. Maarten? Stay away from the ignorant folk. Surround yourself with positive and open-minded people who intrigue you. Learn from your mistakes. Never stop growing! Don't drink and drive, try to use fewer curse words, smile as much as possible, stand up for what you believe in, and help to make the island a better place to be for everybody.

Are you planning to return to St. Maarten in the future? Well, to live, some day I'm sure. My whole family lives here, I am the only one off-island. Till then, I'll be where I'll be and that is wherever the music and life may take me. I do come back down at least once a year though. I couldn't possibly stay away much longer than that!

On a last note, we are releasing a brand new video at the end of the month and we are asking everybody on SXM, who can go online, to please view it at YouTube and leave a comment within the first 48 hours of its release. If we gain enough views and comments in these first two days, we may just make it to YouTube's front-page and that would be very good for Orange Grove!! The video will be for our song "Feel That Fire" and we will keep all our sites as well as The Daily Herald, properly informed about the exact time and date.