By Avia Ustanny, Freelance Writer 
THE SUNDAY afternoon quiet has intensified in College Commons, where homes are away from the sound of traffic and the intellectuals who make their home there... well, let's just say, they're far from the madding crowd.
But in a small room in one house in the community, Colin Young makes music and works magically with images.
A few minutes before, Brian Schmidt from Irie FM radio walked into Young's studio. The two got busy transferring tracks from a CD to Young's computer, where they will be used to create an advertisement.
Schmidt told Outlook, "Colin is extremely creative. His work is not run of the mill. He does radio work exclusively for Irie."
The artist is on his third work shift for the day. "I have been working all night," he tells Outlook. "I went to bed at 7 this morning." He was back at work by 2 p.m. No day delivers a normal schedule for this working man. Neither is his job description a normal one.
Colin Young, son of university employees his father, Professor Ronald Young, is Dean of the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences and his mother, Panzy Young, is one of the institution's senior assistant registrars is also a lecturer himself, as well as cable show host, a graphic artist and a member of the Roots Underground Movement reggae band.
As close friend, Jeffery Moss-Solomon, was to later tell us, "Colin is extreme in everything he does. He is extremely talented. He is a computer genius and a musical prodigy. But, best of all, he is a good friend."
In his small studio, marker boards show Young's upcoming obligations in ink of different colours. He will be busy right through summer. The last notations says 'Reggae Sumfest'. His roots band has been invited to appear on Friday night during this year's international showcase.
While the bulk of Young's income comes from the university where he is the lecturer at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication in Multimedia for the 2002 2003 academic year, he also pursues a lot of freelance work, using his graphic artistry to create advertisements for TV and print.
"I do anything visual," Colin explains. "I am multimedia artist."
There was a time when it was not so easy for him to say who he was.
At Campion College, Colin was on the science track doing chemistry, physics and computer studies. He enjoyed the computer most of all (his CXC final project was a graphics programme), but the other subjects were a drag. A'Levels exhausted him, and by the time he signed up as a student in the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences at the University of the West Indies and spent two years, he had very little enthusiasm left for the world of abstract scientific theory and formulae.
Chemistry and Physics were not for him.
Young dropped out.
As he recalls it, leaving the University was prompted by honesty with self. His parents supported him, he said, because they could see he was not happy. Young went to work with Fujitsu as a computer engineer and sales co-ordinator, learning a lot that was to stand him in good stead later. "I learnt to build computers from scratch and to fix them." He became a troubleshooter for all his friends. At he same time, he secured a job as a photographer with Pure Class magazine. His photography, he said, started at the UWI where he had also become involved in the computer club.
Complete a degree
In 1994, however, he decided to return to complete a degree, and successfully pursued one in the social sciences, doing management studies and computer science. He became president of the computer science society this time around.
"To my surprise, I made it through," he reflects. "I was more focused this time around." Before graduating in 1997, he was offered a job with Martin Lewis (sound engineer associated with Shaggy) of Digital Inc. Productions who had seen some of his 'dabblings' in graphic productions, as he recalls it.
He was nervous. Although he had done projects before, Young recalls that he felt he was thrown in at the deep end to sink or swim.
He swam.
Memorable
Soon, he was left to look after the business while Lewis went on tour with Shaggy and pursued other business interests. Although the job did not last two years, Young recalls it as one of his more memorable learning experiences.
When Digital Inc. closed down, Young and a group of friends turned to their own business, creating X-media in 1999 to work on multimedia projects. This again was a learning experience and was soon dissolved.
Now, Young is part owner of Time Machine Design, in partnership with Bruce Alexander, an old friend who specialises in screen writing and cinematography. Young handles the visual/multimedia aspect of the business.
In the last year, he has been totally focused on teaching, however, as a part time contract with UWI to teach multimedia changed to a full time one. Teaching, he says, is very exhausting, because he does it with the desire to inspire a love of the art form in this pupils. "It takes a lot out of me."
Other projects
Still, he has found time to do other projects, including hosting the made-for-TV De Endz a Music Plus Production which is distributed to Cable stations and CVM TV. On the programme, Young and his co-host take two reggae artistes who are doing well and play their top music videos. They specialise in reggae, he says, because this is their particular interest and these artistes do not get a lot of exposure.
His involvement as a bass guitar player in the Roots Underground Movement started in 2000, the year when he also stopped cutting his hair. This was a year of many changes for him, Young recalls. It was also the year when he defined himself as an artist.
"A lot of different things were coming together changes in X-media, Music Plus was happening. It was also a time of getting my act together. In my mind I had to get things done right in order to move on.
"In 2000, I became comfortable with calling myself an artist," he states. "As an artist, I realise that I am now in a world with no boundaries. It is an ocean and all oceans are connected. You can go anywhere."
The hair affair, he says, is not religious, but it is nevertheless deeply spiritual. His involvement in music was also part of this.
Along with other kindred spirits, including his friends Jeffery Moss-Solomon and Connie Francis, they perform for the love of it. Other band members include Stevie 'G' Newland and Charles Lazarus.
"We have strictly pursued the music for enjoyment," Young states. After their last show, they were called by Reggae Sumfest. They are excited.
The computer
In the meantime, Young's every spare moment is spent on the computer. Now that he knows his direction, he can say with certainty that he is a graphic artist at heart. Working with Bruce Alexander, he plans to implement several ideas for a documentary as well as short films.
"We want to show the world that Jamaicans can do this too and do it well. Like oil is in the ground in Arab countries, talent is plentiful here," the artist asserts.
Close friend Connie Bell, poet, teacher and artiste, says that Young has a fascinating mind and a new idea for every minute.
"When I just met him, he was an aspiring artist. Now, he has created a mould for himself and he is fitting into it. He has made his role and claimed it. It's like watching a painting in progress. It's beautiful to see."
