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| Sunday, 12 October 2003 |
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By Umangi de Mel Life is one hell of a roller-coaster for the young musicians who rock the Island. It certainly doesn't look like a recess, especially in the ever so happening rock music scene.
So what's with the name, dudes?? Three guys give the typical `rock-revitalised' look before saying that they found it sort of `matching'. "It sounded good, in fact the original idea was to call ourselves `Recess' which was my idea but `Picasso' seemed to enhance and add more colour to the whole thing since he reflected abstract," Mikhail, the leader of the band adds not forgetting to mention Suresh of Stigmata who brought `Picasso' into the picture. `Picasso recess' steps on stage with Mikhail on vocals and guitar, Ranil on drums and backing vocals and Nevaan on bass. Probably the youngest among the plethora of rock bands that exist. `Picasso recess' is only a few weeks of age. "Myself and Ranil are from kandy and we've known each other for a long period. I'm from Kandy International school and Ranil's from Trinity College," says Mikhail adding that he's closely related to Mirshard of `Paranoid Earthling'. "I've performed abroad and Ranil has played with two bands in Kandy while Nevaan has been playing for two years," says Mikhail letting Ranil join in to say that he's actually been practicing his drums since his Ordinary Levels. "Ranil and I used to jam with Paranoid Earthling and it was Ranil's idea to put a band together but I was reluctant because I didn't think we could go through the process which is kind of tough," Mikhail says. Explaining further, the guys say that they didn't want to give up either. "Well, we really sat down to think about it. Originally the idea was to have a five piece band which eventually didn't work out. But having found Nevaan, a Thomian, we pulled ourselves together as `Picasso recess'." They had their first break on 20th September at the Rock Company jamming session. The guys have decided to temporarily put an end to performing in public, though. "Rock is not the centre point in our lives. It's a passion which we do with a meaning but realistically speaking we are not planning to feed our families on it," says Mikhail and adds that their band will not be their main income. "All three of us have our studies and careers, we are'nt going to make our passion our living, unlike a lot of other bands," they comment. `Post Punk' they say is their style, "We like punk music. We play stuff like Off spring, Blink 182, Sound 41 but that is not what we are all about. We keep the fast beats of punk, stick to the strong noticeable bass lines, non-nasal singing and fast guitar rhythms," says Mikhail adding that it's the reason why they call it `post punk'. The guys admit their craving for punk and not commercial music. They say that their preference has always been aggressive and underground stuff, "My favourite is `Googoo Dolls'," says Mikhail and Ranil says that he just loves the performance and the skill of `Judas Priest' drummer. The three are affiliated to the Rock Company which is promoting original music. "Our sole aim is to do originals and not a stack-load of covers. We aren't the type to play Nickel back, Creed or Linking Park. We simply don't want to fall into that category," the trio say. They seem to abhore the idea of playing covers, " You go to a gig and the only thing you get to hear is covers being played over and over again." Changing the topic, they het down to their originals, "We've got four, `Shadows', `Evil I', `I feel I know' and one acoustic track called `Lean'. Each song is different, they talk about a whole bunch of things and we are trying to be emotional," they continue, " `I feel I know' talks about people who have to live up to an omage they are not, `Shadows' is emotional decadence and reluctance to let go, `Evil I' is about a guy who's sick in mind but has his side of story as well and `Lean' hasn't got any metaphorical value," explains Mikhail. Talking about the rest of the rock bands that exist, `Picasso recess' says that they owe their success to bands who have come to watch them play, "Stigmata and Paranoid Earthling have been very supportive." Taking a look at the music arena, the guys say that there's a lot of emphasis on rock. "The trend is rock. I don't know if it's a passing fantasy nevertheless the rock scene is really happening and it's good in a way. But certain people do it for the kick of it and God knows if they are being genuine," Mikhail says. Mikhail who's on the verge of leaving to continue his higher studies sya that he hopes to get their act together to start jamming again once he's back in December. "It's going to be Christmas time and it'll be happening again, there won't be any hiccups," he says. The trio seems to be having a close bond with each other as they crack jokes and hurl insults.."We are very close, we've got mutual likes and dislikes and a sense of humour that keeps us in stitches. We call each other names but with no hard feelings at the end of the day," He says. "I'm not tooting my horn but I feel that we are doing the right thing, I feel that we can do something different in Sri Lanka. A lot of bands stand out, a lot don't.. I know we've got a long way to go but I want to try and fall into the first category and stand out as a rock band," Mikhail says wrapping things up. Pic : Tennyson Edirisinghe |
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Balancing both passion and education on the same platform without
getting carried away or getting blinded by the maddening response from the
crowd, they actually prove that they are not only capable of rocking some
dance floor but are also able to use their upstairs.
