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| Sunday, 29 January 2006 |
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Intrinsic by Rikaza Hassan Lead guitarist James Mather (19) is studying to be an engineer and finds the guitar to be "fun." He learnt piano as a kid but absolutely hated it. He brings a classical edge to the band and turned in to a metal head only after joining the band.
Javeen Soysa (19) is the vocalist, lyricist and bass guitarist of Tantrum. He wears his hair a little long because he "just felt like it. " Having been forced to play bass guitar to keep the band going on he now finds himself in a conundrum: "I can't decide if I like just doing vocals or singing while playing." Heshan Jayawardena (23) is the highly talented drummer of Tantrum who was awarded the prize for 'Best Musician' at last year's TNL Onstage. He had been known to tap his hands on tables even as a small child until someone told him that he was good. "That was my turning point. I hadn't even seen a set of drums before that and I started practicing with this other guy at school. Finally I bought myself the drums." He is basically a self-taught drummer though he asks me to put in a word of thanks to Aruna de Silva from whom he had four lessons. Soorya Hasthimuni (20) plays rhythm guitar for the band and wishes to be a Kirk Hammett one day. He is currently not studying but will be leaving for New Zealand after the launch of the EP. He is one of the founding members of Tantrum. Once upon a time there was a group of bands that used to listen to the genre of metal. As they head banged together they decided to put their intense liking for the music and their thoughts of talent in to use and begin a band. They made the decision to call themselves Tantrum because "the name went with the type of music we listened to." They recruited a guy who listened to classical music, got him head banging and Tantrum was complete and rocking, sort of at least. As they wandered from cheap studio to cheap studio, head banging their way through the obstacles that came their way, they finally found a safe haven in the form of a company that rocked. Making use of the facilities in this little house, they began to practise three times a week. And as their abilities grew, they progressed musically towards the heavier side of music until they reached their niche of melodic death metal with some thrash metal thrown in here and there. The rejuvenated Tantrum's next step was to enlist in the competition that is TNL Onstage. They did not have much hope, just wanting to get in to the finals until they reached that particular milestone that is. "Once we got in to the finals we pretty much knew we were gonna win." They came out victorious of course. They also had never had such a crowd to play to. "We had an enthusiastic crowd unlike ever before," says Javeen. "There were girls taking pictures of us which felt pretty good," adds Heshan. On the 3rd of February, Tantrum will take a big step in their band career by releasing their first ever EP: The Destruction Begins. "The songs are basically about a person struggling through life, though there are other underlying themes as well." The EP will contain four songs including Destroyer - their first single, Alone and Purgatory of Sinners. There is also Metal Modju, "which is basically a metal version of a baila song." The Destruction Begins is a preview of the album that they are working on and hope to release in January next year. "The launch will be at Caf‚ de Artiste from 8.00 p.m. onwards. We will be playing a couple of covers of our favourite artistes as well. And everyone gets the cd free with the ticket." Opening for them will be Soul of the Spirit and Nemesis. "It's going to be an amazing show," they promise. The guys of Tantrum are all good friends. "I think friendship matters a lot," says Javeen. Their goal is to "just get our music out." They believe that metal musicians do not receive enough media attention unlike musicians of other genres because "metal music is stereotyped to be something that it is not. People here are so narrow-minded that they can't accept metal to be just another type of music like any other that we personally prefer." And finally they "would really like to thank our neighbours." Says Heshan, "They used to send me postcards asking me not to play in the night since they couldn't sleep and almost told the cops on me. I am really grateful to them for putting up with me." |
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