 
Meeting the rebellious boys of `The
Rebels’ is rather interesting as they seem to be a band who are quite
the down-to-earth kind who’d be willing to please any cool crowd.
Comprising Shehan on vocals, Milan on keyboard, Shivantha on bass and
Ravin on lead and rhythm guitar, they sure know how to blend their
musical melodies into one medley to tickle anyone’s fancy be it a
teeny-bopper or a mature member.
Formation
“We met each other at the same school and church. We were always
sitting in to play the music for others to perform” said Shane. They
started playing instruments and accompanied the choir in addition to
performing at school concerts.
“We eventually had this dream to form our own band but it didn’t
become a reality until TNL Onstage series began. We had a goal to win
the competition” says Milan. The name ‘Rebels’ was coined especially for
TNL Onstage and it was rather a motive to compose something creative to
provide the right kind of kick for the competition.
Genre
‘The Rebels’ are influenced by various artistes and bands and this
highlights the fusion that resonates when they perform on stage.
Compositions
“We have finished writing the song `Baby Please and `Want to Dance’.
The latter was the `Sprite song’ at TNL Onstage” says Shane. They are
now working on more originals because they believe in focusing on their
real-life experiences to advise the youth.
“This is the way we brainstorm a song because it is realistic that
way” says Milan. It is rather difficult to get into the mainstream music
scene as finding sponsorships can be difficult, they pointed out. “We
are thinking of coming up with fusion music coupled with Sinhala since
this is the market demand” said Shane.
Rebellious
They say that they don’t have a particular dress sense but the fact
that they looked rather `different’ to the rest of the bands battling
out at Onstage proved that style goes a long way. “We adopted the `black
and white’ image to give the difference but it didn’t look like we
looked like rebels” they laughed.
Advise and Future
“We thought it was easy but we had to make sacrifices so that we
could do what we love” said Shehan. ‘The Rebels’ future looks to be
positive as they all believe in breaking it big internationally.
“We want to show the world that Sri Lankans are talented and we hope
to enhance that image that we can make it in the big music scene”
concluded `The Rebels’.
“We would like to thank God and Pastor John Jesudasan who gave us
encouragement and made us believe in ourselves” they said.
- Nilma
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