by Nilma Dole
One band that overcame all odds to cause some deafening roar all
around was Grey Mind Domain as they received standing ovations some time
back. So this time, we dedicate this space to the guys who were the root
cause of the grey matter - Grey Mind Domain.The Grey Mind Domain dudes
banded together at the same class (and same batch) at their alma mater,
St. Joseph's College.
Kickstarting the band, Shehan Wijemanne the drummer, backing vocalist
and songwriter started jamming with Rukshan Aponso who is the
keyboardist and back-up singer. Pramyth Abeysekera joined the twosome a
year and a half ago and he was a guy who couldn't even strum a measly
guitar chord.
 Today, however he is the undisputed lead rocking guitarist for the
band who developed with pure dedication and sheer determination.Around
two to three months ago, the fourth member Shevanka Fernando the
extraordinary bassist who virtually had no bass training whatsoever
picked up bass guitar and learned pretty fast.
The cute lead vocalist Shanaka Cooray, a budding lawyer by profession
is quite a favourite. He was so into Jazz and cool old school music, a
rare feat this guy did was to join the band four days before the Onstage
gig and memorise the songs for the show including all the originals.
Shanaka wasn't really the rock stud but with the Grey Mind Domain
metamorphosis, is the vocalist for the Grey-Minded Band! The name `Grey
Mind Domain' came about when Shehan brainstormed the name while he was
in the midst of thought, "Grey Mind Domain is for the different styles
of rock we play, so it is a grey area".
He went on to tell, "We play various types of music and it is the
mindset of our music", and Grey Mind Domain was born "We add our own
stuff to a particularly straight song while the mood shifts a lot." This
is evident in their rendition of the Eric Clapton classic "Layla".
Pramyth notes, "All of us don't actually listen to the same thing."
Moreover specifying, "We don't define ourselves as a strictly rock or
alternative band because we go from alternative to progress and vice
versa so it's pretty grey, we say".
They are even into Hip-Hop, Rap and also get jiggy with Jazz because
they listen to everything from Clapton to The Eagles, Queen to Dream
Theatre and even Mika! Just just two originals 'Into my Mind' which
highlights addictions, urges and relationship torture and the other,
'Psychic Spell' that deals with how society casts a spell on people with
regard to money and power, showed that these guys really know how to
rock. They hope to release an album but it won't be anytime soon.
Rukshan points out, "We hope to go international in another ten
years, if all goes well". As for now, they want to release a proper
recording for the electronic media. |
