The balladeer celebrates 30 years in music
by Mahes Perera
Last Friday March 12 was a red
letter day for the ‘balladeer’ of the Sinhala music scene, who has wowed
many a fan and broken many a woman’s heart! Keerthi Pasquel with his
rich voice launched off his music career way back in 1976 as a member of
the band Galaxies led by the multi instrumentalist Stanley Pieris,
celebrated thirty years as a singer/guitarist at the Galle Face Hotel by
releasing four new songs with corresponding four visuals which he is
proud of. “No one has done this before, releasing visuals simultaneously
and I’m glad I’m the first singer to do so.
 The auspicious time for the launch was 9.30 in the morning and the
visuals were telecast by Rupavahini, ITN, Swarnavahini, Derana, Sirasa,
TNL, MAX, TV Lanka and Siyatha.
The satellite channels that will telecast my visuals are Sri
Lakvahini, Neth Sri Lanka, One Sri Lanka, Sri TV while channels in the
Middle East, Australia and Europe will also popularise the videos,”
expressed a happy Keerthi who has always taken success in his stride,
with ne’er a fuss. Therein lies the secret of his popularity.
 The CD that Keerthi has released is titled ‘Sivu Pethi Kusuma.’ The
songs are Bakini Gahe, Manamaala Hendewa, Galaa Yaavi and the song Hada
Maage is a duet with Nirosha Virajini. “I’d like to inform my fans that
Bakini Gahe, the love song is a continuation of my hit song Kandula and
the lyrics were by Lakmali Kariyawasam.
Where the music was concerned Mahinda Bandara played a great role,
while Shantha Bandara directed the visuals.
In Hade Maage the lyrics were written by Anura Maagalage and my son
Kasun was responsible for the direction of the music, “while the visuals
were directed by Shermila Dharmarasa” commented Keerthi who once said
that when he started his music career, it was impressed upon him that to
be a successful singer it was important to live the lyrics of the song
and the advice has stood him in good stead.
This sound advice he endeavours to pass on to the young students who
attend his Sound of Music School. “During our youth we did not have
schools to teach us the basics of singing for pleasure, or for the
concert stages and also learning the correct techniques in playing the
guitar, piano, drums and percussion and my objective is to guide the
youngsters to acquire this useful knowledge to help them make a
successful career in music,” expresses Keerthi, who has more than 300
songs to his credit, and has lent his guitar artistry to well over ten
thousand songs.
Pariah Demise
by Nilma Dole
Hailing from the rocking hills
of Kandy, the black metal band, Pariah Demise is a metallic outfit who
really know their mind-bending music.
 These dudes have pretty mysterious names that even I have no idea who
they really are. Shrouded in mystery, the lead screecher is Martyrdom,
Hopeless is the guitarist, Dilshan is the bassist and Dinesh is the
drummer guy. It’s like they like being enigmatic about their identities
but their music is rather known for they have downloadable songs that
can be sampled on their MySpace and rock.lk
“We hooked up during our school days and we found that we shared
similiar interests in music”, said Martyrdom. He added, “We met Dinesh
later as we got into the whole Kandy gig scene and we haven’t looked
back ever since.”
Pariah Demise said that their name means, Pariah which is an outcast
from society and demise is death. “So it’s like we feel we have been
ousted from society and it’s because of our death defying music we play
and no doubt, we are happy with it” said Martyrdom. Their first gig was
at Exstorm in 2009 at the Kandy Paivas hotel and they got a good
response from the Kandy metal ravers.
“Our common influences would be Immortal, Gorgoroth, Mayhem and
Darkthrone”, said Hopeless.
The dudes have been successful with their originals like ‘Land of
Sorrow’ and hope to release a split album together with the band Her
Suffering. “We hope to release more originals and songs soon like
Painful Memories and are in the process of recording”, said the band.
Pariah Demise is very appreciative of the local Kandy metal scene and
support their brother bands a lot.
“We have close friendships with our Kandy bands and chip in and help
them if they need a lending hand”, said Hopeless. The advice they give
to other bands is not to be selfish and be envious of other bands.
 “Help anyone who needs it because if we stick together, we can take
Sri Lankan metal music internationally and show the world what we’ve
got. United we stand and divided we fall”, said a positive Pariah
Demise. They also advised bands to know their music and learn the tricks
of the music language because it pays to know it.
“We like to thank our family, friends and fans including special a
thank you to Dylan Perera, Dimuth from Kandy, Buddhika Karunasekera,
Madhawa Dias, Delaine Silver, Infernal, Falcon Cry, Whirlwind, Brother
Ravi, Raju, Chaminda Kare, Marlin Jayakody, Paranoid Earthling, P.A.C.,
Spleen Saint, Raaksha and all our brother bands”, concluded Pariah
Demise.
Watch out for an enigmatic demise with Pariah Demise soon in Kandy! |
