Looking for solo acclaim

By Mahes Perera

Having built a reputation as a successful singer in the bands that featured her, throughout her career Sureshini Wanigasuriya is now looking for a taste of solo acclaim to fulfill her ambition that she upto now kept under wraps.

Sureshini Wanigasekera

"This does not mean I'm moving out of being the lead vocalist in my band Tribe or any other band that invites me to handle the front line spotlight. Oh no! I'm still with Tribe and handle the vocals. The other two members are Thilak Samarakoon - vocals, whenever he is able to be with us if he is not playing with the X'periments, and Sukumal Perera on keyboards" said Sureshini.

Winning the Observer Golden Clef Award for Promising Singer in 1991 spurred Sureshini to get more involved in music. There was no turning back for her - music was going to be her career and since she was gifted with a voice that was attractive, which more often than not, made music lovers stop and listen, she was determined to make the best use of her gifted talent.

Question: You tell us that the foundation for your singing was laid when you were a student at Ladies' College, Colombo from Grade 1 and guided by Christine Perera, the choir teacher. And when you left school did you join Europa, enthusiastic to show the music industry that you were not just another singer but a special kind of a singer?

Answer: Thank you for the compliment, but actually I didn't join Europa immediately after school. Lankika Perera of Golden Chimes, she took me whenever her band was performing and made me perform songs which went down well at the dances.

I'm thankful to her, because soon after, I was invited to join Europa from Moratuwa. This was the year when I won the Golden Clef Award for Promising Singer in 1991 and Europa won the Promising Band award.

We were featured at many concerts and at the popular Seasonal Pops televised by ITN. Prior to all this we worked in Oman for a little over a year, but had to return to Sri Lanka when the Gulf War broke out.

Q: When the band returned to Sri Lanka, no doubt you would have to face strong competition because at that time the music industry was sizzling with many bands vying for prominence. How did Europa fare in this scenario?

Sukumal Perera, Sureshini Wanigasekera and Thilak Samarakoon.

A: I must say we were lucky. Because we auditioned to play at My Kind Of Place at Taj Samudra. Imran Packeer Saibo and Gerry Jayasinghe listened to us and were happy with our performance.

We stayed at My Kind Of Place for two years, worked along with the DJs Bunty and Steve, backed Alston Koch and other singers from abroad who were contracted to sing at the night club. The experience was tremendous and we were on a high in popularity.

Q: What influenced, since you were singing pop and you needed to have a wide repertoire?

A: My greatest influence was Whitney Houston. I was fascinated by her singing style, her range and the ease with which she delivered the meaning of the lyrics. It was phenomenal and I'm sad she is no longer with us. One of her early hits "Saving All My Love for you" was a song I used to play over and over again and savour the interpretation. I enjoy singing gospel and I can see how important it was for her. My other influences were ABBA, Tina Turner and the Carpenters.

Now I have a wide repertoire which you will agree is a necessity if I intend to do solo performances. Pop, soul, funk, reggae, Gospel and evergreens are in a big way in my repetoire.

Also the Sinhala hits, Hindi songs and baila. I can sing in other languages as well. I worked in Europe and in the Middle East and it helped me in this area.

Q: Correct me if I'm wrong but you were abroad more than once and are there memories you'd like to share with us of life in these places and some of the highlights, of the bands performances?

A: There was Oman, yes with Europa working at the Sur Night Club, Intercontinental. Then in 1994 I was invited by Benjy to sing in his band Aquarius, based in Damstadt, Germany. I enjoyed this stint. It was a total experience.

We played every night in one club and stayed only for two weeks at that club, then moved to another place and again stayed there for two weeks and kept moving on again. While with Aquarius I went to Switzerland to sing solo with Chris Dhason's band. Benjy was a good and understanding leader and even though the responsibility of cooking Sri Lankan food lay on my shoulders, he sought to it, I wasn't taxed too much.

We learnt what it meant to be good friends and that's a lesson I will never forget. In '96 Sohan Weerasinghe invited me to join his band to play at St.George in Dubai for 10 months. At that time Mirage was playing at the Marco Polo. We had interesting moments. It's all a different scene but it's a learning scene.

Q: Playing with the X'periments, one of our leading bands today must surely have kept you on your toes?

A: Yes. Playing with the band was good. It was a well knit band. As for me I had to have two or three new songs a week. Yes, that's how I guess X'periments have established themselves as a leading band. Lest I forget, I was also in Doha with Ecstasy lead by Sajith Muthukumarana. This was in 1996 when we playing at the Little Hut '94-'96.

Q: Now your move into a solo career will it affect your Tribe band?

A: No. I don't think so. Tribe is functioning. We've been playing for many corporate functions and hotel dances down South and I'm confident with the grace of God my solo career will take off with success.