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| Sunday, 30 November 2003 |
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by Umangi de Mel
Rock is a burning flame that is ignited by the ever so passionate and talented 'rock-holics' who always seem to find the correct time and the place to step out of the shell to rock on. "There's no meaning behind the name, it's just three letters that came into my mind when we finally wanted to name the band. Plus there were only three members at the start before Andre plugged in," says Rakkhitha, the leader of the band. "XYK" comprises Dasith on drums, Sharique on bass, Rakkhitha on lead, rhythm guitars and vocals and Andre on rhythm and vocals. "The band has been there for 1 1/2 years and the latest addition is Andre who joined three months back," Rakkhitha explains. Claiming that they fall under the category of Grunge', they say they try some old school type of music, "Our drummer is still learning. Our music is mostly inspired by 'Maiden' and 'Blind Guardian' and it's a blend of blues and rock."
Obstinate yet cooperative in their own boyish manner the outfit seems to have a combination of tastes when it comes to music, "Our tastes vary, including stuff like 'Mega Death', 'Pantera' and 'Yanni', "Andre says stressing the vast difference between hard core rock and effusive piano stylings. "I'm more into 'Iron Maiden' and 'Blind Guardian', says Rakkhitha who adds that they all like 'Godsmack'. "Dasith is the youngest and is going through his stages since he's trying to reach maturity," both of them crack. 'XYK' is another band that doesn't get a chance to perform often, "I'm a DJ at TNL Lite and Rakkhitha is studying abroad and we jam only when he's here which is not so often. But our band is a pretty cool combination, it's the understanding between the band members that is out-standing. No matter how rarely we play, when we do get together we're able to handle it just like the rest of the bands that get to jam more than we do."
They talk about their sort of major gig last year, "we played at Hotel Sinbad, Kalutara and we were on a yacht which was awesome. It was more adult oriented and obviously had to adjust to the crowd," they say they had to cater to their tastes, "we played alternate stuff like Oasis and the response was good, we were happy we could adjust to a foreign crowd." 'XYK' says that they take slow tunes like 'Video killed the radio star' to turn them into rock alternate music. "But we are totally concentrating on originals and we have about 25 songs that haven't been yet completed and 8-10 songs that are completed," Rakkhitha says adding that their inspiration is people around them, "It's how we feel about life and if you look behind our lyrics you'll realize that we have tried to separate dreams from reality," they explain.
'XYK' talks about their music, "Dechised', 'Cross upon the hill', 'Deceased', 'Signs' and 'Flower blooms' are a few. For us rhythm, lyrics and music matter a lot when it comes to creating music. According to them rock is not screaming, "Our parents have only heard stuff like 'Led Zeppelin' and 'Deep Purple' and they misinterpret the whole thing," the guys strongly object to the fact that rock is being stigmatised. "We have a set of morals, we play rock and it doesn't mean we are hell raisers or get high on drugs. Yet lots of people get stoned to go with the flow to be part of the clique which we think is very stupid," says Andre adding that putting a ban on booze or fags may be impossible but putting a limit to one's wild thoughts, may not be so. They explain further, that the lyrics to any rock song can be interpreted in many ways, "Even our lyrics can be interpreted as satanic. Adults seem to think that rock is just noise because they hate change and they'd rather stick to the oldies. Rock is catching up, but sad to say it's more like a trend now," they say. Nevertheless 'XYK' doesn't seem to mind, "We try our level best to cater to our audience,' claiming to be versatile they add, "We don't stick to metal, the whole time". Speaking of the local music arena the guys say that there's enlightment in the industry. "Ample talent has worked wonders on the business which has improved big time. They're involving 'Bangra' type and there's lots of hiphop bands that come up," Andre says and adds that there should be a balance where bands are concerned, "Rock is at its peak it's pointless having a boom in just one side of the music industry. It's great to have other stuff as well." Nevertheless they say that there's more chance for improvement in the Sri Lankan music industry. "There are people who are willing to help, which is cool and nice of them," they say. The guys say that it's a huge sense of achievement they cherish at the end of a recording, "It's great to hear our very own music, listening to our first original after it was completed, was really cool." Andre reveals that knowing that you can actually plan the way you've always wanted to feels great, "I started off knowing nothing but suddenly you get up one morning and you find out that you can do it .... it's just awesome." 'XYK' says they like immature fun ... "We are really good friends and we've known each other from school days. We just love to have fun, fun, and fun," Wrapping things up the four say music reflects the mood. "It's a couple of instruments coming together and sounding good." |
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