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| Sunday, 7 December 2003 |
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Rock takes you places by Umangi de Mel They represent youthful vigour and ambition taking the big break to hit the stage faster than they could actually pronounce the word. They maybe not have a proper order nevertheless Amorphous makes sure that they achieve their goal in the end. "We got together 1 1/2-years ago and started off as a CIS (Colombo International School) band. We've played for lots of school gigs, but there were many line up changes. Myself and Anushka are the only members who remain from the original band", says Dhananja, leader of the outfit. 'It best describes our music. Actually we aren't a heavy metal band, we play retros and thrash metal", they say and claim to be a versatile band, "we play a variation. Our main influences are Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Mega Death, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden and we play a few of these covers as well. Basically there is no proper order to what we play", Amorphous say. Amorphous include Dhananja on lead guitar and vocals, Amishka on rhythm, Anushka on bass and Rajive on drums. The five youngsters say that they don't play at a fixed venue but that they hope to play rock company in December, "Those guys were really nice to us", they don't forget to add. Amorphous talk about the people behind their success, "Actually the support we receive from school is amazing. We're really grateful to them cause that's our starting point. Their encouragement keeps us going", the guys say adding that they've been the centre of attention since they've played at the school fair, annual concerts and Interact gatherings. "The response from CIS is pretty good actually the original Amorphous was the first proper CIS band". The guys seem eager to be part of the Royal Talent search where ample talent is unleashed, "well, we've entered the search and got through the preliminaries and we've made it to the finals which was on November 29. There were about 30 bands and the audience responded really well to our stuff at the preliminaries. All we know is that only three bands get to go in and we are one of them", they say triumphantly. Settling to talk about their original music, the guys reveal that they have completed five songs. "'Beast within', is a song about a guy whose feelings are trapped within him which manifest to anger ... And the more he suppresses his anger the more it consumes him. Then it turns into fear. The second one that is called 'Sun' which was inspired by a book which relates a story of an African boy who's exiled from his clan cause he commits adultery and the price to pay is crossing the Sahara desert. The third one is called 'Energy' which is different from the rest. It's about a person who's trying to deal with loss; actually he's lost a person who was so beautiful in his eyes, "they continue, the fourth one which is called 'Forever' is our first composition. It represents us as a band. I try to express the reasons why we do what we do, taking everybody's point of view into account", says Dhananja. "The fifth is an instrumental called 'Arabian knights'. It explores the difference between reality and fantasy. You've got to listen to the track to know what it is", They say that they prefer if people could judge the lyrics for themselves, "'Sun' was composed by Rajive and the rest is my work", says Dhananja. Unlike a lot of other musicians Amorphous disagree with the fact that rock music is shunned by society, "There are many adults who actually can appreciate rock music and we feel that it's totally inexcusable for the society to label rock music as satanic". They thoroughly refuse to call rock music 'just noise', "It's basically putting out one's feelings that the world, through their lyrics. And even if the lyrics are satanic, it's probably the way that person likes to express himself", they say and explain further", Rock is playing instruments. It's very easy to sing on stage but playing an instrument takes a lot of work. You've got to acquire the taste for rock if you are to become a rock musician". Taking another step, Amorphous move on to talk about the music industry in Sri Lanka. "We need to see more of the other types of music in the field. Rock is booming but there's a void where other styles are conserned. Yet it's quite nice to see a lot of hip hop originals coming up. They seem quite happy when they say that rock is off the roof. "It's booming, there are so many bands we haven't even heard of. Few years ago it was just a few bands and the formation of Rock company has helped young musicians to go up to people and perform. They're giving us a chance to play for those who actually take the trouble to pay and come to see us perform. That's a major motivation". Rock, they say is a way of life. "It sustains our lives and puts us to sleep. Music is an escape. Especially rock music puts you in a bubble and takes you places". In their eyes the Rock Company is a real asset to the young and the talented. It takes a lot of guts to set up a thing like it in a society where rock doesn't play a major role and we that they continue" they say. Pix by - Tennyson Edirisinghe |
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