Focus:
All Hopes for Forlorn Hope
By Nilma DOLE
Not many come across a band with a passion, dedication, zeal and
dynamite force. Meet one of the hopeful bands in town, Forlorn Hope that
consists of the dynamic dude Buddhike on vocals, who is also the
lyricist.
One can see radical guy Raju slamming the drums and Mackay the gorged
guitarist who is an expert at this art. Part-time members Dias, a dandy
Kandy dude plays bass while Pinto, an Avissawella guy is also a
guitarist.
“We formed Forlorn Hope in 2002 when Buddhike and I hooked up from
the same college”, reminisces Raju. They started jamming and then found
the rest eventually.
They say their songs relate to extreme forms of black metal that
couples ambient and progressive elements. “We tend to practise
individually because we have our unique sounds but when we jam together,
it comes out great” states Raju. Most of the time, they say that if they
jam together always, then they end up getting sick of each other.
Their first original effort ‘Craving Restored’ was a massive hit
which impelled them to release their first EP last year called ‘Wilted’
which included the tracks ‘Congregate’, ‘Blessed are the Helpless’ and
three instrumentals. 500 copies were produced in Kandy and all sold out
within two months of release.
“We were on neurotic phases but then we wanted to spread music in
chaos where one can head-bang all the time” Raju noted.
Most of their fans want to remain active during the length of their
performance and this is what is expected. They say that ‘Gorgorath’, ‘Burzun’,
‘Akercocke’ and ‘Bathory’ are some of their top influences even though
they say every member has various other musicians they like.
A Forlorn Hope highlight was when the track ‘Congregate’ was placed
at the 19th position out of 13,000 tracks on soundclick.com worldwide.
It was head-gorging brilliant that a recording label in Thailand
called Roots Active Productions and a Brazil label called Vamp Peria
records both approached these guys to distribute their songs in those
countries.
“We don’t want to cover any other band or put a fake image but just
be ourselves”, emphasises Forlorn Hope. They believe in originality and
playing in what they know and what they can give.
The families of Forlorn Hope found it difficult to tolerate their
music in the beginning but eventually they accepted it and supported
them. As for careers, they all work in private companies and take music
as their passion to break it big internationally.
As for advice to new bands, “Do what thou will” advises Buddhike.
Have no regrets and do something you will be happy till the rest of your
life, chorus the dudes. Forlorn Hope hopes to play in Kandy in April and
will try to release a whole album once they finish writing the songs.
They acknowledge Meesha and Whirlwind, Rock Company (RC), all RC
bands and all their loyal supporters who ensured they were in a good
frame of mind to perform. “Hails to all our fans in Colombo, Kandy,
Nittambuwa and Gampaha including those around the world,” says Forlorn
Hope. They would like to especially thank all their loved ones. |