By Mahes Perera
Seventeen years and preparing for his A Level’s Rukshan Karunanayake
is a committed fan of the music of Clarence Wijewardena and the Super
Golden Chimes. Hailing from Gampaha, Rukshan’s appreciation of the
pastoral songs of Clarence made Annesley Malawana invite him to play
lead guitar at the Super Golden Chimes Re-union Concert which was staged
by Annesley. “From my young days I used to listened and enjoy the music
of Clarence.
 I
learnt the guitar under Ananda Waidyasekera and started performing as a
lead guitarist since I was eleven years old. I have taken part in a
number of concerts held in my school Gampaha Bandaranayake College and
performed the songs of Clarence.
I was featured on ITN’s Pahandora program, also on Swarnavahini’s
Five Star an on City FM’s program Maa Dakina Clarence which commemorated
the eleventh death anniversary of Clarence”, young Rukshan elaborated
with enthusiasm.
In today’s music context it is surprising to note that Rukshan does
not like to belong to the group of musicians who are crazy about hip hop
and rap, but has cultivated a taste for Sri Lankan music on a different
track. Hence it is laudable that the new band he is about to launch will
concentrate on songs of the 70s.
“My band is ‘The Chimes of 70s’ comprising talented young boys around
my age. Our repertoire will follow the style of the 70s because my
mission is to promote the 70s music to the present generation. Most of
them don’t want to recognise the lyric and music quality they are more
interested in the hot beat”.
You mentioned that you want to branch off in establishing a recording
studio. How far have you moved in the matter?
“It has always been my ambition to have a studio of my own. I want to
call it Studio Udeshan and I hope to produce the band’s music under our
own label. Of course it is necessary to launch a CD and we are working
on the new songs. We intend staging concerts featuring the music of the
70s.”
A Gold Medallist at the Sri Lanka Grand Competitive Festival
presented by The British and International Federation of Festivals for
Music, Dance and Speech and the All Island Winner 2008 of the Grand
Final Contest, Rukshan is determined to see that in a few years hence
more of the youth will switch to appreciating music on the lines of the
legacy left behind by his idol Clarence. |
