 Sonali back in the limelight
by Mahes Perera
It’s easy to become stereo-typed
but you could hardly apply that comment to singer Sonali Suriyapoda who
has always been different from the rest. She started her musical career
with Chandral and the Kings and was a centre stage attraction with her
strong and powerful vocals.
 She had a short sojourn in Europe when she joined Friends, and the
band had a popular run in most of the recognised nite clubs in Germany
and Switzerland. Back home in early 2001, the desire to continue her
music urged her to form the duo Champagne with Chrys Wickramanayake and
she was again in the limelight in our music scene.
The travel bug got the better of her and she went to Australia to
experience the music scene there, enjoyed herself tremendously as a
freelance musician and for our good fortune is back home.
Actively involved in our music scene, Sonali and Champagne now
perform weekly at the Heist Bar at the Ceylon Continental on Thursday
evenings. Her duo partner is Ranyl Rodrigo on keyboards and he joins her
in vocals as well. Their repertoire is wide and varied and catching
their performance is an ideal way to chill out after a gruelling hard
day of work. You can be sure of enjoying your favourite songs with
Sonali.
A multi-instrumentalist Ranyl was a member of Bohemians before he
decided to move over to the band Burn led by Ashok Jayasinghe and later
into Duo’s and Trio’s scene. The fact that he was extremely versalite in
playing drums and the bass came in handy for Ranyl. An experienced
musician he has performed at all the leading hotels in Colombo and at
several places in the Southern circuit.
We are happy to welcome you back, what are your future plans?
“I’m keen on recording some original songs here in Sri Lanka and am
looking forward to performing at other venues.
I’ve been performing at the Club Zonk with Kings and last year on
Christmas Eve, I sang with Chandral and Kings at Club Bentota and for
the season we were at Cinnamon Grand.
Since I freelance I had my moments at many private functions. And now
at the Heist I enjoy myself singing to my old fans and my new fans - it
is truly wonderful to be back”. |
