Capturing the sounds of an island
When 25 year-old Swiss artist Cee-Roo decided to create music inspired by Sri Lanka, he found his rhythms in the sounds of everyday life: the clack of a fast moving train, the clatter of kottu being diced and mixed, the beautiful, melancholy voice of an old man with the beach at his back, the sound of water cascading over rocks, the scratch of sandpaper on wood, a broom sweeping up leaves, the sizzle of an egg in hot oil, the hollow sound from a long, green bamboo trunk.
The video that accompanies the track, filmed by him, chronicles a trip that took Cee-Roofrom Colombo to Anuradhapura; into the mountains of Kandy, NuwaraEliya, Ella and up to the heights of Adam’s Peak, and finally from East coast to the South-West beaches.
There’s a picture of Cee-Roo in his signature beanie and sunglasses, vacationing in Sri Lanka in January – no doubt over the 6 weeks he spent here he ditched the former and kept the latter. Distinctive headgear aside, the 25 year old musician, filmmaker and producer is known for his updates on classic songs, and their popularity have given him a solid online presence: 25,000 fans on Facebook 5,000,000 plays on SoundCloud and 3,500,000 views on his YouTube channel. “I’m actually, not really a musician, in the way that I’m not playing any instruments,” he explains, “My passion is to capture existing sounds, to cut/modify and combine them to obtain something particular and fresh.” Cee-Roo never took music classes but relies on new technology to realise his ideas and “be creative without worrying about how to do it.”
Born Cyril Käppeli, Cee-Roo’s early career was defined by the launch of mixtapes (Beatz’N Rhymes) remixing a variety of artists and musical genres, by sampling them in his own style. He offered these for free downloads, and their popularity continues to lead to invitations to perform. He’s staged his audio-visual sets at various festival venues primarily in European countries such as France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Italy and of course Switzerland. (The only Asian entry in the list is China where he enjoys some popularity.)
Now, the video from Sri Lanka is winning him more fans. The Swiss artist loved being here, he told The Mirror Magazine: “I chose Sri Lanka because it was a place I knew very little about, making it more interesting to explore. I tried to cover the map and visit tons of places.” For him the trip was about “exploring the sounds and sights, generally immersing myself in this amazing country.”
This isn’t his first attempt to capture the sounds of a country on a track but he considers it his best. “The biggest challenge is to combine everything into a unique film soundtrack without faking the real spirit of the country,” he explains. “There were so many combinations possible with all the sounds and pictures I captured. Day after day, I knew more precisely where I wanted to go with the final result.”
A graduate of the Art and Multimedia school (EIKON) in Fribourg, Cee-Roo makes a living as a motion designer at Frame Eleven in Zurich and says his background in design comes in handy when he’s producing his own videos. They certainly helped him set the look for his first album ‘Memories’ in which he pays tribute to 12 late, great artists. Starting with a selection of his favourite musicians – a group so diverse that it includes the Jackson 5, the Notorious B.I.G, Otis Redding and John Lennon – he remixed the tracks, bringing his own aesthetics to the songs.
“The big challenge was to create something unexpected, that doesn’t sound like the original song, but still without losing its essence,” he says, explaining that he’s inspired by all kinds of music, from hip-hop to soul and funk. “Frank Sinatra’s one of my favourite tracks. It was a big challenge to bring some groove to “Fly Me to the Moon”, but the result is exactly what I expected. The Jackson 5 song for example works really well when I’m playing it live…That’s why I wanted the album to be really eclectic by combining all kind of styles and references.”
For now, Cee-Roo relies on word of mouth and social media platforms to win over new listeners. “All the big media platforms are a great tool to expand my creations, get views and create contacts. That’s also why I’m releasing all my stuff for free: to share my passion for digital arts, and hopefully share some emotions with people through my productions.”
Find Cee-Roo online at:
www.ceeroo.ch www.facebook.com/cee-roo and
www.youtube.com/cyrou