Sounds of DURGA
The foundation for the band ‘Durga’, was laid in 2010. Sahan De Alwis and Kavinda Welagedera (also known as Wele) schooled at St. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia. The inspiration for the band stemmed from a performance at their final year in school, where they performed at their school’s science day. Initially they started a band called ‘The Fiction’ later that same year. They resorted to play pop music and Baila at parties however they realized they didn’t enjoy what they were doing. The band then went on a long break till 2014 which is when they formed ‘Durga.’ Their goal was to win Onstage 2014. The original line-up was Sahan De Alwis, Daniel Claessen, Deemal Atapattu, Isaac Shehan and Kavinda Welegedara.
The band’s genre is Stoner-Grunge. As the name implies, it is a combination of Stoner rock and Grunge. They like to create repetitive trippy progressions while adding in the wild, unexpected twists. Lyrically, their music is a projection of pain and its causal factors. For example, in the upcoming album this year, each song contributes to one central story about the inner conflicts of a man.
The band’s current line-up consists of Devanjana Peiris on Drums, Daniel Claessen on Bass, Sahan De Alwis on Guitars and Kavinda ‘Wele’ Welagedara on Vocals. Vimukthi Pathirane is the band’s manager, coordinator.
“Music is my savior. It has prevented me from giving up on things that matter. In the context of the band, it helps us communicate with each other about our individual tastes. We bond over playing and listening to music” said Kavinda. They have 5 originals in the pipeline and recording one song at the moment. The album can be expected towards the end of the year. Last year they performed at all three editions of Rock N’ Roll, Mosh Scream Rock X and Chaotic Carols. They also started their own series of acoustic rock concerts called ‘Chillum Sessions’. This year, their first performance will be at the 2ndepisode of Chillum Sessions. Apart from music Devanjana is an entrepreneur and a hair connoisseur. Daniel is a DJ and collaborates with his dad Tim Tim on occasion. Sahan also manages his own business and is a MMA fighter – The champion in his weight category. Vimukthi works in Travel and Tourism and is a painter. Kavinda works in advertising and has begun writing his first novel recently.
“We want to keep putting up new music. Also, we are putting in a lot of effort to make Chillum Sessions successful. There are also plans to collaborate with some big names in the industry,” emphasized Kavinda on the band’s future plans. “Anyone who follows us on social media will see how nonsensical our posts are, although we’re probably the most serious and dramatic band on stage. There’s no one word that defines the band Durga” said Kavinda.
Follow the band on facebook.com/DurgaSL/