Bottom
Line aiming high
By Radhika Dandeniya
Sri Lankan bands have made occasional forays abroad, performing
with some success to foreign audiences. One local band that
has been performing in the Maldives had the good fortune recently
of meeting superstar Bryan Adams there and receiving much encouragement
from him. So much so, they now want to go global, while 'showing
the world that they have a traditional touch'.
"Bottom
Line" is a four-member band comprising Shamenlee Fernando
(keyboard), Nishantha Pieris (lead guitar), Hasitha Samarakoon
(drums) and Nilan Perera (bass).
All are
accomplished singers with Nilan in the lead, and have been
singing together for four years now, performing at weddings,
parties and at hotels in Sri Lanka.
'Bottom
Line' have their own style incorporating music from the 60s
to the latest chart toppers, including reggae, country and
Western, jazz and pop.
The members
have a good rapport and complement each other's strengths.
They have spent the past two years in the Maldives. "We
had never been abroad together as a group plus the prospects
are better overseas," explains Nilan Perera.
They currently
have a year's contract there, playing Hindi, Sinhala and Arabic
music to an enthusiastic audience at various resorts.
Bryan
Adams and his entourage, at the tail end of a successful tour
in India, happened to be in the Maldives at a five-star hotel
where "Bottom Line" perform regularly. Once a month
the hotel holds a musical theme night involving jamming sessions
where different bands play together. It is organised by the
popular Maldivian band 'Zero Degree (Attol)'.
It was
during one of these nights that Keith, the lead guitarist
in Bryan Adams' band approached the quartet and joined them
in a jamming session that they thoroughly enjoyed. Impressed
with their performance, Bryan Adams advised them to work hard
on their own material, in order to progress.
Nilan
had always considered Adams as one of his heroes and was delighted
to have finally met him, adding that talking to him was a
"good learning experience".
This has
given them the necessary motivation to further their musical
careers, they say.
The band
now hopes to produce a CD in the Maldives with songs translated
into Maldivian, Sinhala, Indian and Arabic.
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