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Approaching
the big hurdle Growing up
means getting older and wiser but then again what if you find solace
in being young at heart? After all, they say you are as 'young as
you feel'. So as I approach the big hurdle that is responsibility
and maturity, I am content knowing that I am not the only one who
is sad to see my youth has flown past me leaving me with fond memories
and thoughts of the days I spent as a teenager. Ahh, the life
of a teenager.... not a care in the world with clothing and appearance
taking centre stage. Be it at a funfair or a play, teenagers take
their appearance very seriously. I was one who never took to such
extremes such as carrying a comb in my back pocket or investing
in tubs of hair gel, but then again that might explain why I ended
up the way I am... From playing
hard to get with the opposite sex to identifying one's self with
a band or team, my teenage years were spent fruitfully reaping all
the benefits that were on offer to me... I was never a heart breaker
but then again, all my aunts said that one day I would be. Anyway
now it's been 20 on this earth and still I feel as if I had just
turned 13, getting up every morning and fussing only to be forced
out of the house and on to the streets of Colombo to find a 'job'
with the echoes of 'do something with your life' in the background. Oh, I dread
the day when I will have to sit behind a desk and work a 40 hour
week, nine to five Monday to Friday, when the only glimmer of redemption
is the office party or a public holiday. Forty years down the line
they throw you a retirement celebration and gift you a plaque and
all of a sudden you may wonder what was I doing... That is unless,
of course, you love your work. So with a certain
uncertainty and a certain curiosity I turn 21 this October and will
not regret it. But instead I'll live each and every day just the
way I want to... just the way I feel... 18 till I die. Singing
Barefooted "Azia
Dauysy" was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan from August 1-5 and
drew performers from all over the world, presenting a vast palette
of styles, trends and cultures. CharlesMark,
comprising Rukshan Mark Lokuge and Bertram Charles, first sang together
in a choir. Then, six years ago, they started to work on their own
compositions. CharlesMark is the first band to release a "single"
CD in Sri Lanka. Their single became the first local English song
to enter the Sun Fm Top 40 chart at No.3. They are mainly
a western band and are currently recording a fusion album with the
Australian jazz band "Zardas". "We heard
about this contest when Bathiya and Santhush became runners-up,"
said Rukshan adding that credit should go to Arundathy Sri Ranga-nathan
of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Cooperation for promoting it among
local artistes. There was stiff competition both here in Sri Lanka
and at the contest itself. "It was tough as these artistes
were more experienced than we were," said Rukshan, thrilled
with their achievement. They were judged
on their sound engineering and also their fusion of traditional
and modern music. In this competition modern music had to be mixed
with the traditional music of the artiste's own country. "For us
Ranga Dassanayaka did it well," said Rukshan adding that the
quality of Ranga's fusion of ethnic and modern gave their music
the cutting edge. "The end result was amazing. People recognize
the uniqueness of his work immediately and he is a big part of this
award," said Rukshan adding that A.R. Rahaman, the well-known
Indian music composer had also commended Ranga. At Azia Dauysy,
CharlesMark sang three originals, "Barefooted", "Wanna
hold you" and "Suragana". Clad in shirts
and sarongs and going onstage barefoot, CharlesMark delivered "Barefooted"
to a rousing reception. They were also the only artistes to mix
languages with their song "Wanna hold you" having two
verses in English and two in Sinhala while "Suragana"
was in Sinhala. So how did
the crowd respond? "Really well," says Rukshan sounding
surprised. After the first song, "we got so many flowers".
At present
CharlesMark is in discussion with Prime Line Incorporation about
managing their band. "We are also working on a concert where
we will be bringing in three guest artistes who performed at the
competition," says Rukshan. They feel that Sri Lanka should support its artistes more. "Upcoming artistes need sponsorship," says Rukshan pointing out that when the artistes become well-known the sponsors can actually take credit that they helped them achieve success. Jason's
promise comes true Amanda, half
Sri Lankan by birth, is currently here for a couple of years to
check out the local music scene and work out some gigs with local
bands. She's working on some songs with Knight and Capitaln, which
should be released soon. Having been quite popular back in Melbourne,
Amanda's already been three years on the music scene Down Under
and has a passion for music, singing and composing from a young
age. Preferring
folk and gospel music, Amanda opts to be a bit different from the
norm and 'out of the box' in her singing. "That's what I like
most about working with Knight, for he too strongly believes in
being different and doing original stuff," she says. Knight
and Amanda are hoping to release Just Good, a song with a funky
mix of hip hop, garage and techno, by the end of this year. This
track which is one of 55 tracks, Knight has composed thus far over
the past years, shows creativity and innovation. Whoozie Touch,
the first ever local mix of Rock 'n Roll and Ragamuffin has already
been aired on a local radio station and should be out on the net
by the end of the week. This song can be downloaded off the net
on any one of the following sites - "http://www.kaza.com"
www.kaza.com, "http://www.amazon.com" www.amazon.com,
or "http://www.napster.com"
www.napster.com Shooting and
editing music videos is yet another project Knight has taken on. Knight hopes
to cater more to the western tastes of the local market. He believes
that too many people give up on the way, either due to too much
competition or the lack of suitable back up. Knight says, that's
where his outfit differs because they specialise in seeing their
crew onto the end of the line. Knight also
plans to launch a new rock single titled Crazy, sung by Unknown,
a group of talented young boys from Negombo. A remake of his song
Always was also done by Isuru, titled Samedha, featuring Shani in
the music video. Knight's song Double Cross featuring Dylan D is
mainly gangsta related and speaks of two guys and how one ends up
going out with the other's wife behind his back. Another song, Group
Theory was awaiting a female vocalist and now with Amanda on the
scene, they should be able to complete it. It speaks out against
drugs and denounces the way our local people imitate the Black American
way of living, under the illusion that it's the cool thing to do."We
can sing songs like them but we shouldn't get carried away with
that train of thought,"says Capitaln. Knight and Capitaln still have their minds set on forming an all female group as it would be a relatively new concept on the local music scene. Any interested parties could get in contact with them on either jasonknight2000@hotmail.com or jasonknight@itmin.com
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