Mirror
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| Wandering
talent
In this challenging world, education is indeed an integral part of life. This hasn’t stopped Shivantha Wijesinghe from pursuing his goals. After making a name for himself overseas musically, he was in Sri Lanka in December in an attempt to build up a local presence. He plans to release a CD containing five originals thus launching his career in the music industry. Among the seasonal merrymaking, this ‘academic’ artiste had a professional agenda this vacation and started the year with a bang, performing at Clancy’s on January 1. Born in England, he came to Sri Lanka and entered Colombo International School, where he sat for his Advanced Level examination. This done, he moved to Australia and read for a degree in Arts at Monash University, Melbourne. At twenty-five, he is now completing his second degree, this time in Law. When the inevitable question as to why he did two degrees is posed, he replies “Why not?” “My passion is for music,” says Shivantha, explaining the drive that enables him to balance his studies and interests. With a musical streak running in the family, “I practically grew up with classical music,” he says. His taste in music is varied. He started his musical career by playing at friends’ parties and at a few public venues and took up song writing about seven years ago. The fact that he is not stage shy is a bonus. “I love to perform,” he says, smiling. “I don’t like to conform, so there is no categorisation as such in my music,” says Shivantha, explaining that he works quite often on acoustic ballads, but prefers not to be stereotyped. The same goes for the subject matter of his work. The themes generally vary from life experiences to love, to numerous others. “It’s when I’m playing around with my guitar, that I come up with stuff,” he says. “You know how you sometimes zone out for a while and you’re lost in your own world - those are the moments when ideas turn up.” “Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Life and Creed are some of the biggest musical influences for me,” he says. This artiste manages the back up music for his singles, playing the acoustic and electric guitars, piano and keyboard, in addition to being the lead singer. His producer handles the drums. “I generally go in with a guide track. The drums, keyboard and piano tracks are done in separate parts and then added on.” He has his own four-member band in Melbourne. According to Shiv-antha, the general response in Melbourne has been good. “I’ve been doing a lot of gigs around Melbourne and I feel I’m building up a presence.” One of the highlights of his musical career was performing with Venessa Amorossi and Deborah Conway, two popular Australian artistes. He has also had the opportunity to do a guest appearance on the highly rated television series, Kath and Kym. He is also involved in modelling and has had a few stints on the catwalk, and been featured in a number of newspapers and magazines. Future plans for Shivantha include setting up a base in England once his degree is complete. “But I’ll be coming back here someday,” he says, emphasising that there’s nowhere like home. |
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