Primal Liyanage's first exposure to music came from his mother.
Listening to jazz music played on her record player, his passion for music began at an early age.
However early the passion began, that music would come to play a vital role in his life was something he never expected. Even at fourteen years of age, watching instructional DVD's on how to play a guitar, never for a moment did he imagine that this would be his career, many years down the line.
"I had aspirations of becoming a cricketer," he reminisces, "and I also studied banking for a while; but music was always the biggest part of my life." On declaring that music was his dream and preferred career option, his concerned family had been shocked and appalled, but have now, judging by his success as a musician, accepted that music is in fact the perfect career for Primal.
Having released his debut album 'Dayadaya' three weeks ago, Primal looks forward to a challenging yet fulfilling musical career ahead of him – producing more albums and playing with his band Flame – of which he has been a member for around two years.
"In fact," recalls Primal, "Flame was the first band I started performing with – some of its members saw me playing at an event and asked me to join."
Since then, Primal has performed with Blind Faith, Wild Fire and currently plays with Flame.
'Dayadaya' was the result of around 10 months work, and is a combination of Latin, jazz, Caribbean and blue grass style music.
Aside from his performances with the band and his new album, Primal dedicates his time to producing and recording music for commercial purposes. He is also devoted to his family- his wife Hiruka – a cricketer and his little son Hershel.
"Despite the success I have achieved so far," he says, "I know I still have a lot to learn, and I really am inspired when I look at foreign artistes and the way they perform."
What inspires him the most though, is the feeling he gets when performing in front of an audience that appreciates good music. "It really spurs me on to keep improving my performance and giving it my all. That is when I'm in my element."
|
E-mail