The new buzz in the local music scene is Doctor. No, not the PhD sort, but the band. Set up just six months back, the relatively new band has already released their first single, “Aththamai Kiyanne.”
The song “Aththamai Kiyanne” is lyrically comical and was written by famed lyrist Chandradasa Fernando. Lead vocalist Lanthra Perera, came up with the arrangement for the single that has a pop-rock meets jive sound going for it. Recorded at Lanthra’s studio that has been duly christened the “Hospital,” the music is certainly catchy and will have your head bopping and drumming your palms to the beat.
The music video for the song, which took a total of three days of shooting, is just as quirky as the lyrics. Grabbed in clothes straight out of the 90’s and wigs of cascading locks, the five piece band members pop in and out of various scenes. The video is quite popular and is played on TV.
The band is currently working on their second single which is more of a Baila track titled “Mage Girlfriend.” Lanthra describes the song as “a familiar scenario that most guys can relate to,” and jibes “it’s basically about how a clingy girlfriend can get to be annoying.”
The band hopes to have it ready for release by the end of either June or July of this year. They also expect to have compiled an album of twelve to fifteen songs, two of which will be in English, by the end of this year.
You can anticipate the album to have components of the music that the band is more inclined to play, such as Pop, Rock, Jazz, Blues and of course the ever vital Baila. Narrowing down their music preferences Doctor’s influences range from international bands such as Deep Purple, Bee Gees, The Beatles, Bon Jovi, Status Quo, Queen, Maroon 5 and Mcfly, to local outfits such as the Gypsies and Misty.
Since they started out, the band has been playing tracks by these artists, at weddings, dinner dances and cocktails. Their most recent concert performance was at Revolutions of Sounds held in February at which Doctor was the guest performance.
The band comprises of very young members but they are talented well beyond their years. Lead vocalist and lead guitarist, Lanthra Perera is a bubbly 19-year-old who seems to have the makings of a musician running in his blood, his father – Nimal Perera, is the former bassist for the Gypsies. He is also currently working with Raj Seniviratne, a giant in the Sri Lankan music industry.
The lead guitarist and vocalist, Kushal Abewickrama, is well known among the young musicians. You may have spotted the 19-year-old performing at several concerts.
The band also comprises of 21-year-old, vocalist Krishan Perera on Keyboards, 20-year-old Dilesh Willington who also is a vocalist for the band as well as the bassist, and 20 –year-old Harsha Ignatious, the drummer. You can check out the bands two original songs on YouTube and though the single “Mage Girlfriend” does not have a music video as yet, it will be available as a live performance. |
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