An album for everyone
View(s):Musician Sacha Spence tells Shannon Salgadoe about his collaboration with Olivier award- winning actor Hiran Abeysekera
It was a proud moment for Sri Lankans everywhere when West End stars Roshani Abbey and Nuwan Hugh Perera were invited to perform at the Commonwealth Day Celebrations at Westminster Abbey in March. The two singers performed WAYO’s ‘Anagathaye’ at the service of celebration attended by King Charles, the Queen Consort, and other members of the Royal Family.
With the singers at the forefront, British guitarist and cellist Sacha Spence who accompanied them on guitar flew slightly under the radar. Sacha, whose mother is Sri Lankan, was in Sri Lanka this month to visit family and to work on a music project, when the Sunday Times caught up with him.
The exciting news is that Sacha is currently working on a music album with Sri Lankan actor Hiran Abeysekera, the 2022 recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role in the stage adaptation of Life of Pi, and has spent the past few weeks recording in Sri Lanka. The album which will be released in September consists of 17 songs with lyrics written by Hiran who will also provide vocals, their aim being to create a platform for the many musicians in the country who are without one.
“Hiran has always been thinking about bringing money back and bringing his experience and people that he’s met back here,” says Sacha. “I know just from talking to friends that I have in London and over here, there’s not a lot going on. There are loads of musicians here as well as artists. They just need a platform and so we’re trying to develop that platform.”
The music for all the songs was composed by Sacha who also plays guitar and cello on the album. Produced by Chinthaka Jayakody, the album features many local musicians such as Buddhika Rajapaksha on drums, Pabasara Kannangara on guitar, Kanishka Maduranga and Vihanga Jayasinghe on bass guitar, and Thiwanka Ranasinghe on percussion, all coming under the band name ‘Evrymee’. “Having local musicians on the album is what we always wanted to do. There could have been a situation where we brought people over from London or America, but it would have taken away the point of it. It’s for here and I think that’s what ‘Evrymee’ sort of stands for. It’s for everyone. We want to start it but then we want lots of people to kind of keep it going.”
Born into a very musical family with his guitarist father encouraging all three children to play an instrument or two, Sacha and his siblings all picked up the guitar and while his brother and sister went on to play the trumpet and clarinet respectively, he was drawn to the cello. “We always wanted to do music. I think we like the creative side of it.
“My mum’s one of four and they all either worked in jewellery or design or art. My mum did sculpting in London. It’s in our blood from both sides.”
Sacha has performed with various orchestras in London, Essex and Bath, at venues like South Bank Centre and Royal Albert Hall. He has also been working at the concert venue, Wigmore Hall in Marylebone, Central London for the past decade. Having dabbled in music composition since he was fifteen, he writes, composes, and arranges music, while also helping his singer-songwriter friends with string arrangements when needed.
A major highlight of his career, of course, was performing at the Commonwealth Day celebration. As members of the Sri Lankan art and music scene in London, Roshani and Nuwan were no strangers to Sacha. “Roshani came to me and said ‘We need a guitarist. We’ve got this thing happening at Westminster Abbey, would you be able to play’?”
Although the organisers had wanted the song to be sung in English, the three insisted on performing it in Sinhalese. They then arranged the song with Sacha laying down chords and then a few rehearsals later, performed it at Westminster Abbey. “We just said let’s do a nice song in Sinhala and just perform it well, essentially just for our family and friends to see. Then on Tuesday, I was getting a lot of Instagram messages and it just sort of blew up,” he says, looking back at a memorable experience.
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