'Localise It' on today - bringing local musicians and music fans together

Producing your own music is an addiction, in a way. According to local musician Lasith Fernando, “once you get the ball rolling, producing your own music, it just keeps pushing from inside you, and it’s hard to not put it out.”

‘Localize it’ is a gig that aims to bring together local songwriters and audiences with a love for original, homegrown music. It will be showcased at the antore’ Bistro Italiano, tomorrow (March 31) starting at 7.00p.m. It’s local musicians coming to promote the idea that they, do have original music and that people could actually visit a pub or a cafe and enjoy that sort of music too, aside from the covers that are usually  performed.

We spoke to Lasith, who is behind the organisation of the gig.He tells us, as a musician himself, there’s no better feeling than playing your own music.

Lasith feels that the local music industry is “poised for a big take off,” “I see so much new music coming out from local artistes every day. And I think more and more people are starting to actively consume local music, along with music from other countries.So I think it’s actually a very exciting time to be an upcoming artiste putting out music in Sri Lanka,” he tells us.

According to him the industry is rift with challenges.And one of the biggest challenges he’s faced is the mentality of most venues that hire local musicians.

“There seems to be this mentality that hiring a musician is like hiring an AC unit or something,” he says adding that there’s no thought or  appreciation given to the hours and hours of practice that goes into making a good live performance.

This Lasith finds amusing, because when you think about it, one of the biggest reasons that customers visit and stick around at these venues is because of the live music.

Just like Lasith every other performer for ‘Localize it’ are determined to put Sri Lanka on the map with their original music.The performances for the evening will include music by Nikhil D Almeida,, Rav David, Nathan Eardley, Shehara Jayatileke, and KK. 

The event kicks off at 7pm and is completely free. People who do enjoy the music, will have the option to make a donation to support the performing songwriters. All donations collected will be distributed amongst the performers and will help fund their recording projects.

For more information visit – www.facebook.com/lasithfernando 

-Joshua Surendraraj