Rainbow man consolidates fame on modern sounds

Chamikara WEERASINGHE

Singer-songwriter Raj Seneviratna has sparked the music scene with an ultra modern remix of his evergreen hit, Sili Sili Seethala Alle, reloaded with futuristic sounds and visuals to stimulate a new generation of music fans.

Raja has made a continuous impact on Sri Lankan audiences albeit the fact that he seems to play the role of “rainbow man” by staying away from the public eye from time to time.

He is currently planning to release a new single titled “ One Land “ written and recorded by him in 1983, which will be a peace song.

The song is said to have been shelved as Raj thought it was “irrelevant” at the time.

The track remained forgotten for more than twenty years until it was recovered unexpectedly in July 2002 by the artist’s assistants while going through his old spools.

Sili Sili Seethala Elle was originally released in 1983. The music is by late composer and saxophonist Stanley Peiris and lyrics by Ajantha Ranasinghe. The music video was directed by Shan Wickremesinghe.

The video clip of the latest remaking of Sili Sili, the future reloaded, was directed by Prasanna Gunasinghe, Thusitha Wimalasiri of Wide Angle with Raj behind the basic idea of the video.

One will see that the visual content of Raj’s production to be depicting several visual concepts which were taken after science fiction movies like Minority Report, Matrix and Star Trek with Raj emerging from a futuristic starship dressed in a long leather overcoat wearing dark glasses. The segments of the song’s first video of 1983, are also in the latest video.

Raj has taken special care to extract the original version of his voice, the saxophone (Stanley Peiris), Guitar (Mahinda Bandara) Flute (V. Hemapala Perera) from the original song to be remixed in the latest track.

What is more important here is the effect that the combination of both the video and the audio have generated in terms of catering to a new generation of fans.

As pointed out by Raj, what happens in music is that unless you keep changing your style, you become old fashioned in the way you think about music.

The following is an interview with Raj Seneviratna by In Tune which was taken at his studio, Taurus Audio Productions and his residence at Havelock Terrace on January 17, 2008.

Q. Please elaborate on your statement about musicians getting old fashioned. How come?

Raj: In today’s music the people, the people you cater to are persons in the age group between 12 to 35. When you get 35, and you still think about your era and produce music.

This means you are catering to a group of people who are over 50 years.

As one gets older, things also change. The new styles can manifest and develop. I try to develop with the changes.

Q. Do you like all types of music?

Raj: I must admit that there are some styles of music that I don’t like much, for instance hip hop and rap.

Q. Why don’t you like them much?

Raj: The depravity of a good melody line has put me off rap. The music has no tune and you will not find the basic structure of music in rap. When you come to a certain stage as a musician, it is a natural tendency to listen and enjoy melodious music pieces.

Q. Tell us about your song “One Land.” Why was it not released in 1983.

Raj: The idea was there. But it was simply inappropriate to release it then as with the country’s situation with the 1983 riots. Raj placed an old sheet of paper on the table and said this is the original lyrics of One Land, written by me in 1983. The chorus of the song read:

All over the world, there is stress, Where one people is more, one is less

The problems we feel

Sometimes they’re not real, So take care don’t act irrationally”

Q. Why do you plan to release the song now?

Raj: Had I released this thing in 1983 I would have been stoned because of the lyrical content. I feel Ok about it now.

Q. The song reads “One land is all I’ve got.” What motivated you to write a song like this one ?

Raj: I don’t like to see people getting divided. They speak about Eelam. Why not live together in peace and harmony in one land instead of trying to divide the land.

Q. Will the song be released in a more modern format?

Raj: Yes. There will be a number of additions. Artistes like Sunil Perera of Gypsies, Damien Wickremetilleke, Kevin Almeida, Shennel De Alvis and Mariaselle Gunatilleke will do some segments of the song.

Q. You were more into Western English songs than into Sinhala songs. Why was the conversion from English to Sinhala songs?

Raj: The conversion is the result of my seeking contentment through my own creations. I have sung thousands of English songs, but I have sung only 34 Sinhala songs throughout my entire career.

Q. How did music come in to your life?

Raj: When we formed Savage, I was only 16. We used to do a lot of Beatles cover songs at the time we started. The original members of Savage were Evan Balasuriya on bass, Calvin Vangramberg on Rhythm, Bertram Daniel on Drums and me on vocals and guitar.

Q. What happened to the band?

Raj: It got dissolved after eight years because we all got bored having played for eight years. The personal differences, tastes all upsurged, The members wanted to go about their way in music on their own. This is an eventuality.

Were you ever frustrated at any point in time as a musician?

Yes frustration crept in gradually as far as I am concerned as I used to do long night stands at regular night clubs playing other people’s songs. We (Savage) made a tour of Vietnam to perform to American GIs there on a two and half year contract.

Then we came to Singapore to do more gigis, It was after the tour of Singapore, the Savage disbanded. After that I went to Cairo, Tehran, Damascus, Switzerland, Finland and Germany to perform in pubs and night clubs.

Q. Why was the frustration?

Rae: There comes a stage that one starts asking oneself, why he or she is copying other people’s songs. I asked myself why am I not expressing myself with what is my own in music and it took me twenty years for that.

It makes you happier to see that people listen to your songs and they are around you for your songs than to listen to other people’s songs.

Q. You have been in and around the music scene for a long time. What is it like to get to hear the kind of popular music that you come into contact with in Sri Lanka ?

Raj: If you are referring to hip hop or rap, they do kind of copying from the Indian versions and hip hop. It’s a combination of both. For me it is not the right way to go about your music. Anyway they are catering to Sri Lankan masses.