I am searching the way of ‘Indrachapa’ in music

Interviewed by - Aravinda Hettiarachchi

Indrachapa is a remarkable vocalist who blends his vocal tones with a variety of music styles; specially Western Classical and Rock music. We interviewed him recently as a popular music artist although he is involved in a lot of serious renderings in music as well.

Q.- Can you define your style in Sri Lankan Rock Music?

A- My style is eclectic, especially with the elements of the Rock and Western Classical music. Yet the common fans recognize me as a Rock musician. Any musician faces some basic problems while involving in musical experiments. And the uninitiated don’t have any interest or value in serious experiments of music.

And, in Sri Lanka, you don’t have a special system to help this experimental music. We lack the infrastructure to listen and create music in an updated fashion. I am trying to build my way or standard in music especially through Rock music. The majority of the components I use for my experiments are taken from the Rock musical tones.

Yet I am fond of using accompanies and chord works of Western Classical Music as well. Yet my songs are never totally restricted to a particular mode of western music.

Since I am a Sri Lankan, I couldn’t say what kind of a shape will surface through my own experiments, until I reach my desired goal in my creation. I am not exploring Western Rock Music. I am really searching the way of ‘Indrachapa’ in music.

Q.- What are the challenges you faced introducing rock music to the local audience?

A- Thilak Dias was a prominent Rock musician in Sri Lanka. He who figured through local Rock Music Bands such as ‘Venum’, ‘Rattles Snake’ and so on from the 1970s. And there are a lot of Rock bands in Sri Lanka such as ‘Stigmata’ and ‘Funeral in Heaven’. These bands appeared from a background named as ‘Colombo centered upper middle class society’.

These bands cater only to upper middle class community. The problem of popularizing Rock Music among the majority of people starts right here. These rock bands have lesser contacts with the ordinary fans. And most of our commoners have not enough knowledge to understand the variety in music styles of the world (it is not their problem anyway). Even the songs sung by me and Kasun Kalhara were also confronted with this problem. Yet most of the songs of Kasun had mixed with the locally familiar Indian Classical Music. Thus he could gain popularity among the masses than I could.

Q.- Is there a special reason why you got involved in rock music?

A- I am a vandal who maliciously loiters around Colombo city. I heard a lot of Rock Music in my environment. My parents are graduate teachers. I had that middle class background and I went to Ananda Collage, Colombo. Most of my friends had this particular Rock taste. Therefore I didn’t involve in Indian Raghadari Music. Yet I loved the Kawali singing style of Pate Ali Khan. His way of singing helped me within the level of high scaled tones.

I believed that there is a magic while singing in high scales of expression. I didn’t dabble in the Indian Classical Music for the reason that it was not relevant to my expression. I wanted to express an aggressive mood in singing. Thus I am totally against with the boring tunes brought up in the name of indigenous music blended with Indian Classical Music.

Q.- What is your opinion on the present urban sub-cultures of Rock Music in this island?

A- Most of the sub-cultures of Rock Music today keep going mostly through the Reality TV programme, especially in the TNL. This programme produces competitions of new Rock bands. But the participants of these bands directly copy the same thing in western Rock Music.Thilak Dias type of Rock music culture was so different and creative than this.

Thilak has brought an experimental way of fusion into Sri Lankan Rock Music. And a lot of new shapes have been introduced through this. Today we need a Rock Music beyond Thilak Dias’s way.

The band named ‘Thriloka’ is doing this to a certain extent with Rock and Jazz fusions. They do these experiments with the instruments. I am trying to do it with my own voice. That is the only difference between me and ‘Thriloka’. I always experiment to make magic out of my voice.