Pitch perfect
Amalshan GUNERATHNE
There is a sense of mystique about his music that touches your
aesthetic senses and transport you to a whole different magical world
altogether. As you take refuge in his music, all of your stress and
hassles fade away. At certain moments the music touches your
heart-strings with a sense of slow-moving melancholia, but as the pace
revels, it thrills you and excites you with hyper-exhilarating,
pulsating rhythmic twists.
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Eugene
during a violin performance |
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Eugene Draw |
Eugene Draw is one such musician. Maybe it is the freak in him that
urges him to compose such uniquely original, out of the ordinary musical
compositions. “I believe I am a freak and I love being a freak,” the
Canadian electric violinist Eugene Draw says. His creative prowess
enables him to fuse disco, rock, blues, folk beats, reggae and
electronica all in to one masterfully crafted rhythms. “I believe music
is a one entity, it is not a division of genres or sub genres,” he
explains.
Stages of ethics
Eugene also has four different stage ethics when it comes to grasping
the audience’s attention. He believes that the musician has to educate,
transform and transport the audience when performing. “You should be
able to transform the environment and transport people’s minds in to
completely different environment.
You need to make them feel as if they are in a magical place. In a
sense it is a way of altering their perceptions,” Eugene says. Speaking
of attributes that contribute to a strong performance, he further
noted,” I believe the performance has to be honest and it has to be
fully, electrifying to capture the audience.”
The Canadian violinist Eugene Draw sat down for a jovial chat when he
recently visited the island for what is suppose to be a vacation.
However Eugene’s stay in the island took an un-expected turn, as it
turned in to a roller-coaster ride filled with adventure and excitement.
We visited him, just before he was about to leave the country.
During his short stay, he has already formed a sense of affection
towards the culture and all the other eccentricities that go with it.
“It is amazing, the only problem I have is going back, and I am going to
miss the climate. It is all last minute work here in Sri Lanka, but I
don’t mind that, in fact that is right up my alley and I love how things
work here,” he says. Then he eloquently expresses, “Culture in Sri Lanka
is very much alive, it is breathing and you feel its presence
everywhere. In a sense it is a buffer, but it makes people feel relevant
and important.”
Local experience
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Eugene at
the Cancer Hospital |
During his stay, Eugene has performed in several local pubs, where he
won hearts of many local fans. He even got an exclusive opportunity to
perform at the Sri Lankan People’s Awards. But the most touching
experience of Eugene’s stay has been his visit to Cancer Hospital, where
he spent time with cancer kids. After he entertained their sore hearts
with his refreshing music, the kids gifted him with paintings which were
drawn by their own hands. Looking back at the memory, Eugene wrote in
his in his internet blog, “There came the moment that just touched my
heart, I was presented with drawings that the kids made for me alongside
a beautiful handcrafted card. One painting is of a family on a beach, it
is one boy’s perfect day back home. They were so happy to bring me these
gifts; this is their talent that they would love to share with the
world.”
Eugene’s music group, “Dr Draw” has received rich critical acclaim in
North America for their originality. So far they have composed four
music albums and his first CD titled, “The City” has sold over 13,000
copies and is still selling across the country.
Eugene’s adventure with music is an interesting one. He started
playing at the age of fourteen. Interestingly, Eugene’s creative
expressions have never been hampered by restrictive educational norms.
He is not a musician who learnt the art through formal education. He has
not been to a university to learn music either. “My way of acquiring
education has been through experience. I perceive things through senses
rather than through logic, sense as in I have to feel the experience
first. I need to see it in action and then experience it. My form of
education is not formulaic,” he says.
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