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Q: What’s your new single all about?
A: The title of the song is, ‘I Want It (Uh La La)’ and it is an up-tempo song with house music elements. We are dishing out a brand new music genre in Sri Lanka with this genre called ‘synthpop’ also known as ‘electropop’, or ‘technopop’. It suits people who would like to listen to up-tempo music, go out, explore, feel and enjoy life.
The song has a set of simple lyrics but it’s energised with a super-catchy tune and feel-good instruments such as the trumpet to make you feel all hyped-up.
Q: What is synthpop?
A: This style emerged during the late 1970s. A type of dance music with futuristic synths and a lighter electro-aesthetic, resembling new-wave or early electro pioneers, but with a simpler pop/rock template, often centring around a vocal part. Synthpop somewhat lost its popularity in the mainstream by the early 1990s but has never been dormant. It continues to be a popular style having seen a major resurgence in the 2000s, and remains even more popular to the present day.
Q: Who was part of the crew behind this project?
A: It’s a new crew. The music of the song was produced by an extremely talented youngster in the music arena in Sri Lanka, who goes by the name Jacky Vibes. Another blooming young lad, Shenuka H. Peiris was the one who composed a catchy tune, plus he also put a great effort as the recording engineer on this project by arranging, mixing and mastering the track at SAP studios.
Q: What was the feedback for your previous single ‘Hallelujah’?
A: It was amazing. I never thought that I would be able to make an impact by doing a gospel song. Not just Catholics even Buddhists and Muslims were feeling the lyrics of the song and they were praising the song’s message. That’s a fact of which I’m really proud. Credit to Chamath Sangeeth and Rakith Perera, who lives in the US, for the success of that smashing record.
Q: When can we see your new music video?
A: I’m trying my best to release it in June. It’s going to be an extraordinary one filled up with glamour and class.
Q: I heard some of the big names in Sri Lanka were featured on your new TV show. What’s the feedback?
A: Hosting is one of my favourite hobbies and the feedback for my TV program is always getting better. T.M. Dilshan, Lahiru Thirimanna, Gayan from the band ‘Daddy’, Lahiru Perera and some of the most popular icons in Sri Lanka were on the show recently as my guests. It goes live on Wednesdays & Sundays from 6pm to 7pm on Siyatha TV.
Q: What is the concept of your TV show?
A: It’s more of a lifestyle talk show. What I try to do is to deliver to my audience an interesting one hour of getting my guest to be open about his lifestyle and interests. We play various types of music videos in between the chat. Additionally, I talk about current affairs like cricket, music, fashion and movies.
Q: What is the status of the Sri Lankan music industry in comparison to international standards?
A: When it comes to output, the quantity is high but quality is lower than before, as commercialised productions are covering real music. Most of the people are trying to put a song out with the trend to just be popular. Even the mainstream industry is abused by the media and ring-in tone companies. The quantity of good quality music is very low. Even the good material is not getting enough publicity from the media as most of the media channels are not taking a risk to play new music styles. They are keen to play the same ordinary material that goes with the trend.
When it comes to local English music, most of the electronic channels don’t even consider playing local music. In that case, only print media and web is available for the artiste. I don’t think only that would help at all to carry new music to the local audience. But in today’s world you can still make your song go viral on the web if it’s an interesting trend setting one with quality music.
So my advice for people who got talent is, make use of it; don’t flow with the trend. Try new things out. Experimenting will take you to new places. Keep trying and believing in yourself. Don’t let any barrier break you down.
Q: You produce music for others as well. Tell us some more about that?
A: Yes. I don’t like to produce songs; I like to produce artistes. So whoever comes to me to get a song done will be treated that way. I take the production of a song as a project and try to build his/her personality as an artiste instead of just producing a song.
Q: Can you explain the process of “producing an artiste”?
A: In the beginning of a production, I start building up that person’s character, develop his mindset, give him a clear idea about the music industry and prepare him for the challenge ahead. Then, while working on the music, melody and lyrics, I upgrade their musical brain, setting up the platform to absorb the project right, which helps me to get the best skills out of them. When we are done with the song, I handle their appearance, the way they maintain their image and all the promotions and marketing for the song and artiste.
Q: What do you have to say to your fans?
A: Thank you for being with me, supporting me and showing me love. I really appreciate all your feedback. Like my Facebook fanpage www.facebook.com/darealyashan; visit my website www.yashanonline.com.
