Pursuing music by accident

By Rashika Fazali

Musicians usually have an offstage personality and an onstage personality. Jude Perera is a shy, quiet guy offstage especially if you don’t know him very well, but onstage he’s fierce and sincere. My earliest memory of him, and the best song he has covered in my opinion, was ‘Irreplaceable’ by Beyonce. He sings that song better than a woman could.  

Though he is generally quiet, if you ever had the pleasure of being in his company as a friend, you will find out that he is a bright and bubbly person. His decision to enter the world of hardcore music where people live, breathe and sleep music, it was a decision that was taken by fate itself.

Currently, he is working on releasing his debut single, ‘Broken memories’ produced by The Sherifs and the video by the end of February on an international level. “There are some talks currently ongoing with some record label companies,” said Jude.

‘Broken memories’ is a song about heartbreak. “A lot of people experience heartbreak in many ways. It could be to anyone,” said Jude. Although the song is about a couple, he stated that it can be related to anyone.

Jude first gained national fame when he joined the ‘Yes FM Super Star’ season two competition last year and became the runner-up of the competition. Since then, he has performed at many gigs, worked with many renowned people and producers and learnt a lot on the subject of music. “A couple of friends told me about this competition and I also heard it on the radio and decided to join this competition,” revealed Jude. Before his entrance to the music world, he mentioned that he has only sung at school, at church in the choir, in the room and in the shower! Jude has travelled and lived in many exotic places. He has lived in California most of life, was bought up in Mexico – Spanish being his second language, lived in Hong Kong for a period of six months and then in Bangladesh. When he was in California, many people encouraged him to try out American Idol which he did not. As he spoke of his childhood, he recalled that music has always been a part of his life. “I’ve wanted to become a singer for the longest time. The first song that ever stuck with me – I believe I was five years old then – was ‘I Have Nothing’ by Whitney Houston. I loved the power, her soul and the fact that it came from inside her,” revealed Jude.

He added that he is influenced by Brandy, Whitney Houston, Rihanna, Kelly Rowland, Keri Hilson, One Republic and Usher, although he did mention that he is very much influenced by African-American women. Asking him why, he explained: “These women are minorities in the world. They are the women who often have to fight to be at the top.” Fighting for the lives of many unfortunate people is what he does apart from music. Currently, he works at the Supreme Court as a research analyst and also with a lot of charitable organisations. There was a time when he volunteered for the UN and Legal Aid Commission of Sri Lanka.

Commenting on his future plans, he said: “I want to help people in different parts of the country and push myself more into music – exploring the different types of music and push myself into the international arena. I want to also pursue music and law to the highest extend I can.” With plans to release an album somewhere in August this year, Jude has quite a busy year ahead of him.

pix by Upul Abayasekara