The rise of Damien Fernando!

By Rashika Fazali

Damien Fernando, a young vocalist of Sri Lanka’s hottest a capella group, Voice Print, and the lead vocalist of The Rebels, has a captivating voice that reminds you of Craig David. He recently performed with Voice Print at CA Sri Lanka’s 48th Annual Report Awards, singing their own renditions of ‘I believe I can fly’ and many more. It was truly a great moment.

Unsurprisingly in 2010, the Rebels and Voice Print went for the World Choir Games in China together and bought home silver and a bronze. Currently The Rebels play an acoustic session at 7 Degrees at the Cinnamon Lakeside on Mondays from 7 p.m. until 1 a.m. and a normal session at Mount Lavinia Hotel on the terrace on Fridays from 7 p.m. to 10.30 p.m.

Damien and I recently caught up to have a little chat on how he ventured into music fulltime.

Following are the excerpts from the interview:

Q: For how long have you been singing? And how did you get involved in music?

A: I’ve been singing since I was a kid. I became exposed to a lot of music when I attended St. Thomas’s College, Bandarawela. It was a senior – the band leader at that time – who really got me into music. I started off by playing for the college band, playing the trumpet.

After I left St. Thomas’s and attended St. Benedict’s, I got involved with the choir. Soon after that, I joined Trinity College and while I was there, they had this yearly event organised by the Interact Club called Exceptional Talent (E.T.) and TIA – Thiththaranga which is done by the prefects. I had a reggae band with a couple of friends and I started playing there. That’s how I got into the band scene.

Q: So how did you get into music professionally?

A: It started with The Rebels. They took part at Onstage in 2008. There was a guy named Sinsi who played guitar for The Rebels. He played for the first preliminary at Onstage and later broke his hand which left The Rebels with no guitarist. So I came down from Kandy and started practicing with them. Eventually they had to choose between Sinsi and me. Since Sinsi’s hand wasn’t better in time, I played at the finals.

The Rebels started playing seriously from 2009. I’ve been in the band since then, but not as often as the rest of the band members. Not that I wasn’t faithful to the band, but I had my A Levels to do which I had to tick off, else I wouldn’t be here today.

Getting into Voice Print was a different story. I happened to be performing solo at a concert at which Voice Print was also performing. They spoke to either our drummer or my brother and asked whether the other vocalist – myself – could join Voice Print. Since The Rebels did not have an issue, Voice Print asked me if I was interested and I agreed.

Q: When did you realise that you wanted to make music your career?

A: The Rebel’s drummer was the guy who made me see sense. One day, he asked me, “Malli, now are going to start working fulltime and be a part time musician or are you going to work part time and be a fulltime musician?”

That was when I realised that if I start working, it will interfere with whatever I am creating or was trying to create because it would be additional stress for me to handle.

Q: I heard that you were a part of the musical ‘Rag’. How was the experience?

A: Rag was amazing! When it started off, I didn’t think it would be much of a deal. It started slowly in March. We had practices three days a week. Somewhere around April and May it got a bit regular.

Everyone in Rag was so talented and out there – amazing human beings to start with, the whole lot of them. Rag is probably the only musical I’ve seen in life. I’ve never seen a Sri Lankan production of art from one play. I’ve never gone to watch a play either.

Q: Are there any other instruments you can play part from the trumpet?

A: I can manage to play the guitar.

Q: What genres does Voice Print and The Rebels cover?

A: Voice Print doesn’t have a genre as such. We try to capitalise a lot on harmonies because that is what sets us apart. We also do a lot of old songs with a new twist to it.

The Rebels are also the ‘anything and everything kind of people’. We definitely don’t have a genre. We play what we are comfortable with. If the song is groovy enough and it moves us, then we will perform it.    

Q: On an average, how many gigs do you play per month?

A: I would say an average of eight.

Q: Most people listen to music in their free time. What do you do in your free time?

A: I read – a lot! I like to read a lot of fantasy, fiction here and there, and autobiographies. I would always choose a book over a movie. Currently I am reading ‘Michael Jackson: The magic and the madness’ by J. Randy Taraborrelli. I also play football and hang out with my friends a lot during my free time.

Q: Who is your idol?

A: Michael Jackson. No one could beat him. He is the greatest. He is such a genius that no one is going to match him for another 100 years. Unless they come up with a ridiculously upbeat song with a ‘trying to keep up with the tides’ sort of thing, it’s not going to last. His music is heartfelt and true and it’s open to anyone to interpret in any way. There is no jurisdiction he has given out and that’s how music should be.

Q: What five songs do you listen to very often?

A: ‘Human Nature’ by Michael Jackson, ‘I will remember’ by Toto, ‘Lego House’ by Ed Sheeran, ‘Better today’ by Ne-yo and ‘7 days’ by Craig David

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: I don’t have an exact plan, but I have this picture and I am trying out every card I have to get to that picture as soon as I can. I am more of an improviser. You put all the time, energy and effort to plan and eventually there will always be that variable that will go wrong. So why not improvise as you go?

Q: Your favourite piece of advice?

A: My uncle once told me, “When you are young, you have the energy and the time, but not the money. When you are around the mid stage, you have the energy and the money, but not the time. When you are old, you have all the time and all the money, but not the energy. So do what you can while you can.”