Wildfire keeps on burning!

Love comes quickly whatever you do, can't stop falling, so they say and sooner or later this is bound to happen to everyone. When it happens you just know that the Earth has just spun under your feet. "Breaking up" that's what it's all about.

Wildfire, the Golden Clef Award winning rock band in the year 2002, has just faced the fate of having to break up. The unit will no longer stand on stage together as they used to do in the past.

The band's bassist Nilantha Ariyaratna and vocalist, guitarist Shaafi have officially left the outfit.

"But this is not going to be the end of Wildfire," the key symbol behind the band's success and its leader Derek B. Wikramanayake told us.

Then let's face the music. How is Derek going to live with this? With an affectionate smile. No. He is too smart to accept anything on the surface. How does he accept the split of his partners from his own band as the leader?

"As I see it there comes a time for any band in the scene that its members want leaving it. This happened to the great British Liverpooldian band, The Beatles and many other bands in the international music arena," he said.

"It's a matter of musical choice rather than anything else. There comes a time for every music maker to think seriously about what he makes and what he should be doing as a musician. This is a transitional period where you will have to make your own decisions," he explained.

"In fact I feel that this is something really good because it's good once in a way that you are on your own to realize your own potential as a musician. Nilantha and Shaafi left Wildfire to form their own bands to do just that. It's a fitting decision," a thoughtful Derek said.

On being pointed that the four, including drummer Chris has been doing a fair job and they have won thousands of fans across the country, Derek has this to say, "I do not see there is a point in holding on to anything, when it's time to go, just go, that's it."

Commenting on their success as a band, he said, "Wildfire has been a composition of dedicated players who worked hard on their playing and singing. If we had any success it was due to that commitment."

I asked Derek if he ever thought that the local rock music industry might get affected by their dissolution.

"Who said Wildfire is a rock band? We played rock music, songs performed by international artists, and entertained those who came to see us perform. We also played dance music to get our crowds dance and enjoy," he said.

There is something beautiful about Derek. He hits the nail hard on the head. He's got smiles that can kill you, but he'll share a word or two that can never fail you. Of course he is no actor on the small screen who does love roles with lollipop smiles.

He is an altruistic and a hard working musician who practices his guitar six hours every day, he earns his money by the sweat of his brow. Asked what Wildfire would be without Shaafi and Nilantha, Derek said, "Wildfire will be Wildfire with three others joining the band.

The band is fully booked for the year and it will be playing in hotels, clubs, pool decks, concert halls and private parties."

The new line up for Wildfire would be Mano Ratnayake on Sax, Keyboards, guitar, vocals, Channa Galappatti on vocals, a member of Ebony with 20 years of experience behind him, and Chathuranga on guitar.

"It's always the same story. Getting our act together with dedication, play the right notes and correct chords along the way," said Derek thoughtfully and added that Chathuranga was a fast learner.

Asked whether he was planning to commercialise the band, Derek said, "there is no such thing as the term implies. But we will be playing all genres of music from pop to rock."

Wildfire will continue.

- Chamikara

Perseverance through adversary

Perhaps it was the name, perhaps it was the good looking chap on-stage jumping high and bolting across stage giving the Energizer Bunny stiff competition or simply the lack of "trash metal" that caught my attention and made my head nod unknowingly.

"I was down for a vacation in Sri Lanka, and was feeling bored, rounded up a couple of friends and auditioned for a band", recalls Mikhail Ismail, the band's vocalist. It was only a matter of weeks before the newly founded band put together a few tracks and were gearing to unveil themselves.

"After several Rock Company performances, we registered for TNL Onstage and the thrill of performing was like a drug".

That was in 2004.

Mikhail Ismail on vocals and guitar, Nirodhe Jayasinghe on drums and Nevaan de Silva on base compose the current line-up of Picasso Recess. The band has had several set-backs on their way.

Mikhail is suffering from a recent minor stage injury. "Entertaining is my aim. That is the commitment we are making," says Mikhail.

With the streets cluttered with long-haired, tattooed, dodgy looking self-proclaimed musicians, PR defines a sound that sets them apart, which is an amalgamation of various music genres from different individuals in the band.

Drummer Nirodhe strikes the hardcore metal end of the scale with bassist Nevaan enjoying majestic rock, while punk kid Mikhail declares "Funeral For A Friend" to be his top band.

However, the guys determines, "We are essentially a rock band that explores avenues of punk, metal and hardcore". Converging their tastes and their talents together, the band focuses on a complex yet approachable sound. "Our music works both ways as alienation is not the proper approach".

What about the lyrical context and the message in your music? Is it about death, perjury and filled with melancholy, I asked?

"We express an element of duality in our music. Clues that reveal a deeper meaning" Like a treasure hunt!

"Circadian Tragedy, my favourite from the EP and the most epic piece, immediately comes across as a break-up song. However the song unfolds itself, incorporating the complexity of lunar movements".

For drummer Nirodhe Jayasinghe "Four Letter Words Coming Undone" is the closest to his heart. "I auditioned for Picasso Recess on that track. It's interesting to play as it incorporates various segments."

With plans to release "Four Letter Words Coming Undone" as a single, Mikhail has a firm fixation about the band's future, with every piece of music on the EP has been straight from his heart.

Also in the pipeline for Picasso Recess, is a series of concerts to be held in the latter part of the year. They will be on stage with Paranoid Earthling.Interested? Then keep an eye out for the Third Rock Company Compilation CD, for this might be an introduction to a new addiction, Picasso Recess.

The guys will appear on this CD with the multi-segmented track "Four Letter words coming undone."

With a vision and a passion to target and satisfy a wide cross-section of Sri Lankans with their punk rock music, that includes an alternative melody within a metal framework, Picasso Recess, a trio of fun-loving, creative and talented guys, could be the next trendsetters in the local, original English music industry.

In other words, Picasso Recess defines an approach to their that is "Credible yet accessible".

- Bimalee