PLACES, PEOPLE & PASSIONS (3Ps)

Part 8

Dr. Chandana () Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
chandij@sympatico.ca

Profile

Sohan is a popular singer, entertainer, band leader, song composer, lyrics writer, and showbiz personality. He is an attorney at law but decided to make a career in the entertainment industry. After winning the Observer Talent contest in the mid-seventies, he formed his own band – Sohan & The X’Periments. Sohan did a five-year stint with his band at the Hotel Muscat InterContinental in Oman. His first English original composition – “Whispers in the sand” won the song of the year award at the 1993 Island Music awards. Today, Sohan is one of the most sought-after Sri Lankan singers for performances around the world.

First Meeting in 1972

When I was a first-year student at Ceylon Hotel School in 1972, the idea of celebrating the graduation of the third-year diploma students came up during a booze party at our hostel. We organized Graduation Ball 1972 at the Samudra Hotel with one of the most popular dance bands in Sri Lanka at that time – Gabo & the Breakaways.

That was the first time I met Sohan Weerasinghe, their lead singer. He was friendly and fully focused on entertaining the audience, most of whom were in their late teens and early twenties. With a charming smile, he accommodated a few songs requested by the Australian teenage girl who was my dance partner.

Making Colombo 2000 the # 1 Night Club

When I joined Le Galadari Meridien Hotel in 1986, as the Director of Food & Beverage, I was responsible for hiring musicians and signing their contracts. Just before I joined this five-star 500 room hotel, Sohan had negotiated a good contract with my French predecessor. Sohan & The X’Periments with Estelle performed three days a week at what was then the trendiest night club in Sri Lanka – Le Meridien’s Colombo 2000.

One day I had a business chat with Sohan to renegotiate the contract with a revenue-based payment per night. After a long negotiation, Sohan eventually accepted my proposal. Sohan was shrewd, diplomatic, intelligent, and funny. He also had a good business sense and practical ideas. We quickly became good friends. After that I felt that I should meet all hotel entertainers under contract at the hotel for a brainstorming session, which was productive with some great ideas for the year 1987.

Most of the night clubs in Sri Lanka at that time had a limited operation of three or four nights, focusing on the weekend business. We took a chance on making Colombo 2000 a seven-day operation with live bands every day and opening at the same time (9:30 pm). We used ‘the seven-day’ operation as the unique selling proposition in our ad campaigns.

We found it useful to check night club themes and special effects in Asian countries more advanced than Sri Lanka, such as Singapore (which was around two years ahead of nightclub trends in Sri Lanka). I did a couple of trips to Singapore and Thailand with Sohan to check night club trends. Our two wives joined us on these trips, mainly to keep a close eye on us! We also played lot of 304 card games during our trips. The ladies were annoyed to lose every time and accused Sohan and I of cheating. They never found out how!

One of the many awards won by Sohan.

Late 1980s were the heyday of the nightclub business in Colombo, and with the support of Sohan and many other leading musicians, my team at Le Meridien made Colombo 2000 the king of nightclubs in Sri Lanka from 1986 for a long time… Thank you Sohan!

Hospitality and Showbiz

I gradually concluded that hospitality and showbusiness which go hand in hand and have many similarities, are really one industry focusing on entertaining customers, while making profits. Entertainment was an essential element of our total food and beverage operation. Usually, in the evening, we had live music in three locations of the hotel. I learnt to treat entertainers as very important members of the hotel family. That orientation proved to be mutually beneficial.

Le Galadari Meridien provided me an opportunity to develop a new hobby, as part of my work. I gradually learnt a lot from Sohan and other hotel entertainers and I became a busy showbiz producer. I regularly used images of Sohan and other leading entertainers to promote events, such as New Year’s Eve dinner dances, which eventually established new records in Sri Lanka.

Mastering Show Biz Productions

During a brainstorming session with musicians, after explaining my objective of improving the ballroom occupancy during the slow months, I encouraged the musicians to suggest solutions. They came with a few great ideas and we decided to organize a series of weekly shows under the theme ‘Musical Stars of 1986’ in the ballroom. A key aim was to promote young musicians who had performed in western bands around the country during the year. All musicians under contract at Le Meridien contributed on an honorary basis as judges for these new, weekly contests and as performers for the gala final show.

I learned to produce music shows with 1,000+ audiences with help from Sohan and other musicians under contract at Le Galadari Meridien. The first three shows I produced in 1987: ‘Musical Stars of 1986’, ‘A Farewell to Priyanthi & Raja’ and ‘Noeline… a Celebration’, all were very successful in terms of production, audience satisfaction, ticket sales, profits, reviews, and publicity. I eventually produced a total of 16 stage music shows, with Sohan as a key member of my team, who provided sound, backing music to all singers and also performing as a leading vocalist.

Sohan and other performers at the finale of The Island Music Awards show in 1988.

More Creative Collaborations with Sohan

A Mega Festival in Oman – 1988

The experiences I gained in showbiz productions in Sri Lanka were memorable and useful in the next phase of my career as an expatriate hotelier. I was invited by Oman Sheraton to coordinate and lead the food and entertainment aspects of a mega Sri Lankan festival which included a versatile team of 54 Lankans flown to Oman. Sohan once again was my right-hand man in this initiative. During this trip in 1988, I became more interested and knowledgeable about fashion shows, and the concept of the first-ever ‘Fashion Model of the Year’ competition in Sri Lanka was born

After a short break from Sri Lanka, to work in the Middle East and the United Kingdom, I returned to Sri Lanka by the early 1990s for three years to work as the General Manager of Mount Lavinia Hotel. Although Sohan was not under contract to perform there, he collaborated with me in producing some more stage productions. Sohan always was a great team player.

‘Whispers in the Sand’ – 1991

One day I received a call from Sohan with an unusual request: “Mr. J, Just now I recorded a new English song with the band at my studio. I have themed it: ‘Whispers in the Sand’. If I send you the rough mix, can you kindly give me your comments?” I was surprised with that request. “Sohan, as you know, I am not a singer and have no musical talents. I am not qualified to give you any advice!”, but he sent me the rough mix anyway.

Soon after I listened to it a couple of times, Sohan called me to check what I felt about his composition. “Sohan, congratulations! ‘Whispers in the Sand’ is easily the most beautiful English song recorded in Sri Lanka. You should make a beautiful four and half minute video for it. If you are looking for a director and producer for it, I would love to give it a try.” Sohan immediately agreed to give me 100% free hand with the creation of the video.

Overnight I learnt to create a detailed storyboard for the video. I also consulted movie makers I knew from my acting days. Willie Blake, an award-winning cinematographer, movie director and my friend, was on a holiday in Sri Lanka and was staying at Mount Lavinia hotel at that time. He advice on camera angles and shooting were particularly helpful for me in planning the production. Mount Lavinia hotel was the location and sponsor of the production. ITN network provided the technical support and an excellent crew. We spent a whole day for the shoot and a full night in the editing rooms of ITN to create a video which was nominated for the Best Music Video of the Year award.

‘Fleeting Moments’ – 1992

During the night I spent with Sohan and the editing team at ITN, I learnt about song composing. I was surprised that Sohan created the tune for ‘Whispers in the Sand’ first, then wrote the lyrics, and finally allowed me to write a story for the video. I felt that the better process should be in the reverse: story – lyrics – music. Following that conceptual process, I created my first song composition that night, based on a personal experience I had at Bentota Beach Hotel in 1974.

Sohan did the arrangement for ‘Fleeting Moments’ and sang it. I wrote the story board and directed the video at Mount Lavinia Hotel during the 1992 New Year’s Eve dinner dance at the Empire Ballroom. It was an instant hit on the charts and motivated me to compose lyrics for more songs.

‘The Show’ – 1992

Having produced, annually, The Island Music Awards shows on three occasions, I did my largest show in Sri Lanka in 1992. It was The Island Music Awards 1991, staged at the largest hall in Sri Lanka – BMICH National Convention Centre. At that time, I was also the General Manager of Mount Lavinia Hotel Catering Services at BMICH. This was my last major production before I left Sri Lanka for good, and I was keen to do something spectacular and memorable. We called it ‘The Show.’

On that occasion, I came with my vision for the show and then requested input from the musicians in the organizing team. It worked well. I accepted most of their suggestions and fine-tuned the concept. With that, we were able to take this show to a much higher level, in terms of production, than all the previous shows that I had produced in Sri Lanka.

In addition to employees of the hotel and BMICH, our production team for that show consisted of 153 professionals: musicians, dancers, choreographers, set designers, sound engineers, lighting engineers, special effects professionals, make-up artists, photographers, video recorders and my favourite stage manager – Kenneth Honter.

We added two new features to this show – a complete dress rehearsal the day before the show, and the show video launched on TV a week after the show. We commenced the show exactly at 7:00 pm with a full attendance of 1,506.

As written on my concept document and the detailed production plan, we had two segments with contrasting sub-themes. For each segment, we used contrasting music, choreographed dance acts, special effects, lighting, and sound. It had two major ‘ambitious’ set changes with unprecedented special effects, to enhance the two segments of the show.

‘Nature’ – 1992

The first half of ‘The Show’ was themed: ‘Nature’ with waterfalls, large trees, mist and 34 little ballerinas performing as butterflies, birds, blossoming flowers in a rainforest waking up early in the morning. A gentle ray of the morning sun gradually made the lead singer of the first song (Noeline) visible to the audience. It was slow moving and misty, using greens and blues in the backdrops with subtle lighting. It was a gentle and happy celebration of our beautiful nature.

‘Future’ – 1992

The second half was themed ‘Future’ depicting humankind advancing with science and flying rockets, but destroying our planet with short sighted policies, human greed, unwanted wars, and disruptions. It was fast moving, with sounds of explosions and smoke, using red and orange in the backdrops with flashing lighting. In one scene a rocket landed on the stage, militants came out of the rocket and took a performing singer (Sohan) as a prisoner before flying away from the BMICH stage. It was a warning that we are selfishly destroying our planet.

Sohan, after recording the song ‘Dream Woman’ composed by Gamini Fonseka in 1998.

With Noeline and Sohan, I co-wrote two new songs aligned with the two segment themes of the show (they did most of the work!). The song, ‘Nature’ dominated the top of the pop charts in Sri Lanka for several weeks, and a year later, Noeline and I jointly won The Island Music Award for the ‘Composer of the Year.’

‘Am I guilty?’ – 1993

My next song was the most popular. I followed my process of ‘story – lyrics – music’ and Sohan became my co-composer and did the arrangements. I chose Dalrene Suby for vocals with Sohan for supporting vocals. We filmed the music video at the Colombo Airport and Airport Garden Hotel. “Am I guilty?” dominated the pop charts for eight weeks at the most popular English song in Sri Lanka. Concurrently I composed another song titled ‘Faithful’ which was arranged by Chandralal Fonseka, who also did vocals with Crystal Williams. I did not make a video for it.

‘Fitness Fever’ – 1993

My sixth and the last song composition was ‘Fitness Fever’. With 20 top Sri Lankan western musicians providing vocals and 16 semi-professional actors appearing in the video, it was my most ambitious song and music video undertaking. We filmed it over a day at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel. It dominated the pop charts for three weeks as the most popular English song in Sri Lanka. Later I produced a cassette with the same name and included four of the songs I was involved in creating. All the participating singers, actors and technicians worked free of charge and we donated all proceeds to Ranvirusevana (fund to rehabilitate soldiers wounded in the civil war). We held a grand launch of the cassette at the Little Hut night club of Mount Lavinia Hotel.

Re-connecting in 2023

After meeting Sohan in January 2020 on the day he paid last respects to his dear wife, Lali, we did not see each other for three years mainly due to the global pandemic. I was happy to re-connect with Sohan in Colombo in 2023, when he sang at my elder son Marlon’s wedding. In the groom’s speech, Sohan’s family was identified as Marlon’s extended family.

Recently, for the first time in my life I sang. I recorded five video covers of old popular Sinhala songs and posted those on social media over five weeks. I was happy to receive thousands of positive reactions but did not see any comments from my friend Sohan. Finally, I heard from him. “Chandi I was not impressed at all! Singing in not your forte. Don’t believe these people who just praise your singing. Your sense of rhythm was bad and your pitching was way out. Please stick to many other things you are extremely good at. This is from the heart of a genuine friend.”

“That’s what friends are for…” I never sang again.

Questions & Answers

Q: Out of all the places you have visited in Sri Lanka and overseas, what is your favourite and most interesting place?

A: My favourite place is Australia. There are so many Lankans who have migrated to Australia, but they still have a special place in their hearts for Sri Lanka. Whenever I perform there, I do get a very warm reception and tremendous crowd support especially in Melbourne. Most musicians will agree with me that Australia is the place for us!

Q: Out of all the inspiring people you have met, who inspired you most to do well in the entertainment industry?

A: I have been inspired by many including Elvis, Humperdinck, Tom Jones, the Beatles, and Bee Gees. In the local music scene by people like Desmond De Silva, Raj Seneviratne, Mignonne Fernando, Dalrene Suby, Victor Ratnayake, Pandith Amaradeva, and Clarence Wijewardena.

Q: At the present time, apart from music, what is your key passion in life?

A: I love spending a lot of time with my only granddaughter Sienna who means the world to me. I also keep in touch with my son Darshan (fitness trainer) and my daughter Erandika who lives and works in New York. I am also an avid filmgoer and love going out for movies.

Q: After dreaming of practising as an attorney, what made you change your mind about a career in music?

A:Music was my passion, as I come from a very musical family. Although I passed out from Law College with first class honours, when I had to decide between law and music, I opted to make music my full-time career. I have no regrets. I have met so many interesting people and loved doing overseas tours entertaining friends and fans abroad.

Q: You also worked for few years as the General Manager of Finco Group of Companies. At that time, how did you balance your work, hobbies, and family?

A:Yes, it was tough, as I had to spend time with my family, with my band the “X’Periments” and try to pursue my career as a legal officer. The best thing I did was to quit my office job and then concentrate on my music and my family and try to balance it out. Initially it was difficult but eventually it turned out OK.

Q: Before forming Sohan & The X’Periments, what key lessons did you learn from bands you served as the lead singer?

A:I worked with the Moonstones with Annesley Malewana, with Esquire set with Ralph Menezies and with Gabo & the Breakaways with Priyanthi. I realized you had to put in a lot of effort to get to the top. Learn a nice repertoire of songs that were catchy and current at the time. Desist from drinking and smoking and breaking too much rest. Also, I learnt a lot about being a good band leader from both Annesley Malewana and Gabo Pieries.

Q: How successful was your first English original – ‘Whispers in the Sand’ in terms of popularity?

A: ‘Whispers in the Sand’ was an amazing hit for me. It ended up getting the award for the song of the year and was the most popular song in the top of the pops list for a few weeks based on votes to the ‘Teen Page’ of The Island newspaper. Thanks to Chandana Jayawardena who was the General Manager of Mount Lavinia hotel and the ITN network I was able to put out a nice video of the song with Brian Kerkoven and Shani J, playing the lead roles in the music video. That was nominated for the 1992 Best Music Video of the Year award by Sunday Observer newspaper.

Q: Out of many awards you have won during your long career in music, which single award made you most proud ?

A: Yes, I have won many awards during my musical journey but the award I liked most was winning the ‘Showbiz personality of the Year’ at The Island Music Awards show at the BMICH, produced by Chandana Jayawardena of Mount Lavinia Hotel.

Q: You are certainly an ever-green musician, who continues to grow in popularity among Sri Lankans in many countries, resulting in a hectic global travel schedule. What is your secret of success?

A: I have made it a point to “read” the crowd and have constant eye contact with my audience. Do the songs they like and not do advanced stuff just to show them one’s high class. Bringing in humour wherever possible helps you to get the audience on your side. Also being simple, flexible, and down to earth has helped my career immensely.

Q: What is your advice to aspiring young western musicians?

A: My message to young musicians is simple – There is no short cut to success. Hard work pays off in the end. If you choose music as your career, make sure you have the “passion” for it. You also need an element of luck. There will be many ups and downs in your career, but you have to put it aside and have a positive attitude. At least have one or two originals to your credit so that you have your own identity. Be focused and give it your 100 percent and eventually you will succeed. Most importantly, try to get on with your fellow musicians and treat them with a bit of love, respect and understanding.

Next week, 3Ps will feature a doctor turned award-winning portrait artist.