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Among the Stars

By Ayesha Rafiq

Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Elton John, Steps and Boyzone, make way. There's a new singing sensation around, and you've got to watch out, if you're to keep up with the competition. No, we're not talking tinsel town and Grammy awards. At least, not yet.

Sanath, Aravinda and Romesh are all very well when it comes to cricket. But now Sri Lanka's got something else to keep our toes tapping, voices singing and bodies swaying. What could hold our attention more than cricket, you ask? You've got to hear him to believe it.

Bathiya Jayakody isn't just any performer. At 22 years old he's well on his way to becoming a singing sensation. In a world full of musicians you've got to have a special talent to be noticed. And talent is something that practically drips off Bathiya.

He's come a long way from the time when he used to sing Clarence Wijewardena's songs to himself at three years old, and is now a name that many in the music industry admire and respect.

"There's nothing that makes me happier than being able to make people happy. And the way I try to do that is through my singing," he says. And true to his word, he's ever willing to entertain a gathering of family or friends by literally singing for his supper, as hardly any gathering where Bathiya is, is complete without a sing sing.

Bathiya's earliest introduction to the music scene was through school concerts and Interact Club talent shows.

But his first big break came after a chance meeting. "About four years ago I was trying to sell my computer. One day this guy came along, and he happened to be none other than Dilup Gabadamudalige, the well known musician. While he was there, I pretended to accidentally switch on a tape recording of me singing at some school concerts. He liked what he heard and took me on. I free lanced with him for about two years, singing at the Miss Sri Lanka '96 pageant and at product launches like Benson and Hedges."

Bathiya wrote his first original song, 'Out of Borders,' when he was in Japan some years ago. The song talks of the diversity of people and how different people come together through friendship. That too, he says, was luck. "I was just playing around on the piano with a friend, and he suddenly scribbled two lines on a piece of paper. Then he got stuck and threw it aside. I picked up the piece of paper and went on from those two lines, and before I knew it, I had composed my first song." You may not know it, but if you've heard the Farleys Rusks or Dialogue jingles, then you've heard Bathiya sing. Up to date, he has done about 30 advertisements, most of them radio commercials.

Bathiya's inbuilt talent is not a surprise when one learns that his grandmother was a member of the prestigious Hillwood Girls' School choir and his mother is a talented pianist. His father, an army brigadier, also gives a lot of encouragement to their only child, "even though, Thaaththi can't even hit a drum properly," laughs Bathiya, also a talented pianist.

Bathiya's success is owed not only just to talent, but also to a lot of hard work. Being a fourth year B.Sc. Management student, this former Anandian has had to juggle studies and performances, not a mean feat.

He has also had to deal with something other performers rarely do. Listening to him sing one would never guess that Bathiya has a noticeable stammer when he talks. But unlike most others, this doesn't stop him from being garrulous and friendly. How did he get over it? "I never thought about it. I just went right ahead with my singing, and things all fell into place."

Another reason he is so popular is because of his stage personality. He walks around the stage, claps, laughs and jokes with the audience. He says the reason many Sri Lankans lose out on stage is because they don't move around and interact with the audience enough. 'For me it's just my personality that comes out. I like to feel like I'm with the audience, not apart from them."

"But nobody would guess that the first few times I appeared on stage, I was so nervous, my knees were literally knocking," he says, giving a demonstration.

"Bathiya along with some friends, has just released a CD of original songs, unique in that it offers a mix of both English and Sinhala songs, together with a blend of reggae, hip hop, blues, rock'n roll and soul. The beauty is that the Sinhala songs can probably compete with international ones with ease.

The group comprises Bathiya, Santhush Weeraman, a management student, Yamuna Balasuriya, a medical student and Ranga Dassanayake, the maestro behind the music for almost all the tracks. He is also the brains behind more than half of Sri Lanka's advertising jingles.

The music and words are written and composed solely by the foursome, and comprise 15 tracks, some composed individually a long time ago, and others produced especially for the album, and all put together in the space of four months.

Wasn't including a number of Sinhala songs rather a brave move in a country where western and Hindi music is the rage?

"Sri Lanka is probably the only country where there are different groups who do English songs. Also most people in Colombo think that Sinhala songs aren't as good as the English ones. I wanted to bridge the gap."

The themes of the songs are unique and fun, and deal with issues many of us can relate to. 'Seetha Sulang Ral', explores the emotions of a girl in love with both a Sri Lankan and a foreign boy, and trying to make a choice.

'The Look In Your Eyes' is about a boy's love/hate feelings towards a girl. 'Apatai Me Mihithale' is a song in which the group, instead of talking about the need to preserve nature, talks about its beauty, the concept being to make people want to preserve its beauty. Throughout the song one hears the sound of birds, the gurgling of a stream and the sounds of thunder and rain.

Most exciting though is 'Mage Diviya', the first Sinhala rap song ever. The beat is fast and lively, and can give the English rap songs a run for their money any day. "I was singing in the shower one day and suddenly started singing the song very fast, and discovered I could rap. That's how I got the idea for the song," Bathiya says.

The group also hopes to have another CD out by December this year.

As a professional in the field now, his advice to aspiring musicians is: never condemn the work of other musicians, even if you don't understand it. You may one day need to use some of that very same work in your music.

Bathiya says the two most important lessons he has learnt through his music so far, are that people are the most important in life and that if you reach for the moon you'll at least fall among the stars.

And fall among the stars he certainly seems to have done.

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