KRODHA REMAINS – Interview with Shalin

Shalin Rathnasinghe, an individual who has been an enormous contributor to the Sri Lankan Heavy Metal Scene since it's earlier inceptions, can also be introduced to you all as one of the founding members of the now infamous Sri Lankan Grunge/Psychedelic Rock band Karmic Sulphur. Although his departure to the United States left him nonexistent in the scene for a couple of years, Shalin has recently been delving into more experimental waters with his latest project Krodha Remains. My thanks to Shalin who despite his busy schedule took some time off to answer this interview to update us all on what he has been up to.

Hails Shalin! How's everything going on your side of the world?

Greetings from the Burning Pits! It’s being going pretty good, trying to find that perfect balance between College and Krodha. I’ve been busy working on new material and homework assignments for classes!

You started writing music from way back in 2002, tell us more about the inceptions of your journey so far?

Well my journey has been a pretty difficult one, filled with a lot of obstacles. There were a lot of setbacks, but looking back now I feel all those experiences help me become what I am today. I basically started out playing guitar around 2002, and started to write songs before I knew how to hold a guitar chord. After seeing a local band playing live (was an interactor then, in the interact club) I got inspired and wanted to form a band. There were a lot of people who laughed at the idea of me forming a band, it was a joke to them. I finally got together with a couple of friends and tried to form a band, had a few practice sessions but it never took off. I was mainly playing guitar and writing songs, singing was something I didn't even dream of. But unfortunately none of these bands took off, and had a lot of problems when it came for support and then went through some life changing experiences. When I came back the band and its members had ditched me. I felt betrayed, especially since some of them were good friends. So after all that I was depressed and I didn’t t play guitar for a while, then a buddy of me in college called me and me started to jam again, it was going good and we needed a bassist so I contacted a friend and found Nuwan. But unfortunately that band ditched me again. But I’m glad that happened because after 4 years of trying it lead to the birth of Karmic Sulfur.

You are known as one of the founding members of one of the few bands who delve into the waters of Grunge/Psychedelic Rock in Sri Lanka, Karmic Sulphur. Tell us more about how you teamed up with the Abbas brothers and about the early days of K.S.

Well before the Abbas brothers I met Nuwan. Nuwan used play bass and had retired from rock and roll at that time. And it took me quite awhile to convince him to play bass for my new band. The first practice session we had was brilliant. Nuwan and I gelled together, and it was instant chemistry. But unfortunately after the first practice session I had to deal with some personal problems in life, and that band ditched me, except for Nuwan, who understood my situation and stuck with me. It was a difficult time and I almost gave up my dream of forming my band, but Nuwan encouraged me and told me not to give up.

So now we had to start the band from scratch again. Nuwan switched to guitars and we continued to practice together .Since we couldn’t find a vocalist I had to sing the songs because we needed to practice them. Then we started to jam with some of his friends, but they weren’t committed and we sounded horrible. There was no other option but to fire them. Once again we were by our self. It seemed that we were cursed at that time, and we were going through some bad karma. It seemed like there were no people out there who wanted to play with us, a relentless shortage of drummers and bassists. Finally we decide **** it, we are going to be an acoustic duo. We had a couple of originals then, and we decided to record an acoustic version of “Morphine” and head out to Punmina’s studios.

After the recording was done, we let Punmina mix and went outside to take a break, and then there were two guys outside waiting for their band, who didn’t show up that day. And till this day I thank those band mates who didn’t show up for their great timing!!lol! We spoke to them and got to know that they were the Abbas brothers… Shan and Rizan. I can still remember asking them “So what do you guys play?”and Shan replied “He plays Bass and I play Drums”….. so the Karma Began.

We started our first practice session by playing “No Potential” and it just sounded amazing. The bass, drums and guitars complimented each other perfectly. We all had different influences, Shan was the classic rock Zepplin guy, Rizan was the heavy Mudvayne influenced bassist, Nuwan Loved Guns and Roses, and I was big fan of A Perfect Circle. Because of that we had a tough time agreeing on covers so we decided to continue playing originals. And it was the right choice. We worked on the originals No Potential, Morphine, Sleeping Suicide and Breach and recorded a live EP in 2006, and yes we never released it. I loved jamming with the Abass brother and undoubtedly they are the most talented musicians I’ve ever came across. They brought in so much power to the band and help both me and Nuwan become better musicians. And did I mention that they have great tastes in food?? Man we used to eat out a lot in these really good food joints after practices and shows!!! It was simply the best time of my life!!!

Could you elaborate further on and how you came up with the name, Karmic Sulphur and about it's meaning?

Yeah looking back now I’m glad we decided to name ourselves karmic Sulfur instead of the many other weird names we came up with it. As I mentioned before Nuwan and I had bad karma when we were trying to form the bad. So one day I said to Nuwan,hey why don’t we call ourselves “Karmic Suffer”? He liked the Karmic part but didn’t like the “Suffer” in the name. So I was looking for that perfect complimenting word, and one day I was in my brother room and he had all these chemistry notes up on his wall since he was studying for the advance level exams. And there in his notes was “Sulfur” the perfect element. I called Nuwan immediately and said “Dude, what you think of Karmic Sulfur?”

You guys played for TNL Onstage a couple of years back, which was your last performance with the band as you had to leave to

the U.S., tell us more regarding the show and the sudden departure.

I will never forget that show, cause for one thing that we had to play 4.30am in the morning, still wondering whether it was a guineas record, and running around SLECC looking for hot water since my throat was dry as **** wasn’t the best experience. Yeah and I didn’t find any hot water!!! Lol! But I must say I was happy to see so many fans waiting for us to perform. That year (2006) we were the only heavy band to make it to the finals and we were the under dogs. Nobody saw us coming, and hell nobody knew that I was singing. I can still remember how freaked out some ex-band members were when they saw me onstage. And I enjoyed every minute of it. It was the first time I was singing in front of an audience and I was a bit nervous, but Nuwan, Rizan and Shan believed in me and encouraged me. We continued to play our originals instead of covers in the competition, and we continued to do it till the finals!!. Making for the finals that year was one of the best achievements for the band, as we were the only band who played some heavy stuff in the final. And it helped me build confidence as a musician, though we lost that year we gained so much experience. After the finals I got selected to a University. I had already completed two years of college in Sri Lanka and I needed to go abroad to finish my degree. Leaving the band behind was probably one of the hardest things I had to do in my life. I put in so much of hard work for KS and I found three new brothers in it. There was so much of good chemistry in the band and I regret I had to leave it. But at that moment in my life I had no option but to leave, and I thank the guys for supporting my decision.

One of your first songs you guys recorded was “No Potential” which you recorded at the infamous “Punmina Studio's” in

Nadimala. What sort of preparation did you go through before recording this song? And why the title “No Potential”?

Well for starters we practiced the song a zillion times, because Nuwan and I had little experience playing the song to a metronome. Plus I used to play different solos for the song, so I had to decide what I was going to play for the record. Rizan and Shan had previous experience recording songs and that helped us a lot in the studio, and not to mention the uncanny recording skills of Punmina was put test in that record. And we managed to do couple of different versions of the song too, including a heavier version. No Potential was based on a text message that was sent by an ex-band member saying “hate to break this to you, we don't see any potential in this band ..etc” and I used those words for the first lines of the songs cause it inspired me so much. “No Potential” to me is an anthem for the underdogs, it’s about people who try to undermine our efforts to express ourselves, it’s about answering your critics, saying that you aren’t afraid of them!! Saying **** you!!

How has the departure to the United States affected your journey as a musician?

Yes, allot. I’m a big fan of A perfect circle, Tool and Nirvana and I love the blues! But after coming to the states I think I got the opportunity to listen to a border range of music that most stations in Sri Lanka don’t even think of playing. I also found a new appreciation for Sri Lankan artists such as Rukantha and Kasun Kalhara.

Since the departure, have you partaken or contributed to any of Sulphur's newer material?

Well there are some unfinished songs,one notable one is “Jansen” it’s a song I recorded just before I left. And last summer I recorded a new song, well not exactly new, but unfinished song for the KS album. Hopefully you will get the opportunity to hear it when the KS album come out!

Let's talk a bit about the person who stepped in to fill in your shoes for Karmic Suphur, Mr.Thushara Kulathunga. As a founding member of the band, how do you feel about Thushara's contributions to Karmic Sulphur so far?

Well one thing everyone must understand is that Thushara and I come from two different musical backgrounds. He is a big fan of Maiden and I listen to a perfect circle!! So that can basically sum up our differences!!! Lol! Plus fitting into a band is not the easiest thing to do, and I think Thushara has done a good job with that! He is a very talented poet and I read some of poems, and I like them a lot. I think he brings a valuable element to KS, and the evolution of the band. Let’s not forget Sathyajith, the new bassist, another talented musician. That guy has as an amazing ear, seriously you can’t bullshit around him, he’ll always say you’re “out of pitch” or “almost there”. believe me I found it out the hard way!

You found your way into performing songs with a few musicians such as the band Du Hast, for shows. How did these collaborations come along?

Before Du hast, I got the opportunity to perform solo, and got the opportunity to perform some Sri Lankan songs for some events. There I got the chance to perform with Terry who was on drums and Tharaka who was on keyboards. Later we added bassist Takashi from Japan and the lineup was complete. We mainly performed covers, and performed at a few events in college. It was a great experience to perform for a different audience, and I still play with those guys!

I have to ask you. Sri Lankan Heavy Metal. Compared to the early days of the scene when after Organizations and events such as Rock Company and TNL Onstage came up and bands who are no where to be found today were mushrooming like crazy, what are your views on the current status of it?

It’s pretty unfortunate that many bands just pop out for a gig or two and say they quit. But I guess all that depends on your intentions as a musician. Some do it just to get famous, to score some chick or to look cool. But if you are one of those musicians who had to carry his guitar in a bus, spend his lunch money for studio sessions, had to struggle to become a musician, you would know what it means to be a musician, what it means to create music and the sacrifices you have to make to make music that no one appreciates. If you had to fight for something you believe in, you tend to appreciate it more. And you will agree with me, the bands that are around in scene today didn’t have things going easy. I know this for a fact because I’m a part of that community. I started off in Punmina’s studio’s like most of the other bands in SL. I used play his old rusted guitars, and use the only distortion pedal he had, which sounded like s***. But I those experiences have helped bands to be much stronger and united. I think the SL rock community has improved a lot in the past few years. There are labels and distributers emerging, and they been carrying SL rock/metal across the globe. New genres like Hela Metal have been producing some unique music with cultural identity. Band like FIH, Fallen Grace (Ado Sohan!!)PAC,Raksha,Merlock,Thriloka, just to name a few, I think have been contributing allot for the SL rock/metal audience. One thing that I think SL needs is sound engineers who know how to balance sound when bands play live. I’ve seen bands play in here(USA) and SL, and the only thing that sets them apart is the bad sounds they get live!! Otherwise there is no question about the talent in SL!

Let's talk a bit about your solo project, Krodha Remains. Could you tell us more about the meaning of the name and the

ideologies surrounding it? and why the decision to go solo?

Krodha remains is an extension of my alter ego, you got to experience some of it through karmic sulfur, in Krodha Remains I get to dig deeper into what I create, there is no boundaries, it’s a totally different sound scape, I get to experiment a lot with different sounds and style, if you listen to my first two singles “Leech” and “Crave” you can get a sense of this. The name krodha came while I was researching for names, cause I like Sanskrit words, and it is something that complements my music. Krodha means Wrath or Rage, this is something we witness allot today, and it an emotion or a mental state that no one can escape. This is one extreme of the intensity spectrum of anger. Anger leads us to extents where we question our humanity, what we will become if Krodha continue to remains within? In Krodha Remains I try to raise that question, I try to express how we chose to be different than others. How we choose to be more human. The logo of krodha is in Sinhala “kro yannah” from the Sinhala hodiya/alphabet. I chose this cause it symbolizes where I come from and my identity as a Sri Lankan.

So why did I go solo? I got a few opportunities to perform covers ,but not originals. I had completely stopped writing new music after I left KS. I continued to perform covers, but still it didn't feel right, there was a part of me that was dying, a part of me that wanted to write and make music again. I didn’t want to wait till another band happened, so I decide that it was time to go solo!

Krodha Remains could also be defined as a Experimental Project, what inspirations do you look to when delving into your

original material?

I think as musician you have to be sensitive to your surroundings, you should be able to envision yourself in others. You should be able to absorb the pain of another and reflect it your music. Inspiration to me comes from what I see, what I witness and what I experience. Personal struggle, additions, isolation, hatred, pain inspires me. I don’t usually play a lot of standard chords or scales cause I only know a few!!. Instead I play what I feel, and I try to incorporate it with emotions, because to me if my songs didn’t have any emotion to it ,it means that I won’t be able to play or sing it ! You can get sense of what inspires me if listen to some of KS songs. “Morphine” is about our bodies’ battle with pain, and how you chose to treat it only as a state of mind. “Breach” is about breaking barriers that society sets upon us, and it’s a very blues influenced song. And “Sleeping suicide” the infamous Nuwan’s ex-girlfriend song, it’s a long story, but there was a part of it that was inspired by her, but she is not the real sleeping suicide…it’s someone else!

When I started to write and play new material for Krodha after ages, it felt very different, because I didn’t have Nuwan, Shan and Rizan helping and complementing my music. But this time it was only me,no band,no drums,no one to help me out, cause in karmic it was so easy because of the great chemistry we all had. Since there was no band I was experimenting with a lot of different sounds, and you can see that it's not the usual effects that I use. And I must admit it was difficult, but I’m proud to say that its 100% of my creations in Krodha! In krodha,i get to dig deep into my thoughts, there is no barrier for it, or a certain frame work for it, it’s pure experimentation's, but I work a lot on my songs, and most times the end song sounds completely different from how it started.

Tell us about your inspirations, Have they changed from back when you started listening to Heavy Metal? If so what bands do

you currently listen to?

I’ve think my inspirations have broaden allot. I still love Nirvana, A Perfect Circle and Tool. I listen to a lot of blues as well. Recently I’ve been listening to Deftones, team sleep, stp, Massive Attack ,Alice in chains , Sound Garden, some Rammstein, but I always make sure that I get my daily dose of TOOL!

Any plans to release a EP or a Full Length? Also are there any plans on taking Krodha Remains to the stage as a live band?

Defiantly!! I already got most of the songs ready, just need to finish the artwork for the EP. I’m currently in talks with HDaP regarding the EP. I must say I’m very happy about the positive feedback I’ve been getting for Krodha. I managed to get some Air play in KNDS Radio,and “Leech” is still the No 1 song in the Reverbnation chart of Fargo/Moorhead for well over a two months. Things have been going good for Krodha. And Yes I plan to perform live. I’ve got a couple of Gigs lined up and hopefully I find the right people to back me up. I love performing on stage. It’s the best way to connect with the fans. And I want to play in SL this summer, because it’s always enjoyable to perform in front of your home crowd! I love how everyone head bangs together in HOME! We got very loyal fans in Sri Lanka!

Where or how can people gain access to your music?

www.myspace.com/krodharemains

www.reverbnation.com/krodharemains

Tweets by krodharemains

You can access Krodha Remains on Myspace, Reverbnation, Twitter, Facebook and Rock.lk. Or just log into Google and type Krodha Remains!

The final words are yours Shalin, any particular soul(s) you wish to thank?

Nuwan, Shan and Rizan, for being my brothers, for all the blood, sweat and tears we shred together ,for sticking with me through thick and thin, my family, Neeru, Danu for inspiring me to play guitar. Chuncky, Nisho, Ranil, Banu, Eranga, Shehan, Damith, Punmina, Teesha,the rock.lk crew Mithun and Raveen,everyone from Rock Company for the kind words, Everyone at Empyre and HDaP, Roger, Chathu, Sohan, all the bands in the SL metal scene for keeping SL rock alive and kicking! My buddies from Du Hast Terry,Tharaka and Takashi, Jayanka,all my friends in NDSU, Sri Lanka,and everywhere else I forgot to mention,Karmic sulphur, Ammenda,The first fan of Krodha Remains and all the other fans who love and appreciate my music. Last but not least everyone who said I can’t sing, play guitar or ever play on stage. Thank you for inspiring!

Hope I covered everything with this Interview, hope to hear from you soon brother!

Thank you! Until then I shall await from the Burning Pits of Krodha!!