english meepura
Known in the Sri Lankan music scene as a rhythm guitarist and a vocalist, Withanage Gratian Lal alias Lal Withanage is the leader of the extremely popular Sunshine music group in the country. He has been the owner of the Sunshine music group since the late 1980s. Below is a short interview we had with him, who has been popular in the Sri Lankan music scene for almost five decades, from 1978 to this day.
You became a professional musician and singer because of your family background, right?
sun shine 1Yes. There is some truth to that. My mother’s relatives were more inclined towards music. My father worked in the entertainment department. My mother did not work. There are four of us in our family. I am the youngest in the family. I had three older sisters. My father’s side can’t even be called a child prodigy. But my mother’s side, especially my mother’s sister’s daughter’s son, is a famous lead guitarist in Sri Lanka, Roy Kariyakarawana. At the same time, his younger brother Susantha Kariyakarawana is also a talented guitarist.
So I was somewhat influenced by their musical inclination and talents. The other thing is that this Roy Kariyakarawana lived near my house in Kurana. So I always heard things like guitar playing and Madeline playing, and at the same time, I was also influenced by music. At the same time, the calypso bands “Mee Masso” and “Samanalayo” that had been around since the 1960s were also formed by the uncles of those Roy Kariyakarawanas. So all of those things combined together, I think I became a professional musician.
How did you enter the music industry as a rhythm guitarist and a backing vocalist?
sun shine 2 I saw our Roy playing lead guitar, and I thought it would be good if I played rhythm guitar. Accordingly, I asked Roy for a chord. After all, I have a musical rhythm in my body. So Roy taught me that it was a guitar chord. From there, I gradually practiced the rhythm guitar chords well. Later, after a while, I was able to play rhythm guitar well. I had a talent for singing since I was a child. So Roy and I talked and formed a band called “Super Rhythm” Entertainment around 1978. There were 5 people in that band. It was really a full band. At that time, there was a person named Quinton Ayya from Negombo who supplied the sound for this band. Now he has passed away. We started this band with his sounds. Roy played lead guitar. I played rhythm guitar. Quinton Ayya’s younger brother, who supplied us with sound, was called Irons. He played drums in our band. There was also a person named Eric from Quinton Ayya’s house, who played bass guitar. At the same time, there was a person named Meryl in Wennappuwa. He played keyboards. That’s how our band was formed.
sun shine 3sun shine 5
There was another band that used Quinton Ayya’s sound. Its name was “Baby Anusha and Super Rhythm”. It was also a very talented band. So when we started our band, I was still in school. I first went to St. Anne’s College, Kurana. Then I went to St. Peter’s College, Negombo. I passed my O/L. But I didn’t go to A/L. I wanted to do music and continue my band’s work. So I became popular as a musician and a singer right from my school days.
So how did you form the band “Sunshine” that you lead and still own?
img 20241001 1420036302473818172765219
So, as I said earlier, we started the band called Super Rhythm Entertainment until about 1984/85. Then we had some minor problems, and Roy and I left. Then there was a guy named Maithri who played drums on Canal Road. Roy and I went and talked to him and asked him to come and form a band with us. At that time, this guy named Maithri was in a band that played in tourist hotels called “Sheridan and the Sunshine”. Sheridan was the leader of that band. Maithri then told us that instead of taking the name Super Rhythm, we should form a band with another name. Then he suggested,
Let’s take Sheridan for this band. And we should drop the name Sheridan and call the band Sunshine..That’s how we started the Sunshine band. So I became the leader of the band. The band started around 1985. We did the first open show of the band at the Badalgama church festival. Roy played the lead guitar in the band. I played rhythm guitar. Maithri played drums. Now Anton played keyboards in that Arrostar band. Then, Punchy Peiris, Ernie Peiris’ younger brother, played bass guitar. At the same time, I also brought Chaminda Wimalasena, a good singer, into the band.
After a few years, Maithri, who played drums in the band, had to go abroad. Then, I brought Roshan, who is now in that Arrostar band, into the band to play drums. Only Chaminda and I sang in that band. Anton would sing a song from time to time. The other members of the band did not sing. Me and Chaminda
