In conversation with Nadine Samarasinghe!

Nadine Samarasinghe started her musical career at a tender age and has now reached great heights in the music industry in Sri Lanka. She recently launched her second single “Free” which was a big hit!

What made you choose music as a career?

I started playing the piano at the age of 4 and thereafter singing and the violin so I guess it was just in me and my mother was a music teacher as well so I had a great foundation.

When did you start singing and who inspired you?

I first started singing when I was 7 years old where I learned classical singing and got qualified in singing and piano and I now hold an LTCL from the Trinity College of Music, London. When I was around 16 I started singing more pop songs and then gradually made it a profession. I would say Whitney Houston is my inspiration as a singer.

Tell us about the single you launched recently?

My first single “The Way That He Loves Me” was 2nd on Yes FM Home Grown and I just released my second single “Free”. "Free" is about having the courage to be single and to know how it feels to be free of pain worries and to hold your head up high without anyone.

What do you do when you're not singing? How do you spend your free time?

Well I love to cook. So whenever I get the free time I will be in the kitchen cooking!

If you weren't a singer, what career path would you have chosen?

If I wasn’t a singer I think I would have gotten in to the fashion industry, as that’s a big passion of mine as well.

What are your biggest achievements in life?

There are a few I think of:

1. Received a nominee award at the Fashion Asia Awards in China in 2013 as the top fashionable singer of the year in Asia.

2. Had the grace of representing Sri Lanka at the SAARC Young Entrepreneurs Summit in Pakistan in 2014.

3. As I always loved teaching, I have now opened my own music school called The Academy of Music by Nadine Samarasinghe.

Any advice to budding musicians in Sri Lanka?

I would say that this is a hard industry to be in but if you have the passion for music you have to keep going forward without giving up although there may be moments you feel like giving it all up! So stay strong and chase your dream!

Describe your typical day?

My day usually starts first by praying and then I head to the gym in the morning. Thereafter I either prepare for any performance I have or else I would be in my academy teaching.

What plans for the future?

I have a lot of plans for the future and I really want to take my music to the maximum that I can. I have some interesting singles coming out!!! I’m very excited about that. A few concerts are coming up that will be directed by me and many more.

Listen to Nadine's new single here: 

Interviewed by Shenali de Silva