Shuaib Jabbar, unplugged.. 

For those who have heard Shuaib Jabbar sing, it’s easy to understand why he’s well known and loved in the music industry. Senior Deputy Head Prefect 2013/14, rugby player for 9 years and a finalist of TNL Onstage 2011, Shuaib spoke to us about his music.

Tell us a little bit about yourself?

Well, I schooled at Royal College and now I’m out of school. I’m following my studies in CIMA as well as the London School of Economics International Programme and I’m also working as a strength and conditioning coach.

How did you get involved with music?

I was in Grade 6 and had an interest to play the guitar - singing was never really part of the plan. My dad got me a coach and there was this one chord - the D chord - that I just couldn’t get. So I quit, I stopped playing and I was really bummed about it and then in Grade 9 I took classes at the Yamaha School of Music and after about a month I quit, again, but by then I knew some chords so I got on the Internet and practiced some songs with the chords. Then in Grade 10, at an interact event, I sang for the first time and people told me I was good so I thought, “why not?”  From that point onwards, I just started performing at events.

Photograph credits: Aki Peiris Photography

Out of all the performances you’ve done, what’s the most memorable one?

Definitely TNL Onstage finals.

What’s the most embarrassing thing to have happened while you were performing?

Embarrasing? Well… during this round in Onstage, I kept changing my song choice - so I don’t blame the band - I was doing this original that had a chord switch at the bridge and the guy in the band kept playing the same thing so I was like ‘next chord’ and he said ‘yeah’ but ended up playing the same chord and I kept saying ‘no, no the next one!’ and he just kept playing the same thing. It was really embarrassing.

Do you sing originals or only just covers?

I do originals. I’ve only sung 2 of my originals in public so it’s mostly covers. Sri Lankan audiences are very laidback so I perform more covers because they can relate better to it. I always deliberately change the covers though because I don’t want to be doing a replica of someone else’s work.

What’s the most challenging venue you’ve sung at?

Ah, the hardest would be those where your friends call you up and say ‘hey, there’s this thing, it’s a last minute thing’ and there’s no guitar plug or sound balance and the people are not really in the mood for entertainment. But you have to do it anyway because he’s your friend.

Do you have a pre – performance ritual?

Not really, it’s just a rush. Oh, but I hear that doing pushups is supposed to do great things!

What’s your 5 year plan?

(laughs) Well, in 5 years… I plan to have my degree in economics, be CIMA qualified as well. Hopefully have a good job and maybe even have my own business. In terms of music, well, I don’t really have much plans to make a career of it. Maybe I’ll do some originals, perform some shows but nothing serious.

Interviewed by Panchali Illankoon