Pressing on steadily, this year’s TNL Onstage has now progressed from its preliminary selections into Semi Finals. In its 13th season, a relentless commitment to the betterment of the local music industry has riveted aspiring young artistes for over a decade. The preliminary rounds of narrowing down contestants were worked off on the 1st, 8th and 15th of this month at the Voice Lounge.
As contestants battled it out, a total of eight bands and soloists and four djs were selected to compete in the further round of the prestigious musical bash. The semi finalists competing this Saturday shared with DM Life how the journey has been so far, the competition that is heating up, and their hopes for the remnant of the venture.
While grasping the gravity of the contest now and making efforts to match, they also commented on how they thoroughly enjoy themselves in the process and value friendships with fellow contestants.
The semi finals are to be held in two sessions, on 29th June and 6th July from 7 p.m. onwards at the Voice Lounge. Tickets are priced at Rs. 500 and are available at the TNL head office located at 52, 5th Lane, Colombo 03, starting Monday before respective Semi Final.
TNL offers some attractive deals with regard to purchase of tickets: for tickets purchased alone, Early Bird tickets will be Rs. 450; if you produce a valid TNL VIP card or the TNL Radio app ticket will be Rs.400. If you’re buying tickets in a group you can get 5 at Rs.2000 (Rs. 400 each). To win free tickets tune into TNL Radio and follow the event on their Facebook page: facebook.com/tnlradio
BANDS
Chaos Carnival
Chaos Carnival is a band that was formed by the members of SeveXth and one of Killfeed. Band members are Pranil on vocals, Shehan on guitars, Apilas on guitars, Shafeek on bass and Isac on drums.
“We decided to take a different route from our usual metal scene and thought of bringing it out to a more commercialized audience. Heavy metal is not just a form of music but yet a genre that embraces many forms and styles of music throughout the years and brings it all together as one voice. We as a band strive to show a different side of metal with each musician from different walks of music coming together to create something unique.”
Mash
Mash is made up of Shane, Kasun, Aelesha, Randhir, Dhamintha & Suhan. “Being a part of Onstage is the best! The supporting crew, atmosphere and the crowd is amazing. Mash is different to other bands as we play mash-ups in an open genre ranging from 2-5 in one song and it’s definitely something new. At Onstage the competition is always tough, but it’s harder for us being a very young band, but that won’t stop us from having fun and doing what we do best!”
Area 51
“The five of us Abdul (lead vocals), Anjana (guitars and vocals), Allan on drums, Kaveen and Kanishka started off as every other artiste in this competition did: amateur musicians who had a strong connection to music. We played random songs in class whenever we had the chance!
We wanted to share our deep-rooted passion with people out there; Area 51 brings a unique mix to Onstage, we do a variety of genres ranging from heavy metal to alternative rock to oldies. Onstage gives us a platform to finally get our names out of the classrooms and into the real world. It's given us an opportunity to improve as musicians and we're extremely honored to be selected for the Semi Finals. We assure you that Area 51 shall rise to the occasion.”
Point 5
Point5 lined up with Trehan, Ridma, Dilshan and Malith is inspired mostly by music from the 70's, 80's and 90's and takes up TNL onstage hoping it could be a stronger start for their journey in music.
"We love covering genres like rock and rock n roll, but we focus more on doing originals because we want to build up our own identity. After the performance at the preliminaries all of us were quite nervous about getting through to the semis. However, being selected to semi finals is definitely a good feeling and has given us a boost in confidence. The feedback from the judges has helped us a lot, so now we are back in the studio to do something new and different at the semi finals"
SOLOISTS
Thyaga
“It feels awesome to be at the semi finals. Through this, I have made friends with a lot of music lovers and it is amazing. Although my career is in an entirely different field, music has always been my passion. What TNL Radio does through Onstage is unique and transparent, unlike other such competitions.”
Nathan
"Firstly I would like to mention how exiting it is for me to be in this competition as this will be my first ever and also that I love the fact that TNL Onstage is all about originality and giving a huge platform for real talent to shine! I am grateful. The experience thus far is filled with so much excitement & nervousity, simply because there are some crazy talent in the category of solo and being chosen to the semis, for me, is a boost!”
Viroshan
“The Onstage journey has always been something I envied over the years so getting a call that I made it to the preliminaries was overwhelming and then to progress to the semis is a wonderful mixture of being overjoyed and terrified since the competition is insane this year! To play in front of a big crowd and to showcase what you’re made of is an experience of a lifetime. Hopefully, I’ll give a good semi final performance and make it to finals; that would be the icing on the cake in this journey.”
Rochelle
“My experience has been wonderful so far. I enjoyed every minute of being a part of this competition, from getting to know the other contestants to being on stage and performing to an amazing audience at the preliminary round. I feel blessed to have been selected for the semis and I'm extremely thankful to my family, friends and everyone who has supported me. I'm sure this is going to be an extremely memorable experience which will last a life time.”
DJs
Alexxo (Isuru Rangana)
To work with a reputed channel and a talented team is such a wonderful experience that I have been dreaming of.
Type B (Buddhima Kurukulasuriya)
I'm relishing the opportunity to meet more artists from the Lankan scene and hopefully share our skills and collaborate.
By Nivedha Jeyaseelan
Pix by Waruna Wanniarachchi, Pradeep Dilruckshana & Aki Peiris
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