At just 23 years old Shaveen Illaperuma the pioneer and band leader of the soft rock band REDBLOCK is already making his mark in the world of music! A born entertainer, Shaveen is the pride and joy of his grandfather, music legend Earnest Soyza who Shaveen considers his inspiration to enter the world of music. A multi talented instrumentalist, Shaveen is the lead vocalist and guitarist for the band.

REDBLOCK recently entered the limelight and became quite the sensation within the music industry following their first original release “Black and Blurred”. 

The song was written by Shaveen and two of his bandmates Abhishek Fernandez and Dion Weerasinghe. The lineup of the band included Deven Silva on Lead Guitar, Malindu Maduwantha on Drums and Lakwin Jayathilaka on Keys with Shaveen leading the vocals and rhythm guitar. 

Speaking about the inception of the band, Shaveen said “RedBlock was initially just a dream in my head after watching all those Bon Jovi and Foo Fighters videos on YouTube. The band was formed when my family friend Thiysuri Ranatunga wanted a backing band for REVO 2016, which she went on to win. After that, the boys and I continued practising, until my mother Asha Ilapperuma, encouraged us to have our own show (RedBlock Live 2016) under her sponsorship. After that initial start, we went on to do 4 more shows (RedBlock Live 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021)” he added.

Although the band had written and recorded a few originals at home in the past, none of it had been taken to the studio to complete, making ‘Black & Blurred’ their first “official” single.

Elaborating on the song itself, Shaveen remarked that “Black & Blurred” was a song which everyone in the family could watch together owing to the interesting arc of the story. "Dion & Abhi have been my friends for a very long time, and it was only in 2020 that we surprisingly found ourselves writing songs”. Black & Blurred takes you through the journey of a man who’s just had a hangover, finding his way to figuring out what happened last night. “The idea came about when Dion suggested that we need to write a song similar to the “Pina Colada” song by Rupert Holmes" he added. 

Dion quipped that the most interesting fact was that the entire song was written in less than two days. "The only reason it even dragged out that long was because Abhishek kept insisting that the initial lyrics to the song were too R-rated" he added laughing. 

"What probably stood out for me was me telling no to most of the lyrics, but in the end getting outvoted. Maybe that was a good thing, seeing that people who’ve listened to the song did enjoy it" confirmed Abhishek! 

The band clearly had a great time recording the song! When I asked what their favourite memory with the band was, Lakwin replied "Every second spent with the band was amazing. Absolutely loved playing with them and you can look forward to more exciting music in the future" to which the others heartily agreed. 

You can find "Black and Blurred" on Youtube on the official "REDBLOCK MUSICALS'' channel. It's always great to show our love to local talent and support them to make our country proud by taking the name of our little island out into the world. So do check them out...