Doing it Down Under …as a hotelier

Arith Ratnawibhushana is a name associated with music and he was big in the scene, while in Sri Lanka.

Arith now resides in Perth, Australia, but doing it differently – not as a musician but as a hotelier.

Early this month, he and his wife, Romaine, went to see the band Hot Chocolate with Tehan Perera (Sunil and Piyal Perera’s nephew), performing in Perth, along with Umaria, Ashanthi and Randir.

Arith was very much impressed with Umaria ‘s performance, describing her as awesome. “She is definitely the best in SL for sure.”

Umaria: Awesome performance in Perth

Initially, Arith was actively involved in promoting Sri Lankan western bands to Perth, specially Mirage, Misty, Gypsies, regrouping the Super Golden chimes for their maiden tour to Australia, Corrine, Desmond, Mariazelle, Annesley Malawana, Ronnie Leitch, and many more.

“It is good to see a few Sri Lankan events happening in Perth, especially after my retirement from music, and also bringing bands to Perth.”

Arith is now the General Manager at the Great Southern Hotel, in Perth.

“We have four hotels in Australia – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and, of course, Perth. In fact, I am thinking of future lobby entertainment for the hotel, with the focus on a few theme nights, on different days.”

For the record, Arith started his musical career, while still at school, with a band called Starliners, with Jean Ferrer snd Kanthi de Silva, under the management of Frankie Ferrer.

Arith and Romaine

Says Arith: Then I got my big break with Lincoln and Super Pink & Purple where I played keyboards for three years. While playing with them, Anton Goonetilleke asked me to join him and I was with Jade for over four years.

“I left Jade, due to my Hotel School studies, and commitments, and, after graduating, I teamed up with Rohan Mendis of Apple Green fame. Unfortunately, Rohan had to migrate to the States and my final stint was with Kings, where, after graduating from Hotel School, in May 1989, I was the only graduate of the Hotel School to be a full time musician, travelling in Europe and performing in all the leading night clubs in Germany, Switzerland, Finland and Sweden.”

In 1993, Arith started his professional hotel career, working for the Intercontinental Hotel, Holiday Inn and Mahaweli Reach, Kandy, and then migrated to Australia, in 2001, and worked for the IHG & Accor Hotels, before joining the Great Southern Group of Hotels, in 2015.

“I still enjoy jamming around with my sons who are great musicians. My oldest Anouk is a fantastic drummer and my 12-year-old Aiyel is turning out to be a great guitarist. So, who knows, I might form my own band in Perth one day!”

The Great Southern Hotel, in Perth, where Arith is the General Manager

While in Sri Lanka, Arith also did a few recordings for Gypsies’ Piyal Perera, where the hotelier played keyboards for the Ojaye cassette, and Mariazelle’s Adare cassette, and also Ronnie Leitch’s Thattaya cassette.

“I also played for two of Piyal’s very first English originals, namely ‘The Birthday Song and ‘You Are The Best,’ both under the Gypsies label.”

Yes, Arith Ratnawibhushana is another Sri Lankan big in the scene in Australia.