Ed Sheeran’s hit in local Mashup

The lockdown, and curfew, we had, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, certainly did bring out the creative abilities of quite a few local artistes.

With no work, and confined to the four walls of their home, during that unpleasant period, they moved into action – coming up with some innovative creations.

Sidath Nanayakkara, a known name in the showbiz scene, is one such artiste.

He says he came across a Sinhala song, called ‘Kohe Yannada Ma,’ and then realized that the tune was quite similar to another beautiful song, ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ by Ed Sheeran.

And, that’s how the Mashup cover, ‘Kohe Yannada Ma’/’Thinking Out Loud,’ came about.

Readers could check it out on YouTube (Mashup Cover – Kohe Yananda Ma – Thinking Out Loud – Sidath Nanayakkara.)

The video has already been seen 1.3k times, with quite a lot of positive comments.

Sidath says when this Mashup idea cropped up, he got in touch with a good old friend, Suminda Yapa, of Extreme Entertainment, (described by Sidath as an exceptionally talented veteran musician)…and Suminda was only too glad to work on it.

Says Sidath: “We decided to use guitar and bass to add more value to the track, and this was achieved through the contributions of Sameera Malintha (lead guitarist/band leader – The Black Brigade) to fill all guitar channels, while Indika Nilantha (bassist – band Black) covered the whole bass channel.”

Sidath went on to say that Gayan C Bentharage was very obliging in finalizing the mixing and mastering of the track, at his C Age Recording Studio.

“The final touches were given by adding an amazing visual to the track, by the incredibly talented videographer, Dileep Mann,” added Sidath, who performs with the band The Black Brigade.

The Black Brigade, incidentally, were originally known as Red Kings and were featured, on a regular basis, at the Old Colombo Dutch Hospital Complex.

Yes, they are still there, at this particular venue, performing as The Black Brigade, on Saturdays, at Taphouse by RnR.