Old is gold…

It’s, indeed, encouraging to see musicians, of the good old days, making a comeback.

In fact, it’s happening abroad, as well, and music lovers welcome such outfits, and performers, with open arms, and that’s because it’s difficult to draw comparison with the old and the new; old is gold, they say!

Sajith Mutucumarana

Ecstasy was a well-known outfit in the ’80s/’90s, with Sajith Mutucumarana at the controls.

They did the Little Hut scene in ’89/’90 and also performed in Singapore and Doha.

The going was good for the band but with family commitments coming his way, Sajith decided to take a break and that ended the Ecstasy scene, in 2001.

A couple of decades later, the Ecstasy lineup was back as Catch 22, with the famous Nimal Jayamanne in the vocal spotlight.

However, in December, 2023, they decided to operate as Ecstasy, sans Nimal, as he was keen to do his own thing.

The present lineup has Sajith (bass and vocals), Keerthi Samarasekera (keyboards and vocals), Sumith Jayaratne (lead guitar and vocals), Kamal Ileperuma (drums and vocals), with Dilini Ileperuma, the new addition (vocals).

Dilini Ileperuma

An interesting feature of the band, says Sajith, is that all members handle lead vocals, and that gives a whole lot of variety, and dynamism, to singing.

Sajith went on to say that while all the guys have years of experience, performing with many other local bands, female vocalist Dilini comes with a musical academic background.

“She is a visiting lecturer at the University of the Visual and Performing Arts, and a lecturer at SLTC Research University. She doesn’t have the run-of-the-mill voice and I’m certain she will be a big plus to the band, and a singer to be reckoned with,” said Sajith.

What’s more, with decades of experience Ecstasy has a wide repertoire of songs, including English oldies to Pop, to Sinhala classics and ‘baila,’ to suit any occasion, Sajith mentioned.

They are currently featured at The Warehouse (TWH) café & bar, down Vauxhall Street, Colombo 2, with Sajith adding that they are also on the lookout for a few other venues, in and around Colombo, to perform on a regular basis.