PLNS – Interview with Roshan Pitigala

Projects such as PLNS, Highspeed Owl and Milk Drop Revelation all have at least this one description which does justice to the music in common, “There's nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly”. A saying which surprisingly accommodates all of Roshan's creations up to date. Much has been said about all his creations but this Interview deals with his inner thoughts on his ideologies and way of life.

Greetings Roshan! How are you doing today?

Hello! I’m alright, can't complain. How are you?

Same old man, same old! Well to begin with, you started off your musical career as the guitarist for Raven06. Tell us more about what 'Raven06' means and the inceptions of this project.

I wouldn't actually call it a career neither a project. It was more than that, it was more of relevance with reality to us at that time. There was no reservation, it was just in-your-face day dreaming stuff. Raven06 was evolution, revolution and our own humble way of rebelling against the boring norms that our elders had catered for us. It literally metamorphized our lives. I played guitars in it and sang here and there. I was the worst singer tho. It was horrible but we didn’t care. We were more interested in our instruments and how they made different sounds. Even though we never realized it at that time I believe that we had an experimental approach to making music, an abstract if you will. There was no discipline. I think that nature of behaving freely, feeding off each others creative vibes got into my skin. I think my current material is probably influenced by that. Best of all we were great friends. We went to the same school. Took the same subjects thus we had plenty of time to loose focus and discuss our ideas about music. Ashan played drums in the beginning and then moved on to bass guitar when Malinda joined our band. It was the best fit. We were all having a blast. We didn't have any aspirations. It was a boat we could drift in open waters. Good times nah Great times.

Raven06 released the debut track 'Water My Anger' back in early 2007 If my memory doesn't fail me? Tell us more about the musicians involved in this project and about your contributions.

We recorded that song during my 2 month visit to Kandy, it was dec 2005. We managed to put together a song in 2 weeks and recorded it within 6-8 hours If I remember correctly. I think it was the highlight of our band. We were grown as musicians and had become tight as a band. We'd come up with a riff and by the time we leave the room we've created an entire song. As soon as we recorded we handed over the track to TNL radio. The track received some radio air play on their local chart for sometime. Of course I didn’t release it on rock.lk till 2007 I think. That’s how most people got to hear the track, especially people in Colombo. In Kandy of course everybody knew everybody, it was a small community.

Moving onto you're other projects, your first track under PLNS was 'Aerigia 17:13', tell us more about this new direction you

took with your music and the concepts behind 'Aerigia 17:13'.

Its quite unfortunate that I suffer from ill memory. I loose memory so much its bad, but sometimes its not too bad. See, I don’t need drugs to erase my memory for obvious reasons. PLNS came to life out of blunder boredom. I mean it was just horrible. As soon as I finished my A/Ls I left Kandy and moved to Canada. I left my best friends and our band. I had no friends here in Calgary at first. It was all awkward. And it is bloody cold here. Like today for an example its -30C' I’m not even exaggerating. It was depressing. As a result, PLNS became my output. Something had to give, something had to flush out otherwise I would have blown. Getting back to your question, I cant remember exactly but I’m pretty sure it was either 'Blister Insistence Under Acid Sun' or 'Absence In the 0' was the first track I posted. In the beginning it was just way of liberating my frustrations but slowly it took on a life of its own. It evolved with me. I love the idea of openness, vast spaces, silence, childhood memories, echoes and vacuum. I think I've been able to capture these concepts with PLNS. Most importantly the music that I create is very personal and very selfish. And most of my creations have taken me to a time and a place where I was very happy, like when I was very young. I think these tracks are sort of like time capsules, a portal to the past. You could time travel, you know. 'Aergia' is a Greek goddess personifying laziness. My kind of goddess you see. I never pre-meditate these tracks or practice them several times before I record them. I just keep jamming till I find something really interesting, and then I press the red button and let it flow. This is a very spontaneous process. What you listen is a snapshot of a time and a space.. PLNS music is like a clay pudding of imagery and imagination. PLNS only caters the melody and sound the rest is up to the listener. That’s why I haven’t bothered putting any words or lyrics. Cuz I think they ruin the imagination. It gives you too much direction you. It doesn’t let you drift. I think we both have listened to so many different bands and artists but there's something missing isn't it? That’s what we are hunting after with these musical and artistic projects. That strange but interesting color that we have never seen. Music is the most amazing creation. Its unlimited. Its impossible to define, its not even an element. Its not science. Its just is. I've spun way out of the question haven’t I? I’m sorry I get lost.

You use multiple instruments to enhance your musical outputs on various projects, what drove you to use instruments as such

as the Kalimba?

I try to. My room looks like an aftermath of a bomb blast, I grab a hold of what ever I can get and try to create sounds. I’m fascinated by weird obscure noises/sounds. They are almost like little musical pieces. Especially natural sounds like wind. I think unintentionally I try to create them with my guitar. Its like a slow reflex. I know Efrim Menuck from GYBE! has a library of sounds. I hear he used to travel with a recorder and capture these environmental sounds. I always wanted to do this but never really got down to it. When I was in school here I used to take the train everyday and it would go through these tunnels, this eerie echo sound resonates. I so look forward to that sound.

I think ambient sound is very live. I’m a fan of live sounds/music. When I listen to a record like bleach or Amanita or the inner mountain flame or say Ashes against grain, I feel as if the band is playing right in front of me. This has influenced me a lot. And I believe ambient music is very live and open. It shows the characteristics of vast open spaces and emptiness. that's probably why I'm so attracted it. Ambient music is very passive. I think Post rock or ambient what ever you wanna call it is the musical equivalence of slow motion pictures. Kalimba is an awesome live instrument. It was given to me by my girlfriend. She's into wind instruments. She introduced me to so many awesome things. I've yet to master this instrument. The challenging part is to fit a proper mic. I don't have a tiny one. So its quite hard to get my headphone-mic in there. I also use an ebow and lots of reverb pedals.

You approach concepts such as Penultimatum Overtone and Collective Consciousness, tell us more about how these issues

deal with your music.

They are interesting subject matter. I'm all ears to anything that has a sense of mystery, anything that is beyond human. I don't know much about Penultimatum overtone or collective Consciousness. I've read some about these things. I think we would need much more time than this to discuss these subjects thoroughly. But I'll tell you this. Both of them deal with frequencies and I truly believe that there's an obvious connection to music. Music is of course sound and sound is wave, and frequency is how we measure it. Frequencies enable us to reach different dimensions. You see frequency can be related to electricity and time. Just imagine the things we could crack! Collective Consciousness is like an audience head banging to the same song at the same time. Its most practical with like minded individuals. Its a very unifying effect.

From what I've read of yourself and your projects, you're an ardent fan of bands such as TOOL and Mahavishnu Orchestra, what other bands, people do you turn to for inspiration?

I am, I think any kid goes through the chart of musical evolution. One band to another. how ever I got stuck with Tool like the Neanderthal era. Almost everything that is interesting that I have ever learned came out from Tool. I can guarantee that. Everything about them is so interesting. There is so much depth in their art and music, so much substance that their musical creations never die. And their image is art. I respect that in a band. I think art is the most interesting and successful way of capturing a mind. And Mahavishnu Orchestra, I have never felt so clean after listening to their records. There's just something about them, so revitalizing…its like musical rejuvanence. They are of course. Mahavishnu have a very spiritual approach.

You released 'Demo Tape/Bloody Cape' last year, which was well received by ambient post-rock fans in Sri Lanka. This release included some amazing tunes such as 'In The Absence of 0', 'Arthame' and 'Alone In Jupiter'. Are their any plans to take this maybe towards a physical release or an Album?

Thanks, I'd love if some one offered me the opportunity. But physical or non-physical it really doesn’t matter to me as long as the music gets out to the people by any means. That’s the whole point. I think technology wise we live in an awesome period of time, 10-15 years ago this wasn’t possible. You would have never heard me. Most of my music is exposed through websites like www.rock.lk or www.myspace.com and lastfm.com. If it wasn’t for them there wouldn’t be a PLNS. I mean there would be. Just to my self and my closest mates.

You have teamed up with Justin Strollo of 'Slow Moses' and Messenger for another project called Highspeed Owl. Did you

guys find a drummer/female vocalist yet? How did the song writing process go for your debut 'Yantra Mantra'?

Highspeed Owl is the first project since Raven06 that I felt a raw connection with the collaborators. Highspeed Owl is a concept where like minded creative individuals can toss around their musical ideas back and forth to create a piece of something that is collective. Collective consciousness is obviously practiced here. Initially I wanted Messenger to lay down the vocals but she chose her flute instead. And Justin laid down his awesome vocals. I discovered Justin on Myspace. He is an amazing musician. He has a couple of successful projects going down in the states. If you search Rinse Repeat on myspace.com you’ll hear and see what I’m talking about. I did the guitars and what not. The track is almost complete except for the drums. It desperately needs a beat. And Yantra Mantra is another track that has been sitting for too long. We need a drummer! I want everyone to hear this song. It has a proper old school prog structure.

You also collaborated with DC a.k.a. 'The Light Bearer' from the Sri Lankan Black Metal unit 'Heresy' on two tracks called 'The Great Hills Of Candae' and 'Apeirophobia'. How did this collaboration come along since you currently reside in Calgary and DC in Melbourne?

Its freakin awesome man. Our chemistry was right on the bat. I'm not surprised though since we go along way back as friends and fellow musicians. DC had his own band during the Raven06 era and we both rehearsed at the same place. They were our brother band, still are. We'd exchange ideas, instruments and of course never ending harassment's. He and his group was more into the extreme stuff from the beginning. And we were into more grungier experimental stuff. Time faded and he went through the same shit that I went through. He had to leave Kandy. And that’s how we started sharing music online. I'd come up with tracks and share it with him. He'd do the same with me. And one day we sort of said lets do a track together. And it literally snowballed till recently. We've sort of stalled. Can't blame anyone cuz we are people with lives too , we have jobs, schools, and families to think about. Even though music is our primary goal they become secondary in reality. But Milk Drop Revelation is due to drop their debut Ep very soon. DC, together with Nigel who is layering the drums, are cooking some good shit in the land down under. I can smell it over here.

How is the scene over there in your area Calgary, Alberta? What exactly do you do there and How do you find time to delve into your various activities, and do you find like minded individuals who have the same tastes in Music and subjects?

Very Indie rock. There are so many hip underground bands that are very talented but hard to catch. I know a couple of cool people. Everyone’s so busy here man. Its hard to find creative minds here. I mean I know there are but they are hidden. Very rare! I have never been able to find that chemistry I had with raven06. I've tried but they were hopeless. I've yet to find a creative bunch in Calgary. Well I work in the hospitality industry. Not my kind of job but the money isn't that bad. I used to work in a record store. That was the best job, but they went bankrupt. So I moved to the dull 9-5 cubical kingdom of numbness. But I find time to do what I do. I mean if you genuinely love what you create, it doesn’t matter how busy you are, you will always find the time to do it. When people say “oh I’m too busy, I haven't time. I used to play this and what not” that just means they are not that passionate about it. I mean there are some sacrifices if I’m honest. But then again life is short. If you hesitate you loose. I know this!

And are there any plans to distribute or release your material on International Labels which could help projects such as PLNS, Highspeed Owl and MDR to reach likeminded individuals?

Oh wouldn't that be neat! But it can obviously be a side dish. We'd like to something as big one day, as long as we can remain what we are now..

Moving onto the Sri Lankan Scene, How has it progressed since the days of Raven06 and do you see a different direction as to

where Sri Lankan Heavy Metal should go?

It has catapulted, I mean literally. I wont be shocked if I see one of our bands on much loud channel. Its amazing how it has evolved. In the beginning when we started there were only a handful of bands. And it was just ridiculous, we'd go to these idiotic talent show auditions just to have a go at the proper drums and monitors. The judges were perplexed to our sounds along with these useless lincold park boyz bands. But then we started our own shows. That’s when things slowly start to blossom. The audience grew, more people started paying attention and supporting. It became a cult like. I should really give credit to people like Mackay, paranoid earthling, Heresy, forlorn hope, Forsaken, Old Castles Massacre, Funeral in Heaven and Plecto Aliquem Capite. Please forgive me if I have missed a name there. I know there were more than that. People who helped us with the posters in the rain. People who funded us, who lend us instruments. We are ever thankful to you. They really went out of their ways to expose our underground scene to the masses. I mean the conditions down there are so harsh yet they deliver something raw and genuine is just inspiring. I mean our music has leaked beyond the island, that’s impressive stuff man.

How does the future look for PLNS and MDR? Is there anything we should be looking forward to?

I always collaborate with people in various projects. The most recent one is with Theena, a great creative mind. You'll hear more sooner or later. Music has been sustaining PLNS and MDR and the people who were involved in these projects. Sharing music is like fulfilling a great need. there is always much to hear and create. What we achieve is very personal sometimes. Words may describe time's passing but music enacts it for us. We would like to make it accessible to anyone who believes that life can be composed through music.

umm What to look forward to from us? Yes, Music, of course.

How can people who are interested in listening to your material gain access to them?

You can listen and download most of my music on these websites. Most of these pieces are unpolished ungarnished stuff.

www.myspace.com/pittaslaten8show

www.myspace.com/sovanagamy

www.myspace.com/milkdroprevelation

www.soundclick.com/pittaslatenightshow

www.reverbnation.com/pittaslatenightshow

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Milk-Drop-Revelation/119516765544

www.rock.lk

http://srilankanheavymetalunion.blogspot.com

Or on www.Last.fm type in milk drop revelation.

Well that's it for now Roshan, Any final comments for your fans and fellow musicians?

I have not set out to define music and don't believe that it's possible. But I think we should try to capture something natural in origin that sounds and rhythms inherit in them. Through my art I try to bring about something far away from the usual way our brain analyzes data. There may be others who try to question life by using different means. We often question the pace of reforms and and the consequences life leads us to. I'm someone who believes that music can find us the answer. Music has evolved with us, its clear when we consider the different genres and name tags we've used up to now. It has been performed unstoppably in time. No matter what the style or era the answers will sometimes be clear and sometimes abstract, but the way to explore them is concrete and can be done by anyone.

Thank you for all your time Roshan, Good luck with all your future endeavors! We hope to hear from you soon!

Thank you so much, your support for the underground is highly appreciated. And you have an awesome day as well!