Who came up with the whole idea?
Shehan: Both bands wanted to do a concert together and it was pretty tough to get a date for us to actually do it. So when Thriloka suggested that we try out something, we said ‘ok, let’s go ahead with it’. So we met up and planed out how we were gonna go ahead with it. For our luck, everything just fell in place, from the venue, to the sponsors and all and we were more than happy to carry on.

How did GMD start?
Shehan: Turns towards Pramyth and says “Pramyth!”

Pramyth: That’s a long story! Well, it all started back in 2007, actually just a few months before TNL Onstage. Two of our band members Shehan (Drummer) and Rukshan (Keyboardist) used to live close by in Thalawathugoda, so they used to jam a lot. I used to drop by occasionally and add to their music! So it was basically the three of us and we just had our whole musical sessions going just for the fun of it and wrote music and cover songs. Then about a month or two before onstage we thought of trying out for Onstage. So the three of us made the Demo. Shehan Sang and after that we added Shevanka as our bassist and started to look for a vocalist. The first one didn’t work out and just four days before Onstage, we found Shanaka. From there onwards it’s just been the same line up. And that is how GMD Started...(Laughing!)

Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?
Pramyth: Our set list is a majority of originals but we do play covers. We prefer to play more originals unless we are restricted.

Shehan: We tend to do more originals. If we are playing a set of six songs.....

(At this point the conversation gets interrupted by an Aston Martin DB 9 which whizzes past our location and was in sure contention for a speeding ticket. For a moment all three of us lose focus of the interview and start talking about the car.. “Mannn....Aston Martin DB 9!” We come back to earth)Shehan...Oh ya... If we like have a set of six songs, at least four...

Pramyth: 80%-90% originals.

Shehan: Because we wanna put out our music. But we still do play covers

What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are your major influences?
P: In terms of rock, we are going in the direction of Progressive Rock (prog). But different people have different opinions after they listen to us. Some call us a prog band, but when we play heavier songs some people think of us in terms of progressive metal. Then depending on the covers, (we don’t just play Progressive rock songs) we can play Eric Clapton, Toto, Incubus etc.

So your major influences are Dream Theatre and…
P & S: Yes. Dream theatre, Pain of salvation, Planet X, Dave Matthews Band, Queen, Police!

What inspired you to make music together?
S: Music for us has been... a passion. We have always wanted to have a band because we like the whole idea of performing. We’ve tried many outfits but none of them clicked as much as GMD. And so far the people who’ve heard it say that they like it and say good things about it. I think the main reason for us to go ahead and create our stuff was because we wanted to be different and try something new. Because the Sri Lankan entertainment market is not so high, there is room to do this and that is what we are doing.

I actually forgot to ask you’ll how the name GMD came along
P&S: (Laughing)... There is a pretty good definition of it on our facebook page! But GMD is basically Grey Mind Domain. It came up about two weeks before onstage (Big Grin). We like had a voting system and everyone had to write five names.

P: I think we managed to come up with this even without the vote because we thought that it was a good name and because of the meaning it had. When you say GMD, our music as we mentioned before, cannot be defined in a specific genre so it’s like a “GREY AREA” and the word Mind indicates the creative part.

S: And the Domain is where we practice.

P: But take a look at our Facebook page as well! (Laughing)

So I DID take a look at their FB page, and this is what I discovered.
”Grey Mind Domain - each member of the band has a different idea of what music should sound like. Their preferences are wide and varied. When these ideas and preferences are fused together it forms an amalgam which is neither black nor white but grey. This might signify confusion to some but we view it as a higher purpose, a fusion that by mixing and melding our diverse ideas and styles results in a synthesis of something that sounds unique but just right, something that gets your grey matter racing, as at first blush there is no comprehension but slowly the mist clears and the Domain of the intellect reveals itself.”

They Add, "Once You Become Informed, You Start Seeing Complexities & Shades Of GREY. You Realize Nothing Is As It First Appears. ULTIMATELY KNOWLEDGE IS PARALYZING!"

What are your rehearsals generally like? Give us the funnier side of your band!
P&S: Oh No! (Laughing)

P: Shehan will say something and everyone will make fun of him. Shevanka will either drop an instrument or try to break something. Rukshan will be pretty serious. Shanaka also will be pretty serious. Pramyth? (Turns to Shehan)

S: Pramyth acts serious... (A wicked twinkle sparkles in his eye before he says...) but is not serious!

P: We get a lot of stuff done when we rehearse but it’s really fun. It’s not a pain or anything to go through practices

S: Practices are serious, but we have plenty of fun. We go to town on having fun, but when the thing needs to be done, it’s done.

How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
P: I think our music has evolved a lot and we’ve got much tighter since we started and we’ve even improved individually

S: I guess the other reason for us to be tighter and develop is: when we compose our music we set ourselves certain challenges within the song, where we need to force ourselves to go to the next level. We have to push ourselves, which automatically helps us to improve as individuals as well as the band goes up.

P: For example, we’ll create a part of a song that cannot be created on the first go when we play it for the first time. So we’ll keep practicing a few times until we get it and when we finally do, we’ll try to do something a bit more difficult than that.

This is about your songs: What are your songs about?
S: If you take “Into My Mind” (First Sung at TNL Onstage), it talks about a person. And it can be interpreted in two ways (Grin comes on. Both band members look at each other and laugh. Shehan Mentions that ‘Pramyth does not like to interpret it!’). One thing is that it talks about someone in love or it can be someone who is addicted to drugs.

P: I think the second one suits the song more! (Shehan goes into conniptions)

S: it talks about getting into a person’s mind and how the lyrics say, “Into my mind, wipe away my tears and all those fears’. And it says ‘stay some while lady and take me a ride which I’ll die to go again’

P: So you can see how it can be interpreted in both ways!

S: The lady becomes a drug and things like that. Then we have “Physic Spell “. It talks about what basically runs the world. It’s like we are in a spell when we follow these certain norms and things and no matter how much of corruption happens we never see it reducing. So it’s like a spell which is cast upon the world, and no matter whether we try or not, it’s the same.

Then we’ve got a couple of other stuff like “Mirrored Silhouette” which is one song that I actually have a problem with because what we are trying to tell the audience is that, you see yourself in a mirror, but you don’t see a picture.

Is that something to do with Michael Jacksons Man in the mirror?
S: No. Definitely not. The song says that we never see ourselves clearly. We see a silhouette. We know that this is a man who is standing in front, but we don’t see the finer points, like what the hair and what the eyes look like.

P: When we look at the mirror, we see an inversion of what we are. So we never see ourselves from the point of view that someone else looks at us.

S: Our instrumentals also explore our talent and sounds.

How much time do you have to devote to practice?
P: If we are not preparing for a show, maybe once a week or once in two weeks for a couple of hours. But we do our personal practice no matter whether we meet or not, at least for about an hour every day. But leading up to a show, I guess we’ll at least try to squeeze in three to four practices a week for about six to seven hours a practice.

What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge?
S: Biggest Challenge? (Turns to Pramyth and asks.. What was our biggest challenge?)

P: I guess the beginning of our band was the challenge. Forming it, finding the right people and doing our first few shows and onstage was a challenge. Apart from that.... I think the songs we do are more challenging than the covers we do.

S: The challenge we always face is putting out our music to people and to figure out whether they will like it. It’s not mainstream Sri Lankan music, so it’s a challenge to get people to like it. But we’ll do our thing and I’m sure that there will be people who enjoy it.

So you guys are Unique?
S: Exactly. Even our name is long and people say it’s hard to remember. But that’s why we made it GMD!

S: What are you saying!

P: Seriously; Grey Area. Oh and our band revolves around food. Other than the music we play everything in our mind is food! Not even women! Its music, food and then women!

S: It’s hard to describe ourselves in one word. All five of us are totally different and our musical influences are totally different!

P:Shehan’s musical influences are from something different. Shanaka comes from a classical background. Rukshan plays Golden Oldies. Shevanka gets fired up from all the catchy, fast hyper music. I have a different set of influences. Even our personalities are so different but when we play our stuff it gels together in a weird way.

What do you want the crowd to expect when they see GMD at the Punchi Theatre?
P: We’ll its gonna be 80-90% originals and a few covers that we’ve done before. We are also gonna play a new original that we haven’t played anywhere else.

What is your bands motto?
S: My gosh! We never had one.

P: Lotto! Ado Shehan say something! (Turns to Shehan, “We must make a few and keep them for the future!”)

S: Shall we call Shanaka and ask him?

P: I don’t know. “Come together, go together Zig Zag Zoo!” (Laughing) Love Thy Neighbour.. man.. People will think in different ways these days.

S: Be Happy?

P&S: Our motto is I guess, “Enjoying ourselves while doing what we like”