Christmassy Melomanic Sessions today

Saturday, 14 December 2013 00:05 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

This time the Melomanic session is moving to a new venue, which has been termed the ‘Melo Garden’. In terms of music, they have some returning regulars as well as new faces performing and Iru’s Dedoodles and friends will be selling Christmas cards and food assortments in addition to the ever-famous chocolate cake supplied by The Warehouse Project. The sessions will also be streamed online for the convenience of fans out of town and the country. Amidst their practice sessions, team Melo joined the Weekend FT for a brief conversation By Sarah Hannan Q: What are the challenges you have faced as a team when putting the Melomanic Sessions together and how did you overcome these challenges?

A: 2013 turned out to be a game changer in terms of moving on from The Warehouse Project, which was practically home for Melo. The challenge lay in scouting for venues which provided a similar ambiance and vibe in terms of a laid back and communal environment. This has resulted in sessions being held at quaint venues such as the Dutch Burgher Union, Nuga Sevana and soon to be held at the Melo Garden. The team also made a conscious effort in screening demos sent in by performers expressing interest, so a balance of opportunity versus quality of performance was maintained. Q: Do you select the acts to perform based on their music genre/themes of their songs? A: Being more of a stripped down and acoustic event, our focus naturally tends to steer towards vocal quality as opposed to an overall sound. It’s tricky in that there’s again a sensible balance of the two required. Performances are selected based on whether they fit the bill in terms of what the sessions represent and that would be a very mellow setting and increased emphasis on original music. One of the things we do recommend for people who usually mail in demos is to come for a session to gauge for them whether they’d be comfortable in that setting.

Q: 2014 what are your plans? Will you be taking the sessions out of Colombo? A: During a conversation recently we came to realise that two years in, Melo has its own circle of members, which we would go as far as to say is literally family now. What we then felt is that next year would be about channeling that following and giving back to the artists in some form or manner as they truly deserve. On these lines we have some tentative projects in mind and hope to see them set in motion very soon. Having a session outside of Colombo is definitely something that has crossed our minds! This ranges from a session in Kandy to a bus tour around the island. We tend to be extremely enthusiastic in our planning generally, so let’s see how that pans out.