They were looking forward to performing in Sri Lanka. They thought that the band was going to perform at the Blue Elephant, which would have suited them fine because in their career they’ve always been performing at night clubs and discos and when they were told they had to play at the Lounge of the Hilton, Colombo they were Wary of the prospect. ‘But,’ says Hein Busch, musical director, keyboardist and vocalist of Hypnotik, ‘that didn’t worry us too much. One thing was certain we had to adapt our repertoire and rhythm to suit the audience at the Lounge and collectively we did it. It was a pleasant change from Kuala Lumpur and we are enjoying ourselves’.
This combination of musicians, is it a permanent one or was it put together for this tour? ‘No. It is a permanent one. We’ve been playing together for a year and a half. We are friends. I’m from South Africa and the other members are from China, Bahrain, Morocco and Malaysia. We have agents in different countries to get us the contracts. Before we came to Sri Lanka, we performed in Kuala Lumpur’. Music wise you are the arranger did you find that the members fitted the bill so to speak? “Yes. The members are handpicked.
What was important to me was their attitude towards a performance. It was important to be open-minded and strive to perform all genres of music – Spanish, Malaysian, Indonesian and Tamil. Our Tamil hit was Kolaveri.
Playing in Sri Lanka we are happy about the reaction from the Sri Lankan audiences. At the outset we were nervous – not knowing what to play and expect. We realised the need to make changes in the arrangements to suit the audience expectations and so we have made our own changes where necessary’.
Satisfy my curiosity and reveal how it all started for you music wise? “I had my beginnings at our church in Cape Town. I play keyboards, drums and guitar. Gospel was my basic influence and subsequently my other influences were pianist Cory Henry, guitarists George Benson and Earl Klugh. South Africa has is own wealth of recognised musicians, a big name being High Masakela and.
Playing here in Sri Lanka it was a challenge we had to face and we are happy that the audiences are with us. I’m happy too that the members of Hypnotik have risen to the challenge.
Felix the guitarist/vocalist has reached out to many an audience at the Lounge, so too the bassist/vocalist Loic hails from South Africa – Cape town, to be exact, and has captivated the hearts of many here in Sri Lanka.
At the young age of 12 years he started playing drums and like he would tell he has followed his dream.
‘Of course I must say that Fern our lead vocalist choreographs the dancing by her and Sophie the other vocalist on stage which has been a big attraction for us. What more can I say – I hope we can come again to perform here. We have enjoyed ourselves!’