a trending musician with a passion to make a difference

Having received his primary education at Galahitiyawa Central School, Dinesh Dissanayake was always interested in music. Developing on his inborn talent, Dissanayake then stepped into the local music scene, initially as a keyboardist in several local bands before he contributed his creativity to the tele-drama industry. His contributions to several trending tele-dramas over the recent past was recently acknowledged when one of his compositions was adjudged the Best Tele-Drama Music Direction at the recently concluded State Television Awards ceremony. 

“I did music till O/Ls  and even though I chose commerce for A/Ls my music teacher would get me to participate in competitions,” he recalled in an interview with the Daily Mirror Life. “ I played the serpina and violin and these were the beginnings of my career. Thereafter I joined a band called Polgahawela Horizon and played in it for six years. Subsequently I joined the Galaxies band. Another six years later I joined the Sunflower band. It was during this time that Uddika Premaratne and Chamara Samarawickrama provided me with the opportunity to step into music direction. 

I usually compose melodies on my keyboard as I have experience playing the keyboard for many years” 

The first tele-drama I got involved in was ‘Kalu Kurulla’ and thereafter I did music direction for several tele-dramas including Harakotiya, Kotipathiyo, Aganthukaya, Hulan Gedara, Rajayogaya and Nadagamkarayo which is still being telecasted. I won the best music director award for my work in Duwili Ahasa.”

As a self taught musician, Dissanayake played in the previously mentioned bands as a keyboardist. His inspiration for various compositions comes from movies. “Whenever I watch a movie I watch it 2-3 times and study how the music direction has been done. I also study music by A. R Rahman and Yanni; their notes, variations etc., and I basically look for sound notes that can create the mood. I study the various sounds that have been used in a production and I’m inspired by these creations to do something of my own.”
However, he believes that the facilities to experiment music in Sri Lanka are limited when compared to those in foreign countries. But he says that the existing facilities indeed are sufficient to get the desired output, even though it takes a great deal of effort. “Whenever I start a project I make sure that I fully concentrate on it before agreeing to the next. I don’t take 2-3 projects at once because each one of them requires a lot of time. It would take anything between 1-10 days to come up with a melody. Sometimes this duration is even longer. I choose quality over anything else and therefore I always focus on giving the best output.”

“Whenever I watch a movie I watch it 2-3 times and study how the music direction has been done. I also study music by A. R Rahman and Yanni; their notes, variations etc., and I basically look for sound notes that can create the mood.” 

“I usually compose melodies on my keyboard as I have experience playing the keyboard for many years,” he added. “However I get professionals to add sounds from other instruments so that the music piece sounds more original.”

Dissanayake’s talents were appreciated when his composition for the tele-drama Duwili Ahasa was adjudged the Best Tele-drama Music Direction at the recently concluded State Television Awards. “I feel honoured to be nominated alongside a veteran musician, Dr. Rohana Weerasinghe and Udara Samaraweera. It’s truly satisfying to be appreciated as the journey I have come hasn’t been an easy one. I also received a special award from the jury at the 2019 Raigam Tele’es Award ceremony for the theme song I did for the ‘Harakotiya’ teledrama.” 
His next step is to direct music in movies and a few projects are now on the cards. “Directing music in a movie needs much more time and effort. I want to do something unique and I’m waiting for the next opportunity,” he said with much enthusiasm. 

He extends his gratitude to band leaders and members of bands he worked in, his family members, friends and everybody who helped him in his journey and continue to support him in his endeavours.