Raj of Sunpilots The

It’s Goodbye biomedical science, Hello rock music for singer-songwriter Raj Siva-Rajah

BY FARRHA KHAN

Biomedical scientist by day, rock star by night, Raj Siva-Rajah is ready to put away his tie and suit for good.

Lead singer of the band The Sunpilots, 30-yearold Raj Siva-Rajah’s dreams of becoming a full-time musician will be realised in a matter of weeks.

Working in pharmaceuticals over the past 6 years, Raj finally handed in his resignation notice last week, getting ready for a full-time career as the singer of the band The Sunpilots.

From September onwards, Raj and the other band members (Bob Spencer, Justin Kool and Andy Nielson) will be relocating to Germany for a 12-month tour of Europe.

“It’s exciting and a bit scary at the same time,” Raj explains with a laugh.

Born in Brisbane to Sri Lankan parents, Raj was introduced to music and singing at a very young age. His mother began teaching him carnatic music from around the age of 8, and he was introduced to classical sounds and music during trips to community temples.

So how does a young Sri Lankan-Australian with strong roots in Indian classical music, end up in an Australian rock band?

“In high school I got into more typical western rock music like Pearl Jam and Nirvana,” Raj tells Indian Link. “I started a band with a few friends in high school. I can’t remember [the name of the band] but it was probably something really bad.”

But why a rock band?

“Growing up in high school, when you’re not like everyone else, you try your best to fit in,” Raj explains. “But as you get older you want to embrace your roots a bit more”.

Raj could have easily followed in the footsteps of his mother and continued with the carnatic music.

“I never really learnt any Eastern instruments. But I took piano and guitar lessons. So the vocals I did were carnatic while the instruments were Western. Which was cool because it allowed me to get a taste of both sides,” Raj says.

Although The Sunpilots are a rock band, there are some tracks that have elements of Eastern music.

“On the last album, I got my mum to sing a bit of carnatic as an intro to a pretty heavy rock song. What’s interesting to me now is the fusion of East and West. I’m really enjoying it at the moment and will probably feature a lot of it in our next album”.

Raj is still taking lessons for his singing but more Western styles, yet his carnatic upbringing has allowed him to bring a unique element to The Sunpilots.

Raj does believe that his ethnicity has held him back trying to break into the Western music scene. But he feels now that artists who have an ethnic background, or who bring ethnic styles into the mainstream, can have a unique advantage.

“There are purists on both sides. People on both sides might think that certain people shouldn’t be doing a certain style of music,” Raj says.

While music was always a part of Raj’s life, he didn’t always think of being a full-time musician.

“It was always at the back of my mind, but I didn’t really take it seriously until a few years back,” Raj reveals.

So he studied biomedical science and got into pharmaceuticals.

“My parents were always supportive of me, but were pushing me to study so that I would always have a base as something to fall back on,” Raj discloses.

Coming from a Sri Lankan background, Raj never felt pressured to pursue a career that he wasn’t passionate about. “Everyone is so busy working and doing things that they don’t necessarily like doing, just because they are expected to do…”

“In our culture, you have to be a lawyer or doctor or engineer. It’s just what is expected. I don’t fit that mould!” Raj says.

In 2004, Raj moved to Sydney hoping to become more involved with the music scene. With contacts he made while living in Adelaide, he began forming a band. The birth of The Sunpilots though really began when Raj met guitarist Bob Spencer.

Raj was singing with a different band, and his guitarist was going to be leaving soon, so knew he would be looking for a new guitarist

“It was just before a gig. I was messaging people to come down and check us out. I wasn’t going to message Bob because I didn’t really know him. But then I thought, what the hell, spam!”

He’s glad he sent that one message, and that Bob did come down to see the performance.

“If I hadn’t sent the text, which I wasn’t going to, all this wouldn’t be happening or would be happening very differently.”

Once Bob came on board, they began jamming, writing and looking for other band members – and The Sunpilots was born.

The name comes from Raj’s love of 1970s rock songs.

“I’m a big fan of Pink Floyd and one of my favourite songs is Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun, so it just came from that”.

They released their first album, Living Receiver in late 2008. Besides getting rave reviews from Australian media and a lot of radio play, they’ve gained international attention.

“We haven’t toured in Canada, but we have won awards, which is quite funny,” Raj laughs.

The band is currently recording their next album called King of the Sugarcoated Tongues which Raj describes as more ‘operatic rock’ where the album’s songs flow from one to another in a story telling pattern.

As the writer of the lyrics for The Sunpilots, Raj finds inspiration from all areas of life.

“I get ideas from what’s happening in my life or from friends and family”.

Conformity is an idea that does come up a few times in many of The Sunpilots songs. “It’s something that I’m very passionate about. My employment has always been in an ultra-corporate environment. Silly conformity like if you don’t wear ties in a conservative company, you get looks”.

Raj also thinks that a lot of what’s happening around the world also influences his lyrics.

“Stuff that makes me angry does creep into the lyrics. Like the US with their global police mentality and countries suffering all these things being forced upon them,” Raj lets slip.

With Sri Lankan roots, Raj has kept an eye of what is happening in the region.

“I’m a bit removed, but I am culturally close to what is happening in Sri Lanka. After 50 or 60 years, it’s hard to separate the right from wrong. Culturally it’s really ingrained in everyone. And it does affect me... I think it’s really sad that people are being caught in the middle. There is a lot of abuse of human rights. That definitely is part of the influence (in my writing) as well.”

While they will be touring Europe for a year, The Sunpilots do plan to come back and tour in Australia before touring in North America and the Indian sub-continent.

Yet, their beginnings were rather humble.

“Our first gig was in a hotel in Glebe called Excelsior Hotel. We were shoe-holed into a corner with a PA where one speaker wasn’t working with 5 half-drunk people.”

Over the last four years, they have done four

“On the last album, I got my mum to sing a bit of carnatic as an intro to a pretty heavy rock song. What’s interesting to me now is the fusion of East and West. I’m really enjoying it at the moment and will probably feature a lot of it in our next album” national tours which would have certainly prepared them for their international tours.

“Because I’m generally late for, um, everythingand I think that’s a cultural thing where I’m running on Sri Lankan time - the guys always tell me a performance is half an hour before it really is,” Raj laughs.

This led to an awkward moment before a show they performed in regional Victoria where he accidently walked into the change room full of half naked girls.

“There were all these older rowdy guys, and I wasn’t sure what kind of audience we’d be playing for. So I went backstage to look for the guys and walked into a room of all these half naked girls. And I was really embarrassed - I backed out of the room as quick as possible!”

Raj later found out there had been a cabaret show earlier on in the afternoon.

The Sunpilots have four music videos that explore different themes stylistically, made on fairly low budgets. Yet Raj reveals he would love the next video to be animated.

“We always want to do something different. The next album is epic in its nature, set in this different kind of world where different kinds of things are happening. We either have it in real life where the budget is ridiculously expensive or it’s not going to communicate the world. With animation, it’s not over-the-top expensive or limiting.”

Unfortunately they don’t have James Cameron on hand. “We don’t have the budget for him,” Raj laments with a laugh.

Their last performance in Australia before they head off to Germany was in Glebe last week Saturday.

“It’s brought us full circle in a weird way,” Raj feels.

Raj wants The Sunpilots to be career musicians. “Fame and fortune would be fantastic. If that happens, it’s a nice extra.”

He isn’t interested in getting radio and mainstream fame and would rather play live a lot more.

“The fans are really loyal and stay with you. They aren’t transient fans that commercial radio brings. They are fans of the band, not just one song. If we get to the stage where we’re playing for thousands of people in like Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Rome, we’ll be really happy. That’s the goal,” Raj notes.

Their goal could very well be reached this coming September.

“We’ve just been accepted to play at Popkomm festival in September, which is a big German music trade event,” Raj says.

They already have a few festivals and tours lined up in Europe.

“It was always something I knew I would really like to do, to pursue music as a full-time thing, as my main thing”.

In less than a few weeks, Raj will be able to see his dreams realised.

“I’ve always been more interested in doing something that makes me happy in my job rather than worrying about the finances of things,” Raj said.

But, is he ready to live the rock star life style? “I think so. I know I’m looking forward to it.”

The Sunpilots can be found on MySpace, YouTube and Facebook. They also have a free EP, Animals In My Mind featuring three of their songs that you can download at www.thesunpilots.com/download.