At first glance, you may not believe it when you see Ramesh Nonis on stage, calmly playing the intricate notes of a tune on his guitar or skillfully accompanying a vocalist with his or her song. But it is true. He has an MBA from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura in his pocket plus he has occupied positions of Senior VP, Head of Marketing and GM in private sector companies and has been a well recognised visiting lecturer in Marketing Management at reputed institutes in Colombo.
Not to be left out is his wife who is academically inclined and is an accomplished teacher at St. Peter’s College, while his son with an LLB (UK) is pursuing a career in business management. Music wise Ramesh was a member of Cardinal’s Outburst, Phase 3 and Mintaka.
Q: Now that you are a regular guitarist with En Route led by Dr. Gananath Dasanayake were you a self-taught guitarist at the early age of say 4 years or were you academically trained to play the guitar like how you are playing now?
A: My obsession with guitar started at 7 when I got one from my parents, while recovering from hepatitis. It was an uncle, Berty Paul, who taught me my first chords, encouraged me, and then got me tutored under the legendary Alphonse Paiva – guitarist of the X Periments. My mother reminds me that I played ‘Walk Don’t Run’ by Shadows at 10, on stage with the X Periments at my aunt’s wedding. At that time I guess it was an achievement.
My knowledge in music was honed by frequent listening to bands such as Fleetwood Mac, Bread, Beatles, Peter Frampton, Police and Rolling Stones. These were part of a vast vinyl LP collection which my uncle, Shirley Tissera played for me as a child on weekly family visits to my grandparents’ home. My training under Alpho lasted quite a few years, and I am eternally grateful to my guru for the strict discipline he instilled in me to learn proper technique and rehearse to perfection.
This laid the foundation for me to even adapt to other music genres later on in life, including my ability to latch onto the fundamentals of RnB, and Jazz fairly quickly, plus my ability to perform alongside senior musicians even though I have never been into full time music.
I got into high energy performances at 23 when I joined Cardinal’s Outburst, introduced by Warren Van Gramberg, the super keyboardist and my college mate. The band was on a massive growth path and I immediately got swept into a whirlwind of performances at weddings, dances and concerts while balancing a daytime job and studies. The 6+ years with Aldrin, the two Shanes’, and Warren (after Warren it was Lalith De Silva) was the most memorable phase in my life.
I left the band at 29 to focus on my career having completed my first degree in management. At the time, I did think my days of playing in a band had ended. Probably 10 years later, it was quite by chance that the bug bit me once again when my cousins Shavin and Viroshan of Cold Sweat invited me to jam with them at a Rockapalooza show at which time I experienced a super audience response to my guitar playing.
Later on, I played in Phase 3 with Rasmar Lye, an initiative by The 3 Coins (Beer) Company where I worked as Head of Marketing, and after that, as founder guitarist for Mintaka led by CJ (Chris Dhason), a super learning experience, especially playing its RnB repertoire with Sheam Deen and Terry Bertus on vocals, plus Koba and Viraj. Post Mintaka, it was En Route when my close pal Niroshan, (ex Flame drummer), introduced me to Gananath.
The quite jazzy vibe of Gana’s repertoire was something entirely new to me but one that immediately developed in me, a passion for further learning. My focus on jazz began there and developed further when Revel Crake and I undertook to alternatively provide guitar support to jazz artistes featured at the Capital Bar & Grill, during the Shangri La launch in 2017.
Q: Who would you say increased your interest in playing the guitar? Was it foreign guitarists like Martin Taylor or Charlie Byrd both of whom gave performances here in Sri Lanka, our own Sri Lankan guitarists or other names featured on CD’s or on radio?
A: During my late teens, playing fast guitar was the criterion; hence my influences were rock guitarists such as Steve Vai, Eddie VH, Paul Gilbert, Vinny Moore and Yingwie Malmsteen. Hours were spent on guitar player magazines and cassette tapes trying to understand their use of technique and scales.
With the entry to jazz, the passion turned towards listening to musicians like Joe Pass, Allen Hinds, Robben Ford, George Benson, John Scofield, Wes Montgomery, transcribing their solos and relating it to theory. I also check out tutorials available on the net. I do also talk to our senior musicians whenever I meet or perform with them, and their input gives me direction for further learning. These are jazz guitarist/bassists such as Duleep Gnanakan, Ray Gomes and Revel Crake.
Q: Apart from playing the guitar, what would have been your second instrument if the opportunity came your way? Are you confident you would have enjoyed playing the second instrument?
A: During our teens, my sister Roshani and I did get coached on the piano as well. I guess the guitar offered additional freedom being more of a percussive as well as a melodic instrument with a wider, more dynamic range of expression, as well as being quite sexy to play on.
Q: What do you enjoy most – playing flamenco-style grooves, Latin rhythms or the straight forward tunes like swing, ballads, r&b, pop and rock?
A: I’ve developed a liking towards simple, quiet, swing jazz and bossa standards, which provide powerful improv possibilities. But variety adds spice, hence I do play funk, latin, RnB and vintage pop. My years with Cardinal’s Outburst was heavy on a dance music repertoire which included Rock n Roll and medleys plus music by Cutting Crew, Toto, INXS; music which is still very much a part of me.
Q: In your solos, do you fall back on cliches or stock phrases that musicians fall back on to survive the tempo or are you one of those who enjoy creating a moving mosaic that has its own singular identity?
A: Jazz is as simple or complex as one would want it to be. And, as a relative newcomer to the genre, I try hard to conform to its fundamental tenets, incorporating accepted patterns into solos, movements and accompaniments. I listen to advice given by my seniors on phrasing, overplaying and empathising.
I do not follow any set ‘licks’ or patterns as such, nor repeat a line which often makes me bored, hence, each solo would reflect the present moment, and complement what I hear. I do not borrow ‘lines’ from the jazz greats, but do work towards understanding their thoughts as they create it. I respect musicians who complement each other’s playing. I believe good music is primarily about educating an audience on the particular genre, apart from the entertainment aspect.
Q: Besides being a musician, are you involved in a regular day time job and how strenuous is it?
A: My daytime job has been with the private sector, in sales and marketing management. Since marketing is my other passion, I am continuing this in a consultancy capacity.
