Traveling And Recording In Sri Lanka - Ice Cold Beers For The First Time In Months!

May 9th, 2008

A couple of months went by….so did the jobs, money and food…..things started to take a turn for the worse. We had no ticket home and no money to buy one, we had exhausted all our (?) family/friends resources….to the point that most thought we were taking the p**s. We thought that we would earn enough to pay for tickets home, don’t forget, it wasn’t just us that needed to get back, but also all our recording gear, computers, instruments etc….we had like 250 Kilo’s of equipment in four huge boxes and the only way to get that back to Europe was DHL or FEDEX it….and those who know….it isn’t cheap!!

To make matters even worst, war had broken out with the Tamil Tigers in the north of Sri Lanka, It was time to leave Colombo…..we didn’t do wars!! The Airport in Colombo had been attacked, with many people being killed. A state of emergency was called out for on Television by the prime minister. There were soldiers on every street corner and a sense of paranoia I had never experienced. That was it for both of us, enough is enough. We borrowed the money with one last bullshit story (there was only one person who believed the’ we were in a war zone story’) and bought tickets to Milan, Italy, where a good friend of mine had offered us her home to compile and finish the music, as long as we left Sri Lanka…….and went to Italy.

I traveled to Milan alone, Will stayed on in Colombo to organize shipping all the gear back to Europe. It was a long and tiring trip, full of reflection. I don’t think I spoke a word to another passenger. A friend of mine picked me up from Malpensa Airport and drove me to Agra, on the Italian/Swiss border overlooking ‘Lago Majorie’ an absolutely beautiful part of the world. This was to be home for the unforeseeable future.

We spent about six months mixing, arranging and re-writing everything we had recorded in India and Sri Lanka. We were missing just one thing……the ‘Voice’ to front the music.

We both envisaged a Female singer. I proposed Mattanja as Lead Vocalist and left by train for Holland to talk with her about taking the lead role with Karma Bonita. She agreed and we started work straight away. Will followed on a few months later. The team was now complete.

Mattanja, Will and Kevin locked themselves away for another Six Months in an old Farmhouse in South Holland. All three of them worked 24 hours a day at different intervals recording, writing and re-arranging the music. It was a difficult time, money had gone from scarce to completely invisible, and relationships with others were abandoned due to the stress of finally completing this project.

In the end and after nearly three years of traveling and recording…..we did finally finish the project…we called it……..Karma Bonita

Kevin Kearney

Link to original story including photos ‘Click Here’

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Entry Filed under: Travel Information