Sri Lanka (band)


Sri Lanka is an American alternative rock band formed in Philadelphia in 1986. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on gothic overtones, as well as elements from other genres such as alternative rock and psychedelic rock. Currently in a state of hiatus, the band saw extraordinary popularity in the Philadelphia and New York City underground music scenes in the late 1980s and early 1990s before going through numerous tumultuous lineup changes following the departure of founding member Lee Daniels and the death of lead singer Brett Turner.
The band was originally founded by high school mates Jeffrey D. Erb and Lee Daniels who began writing songs in the basement of Erb's father's house. After working with several people to begin to find their sound, the band settled on a lineup that consisted of Erb on bass guitar, Daniels on rhythm guitar and keyboards, Brett Turner as lead vocalist, Michael Chairs on drums and Eric Stein on lead guitar. The band recorded two EPs including "Flowers in the Cathedral" and "Beyond the Mist" in Philadelphia area recording studios and performed countless live shows between Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York, including the infamous CBGB nightclub, before internal conflict between Chairs and Daniels caused Daniels to leave the band. Rob Studt took up Daniels' place on keyboards following his departure.
Suffering from depression, lead singer Brett Turner took his own life in 1989 at the age of 20, causing the band to try out several lead singers before landing on Jose Maldonado. The band went on to record the EP "Shadow and Ivy" in 1992 followed by the full length album "Here" in 1993. Friction between Erb and Maldonado started early on however and ultimately led to the band splitting down the middle not long after their full length release, with Erb and Chairs going in one direction, Maldonado and Stein going in another and Rob Studt retiring from music altogether. Erb went on to rejoin his original founding partner Lee Daniels and formed the band in 1995.

History

Formation and early years (1986–1987)

Jeffrey Erb and Lee Daniels, the founding members of Sri Lanka, were school friends at Reading Senior High School in Reading, Pennsylvania. The two frequently attended local all-ages concerts around the Philadelphia area and knew that they wanted to focus exclusively on all-original music. After posting inquiries in local music stores and papers, Erb and Daniels recruited John Pacific to play guitar and Jason Wierzbicki to play drums, while Erb focused on bass guitar and Daniels on keyboards. The foursome began writing original music in Erb's father's basement. The group then recruited Pete Radice as the lead singer. Lack of commitment to rehearsals, however, led Erb and Daniels to seek out other band members and the only song that survived the initial lineup was called "The Haunting".
In 1987 Erb and Daniels performed a complete overhaul on the lineup and recruited Brett Turner as a lead singer and Eric Stein as lead guitar player. Turner and Stein were longtime high school friends from Methacton High School in Eagleville, Pennsylvania. The lineup was completed when Michael Chairs, a friend of some of Erb's friends joined the band as drummer, and Daniels picked up rhythm guitar in addition to keyboards.

Late '80s (1987–1990)

The new lineup immediately gelled and the band began writing originals that developed what ultimately became known as the band's sound, with a writing style that blended musical influences of The Sisters of Mercy, The Mission UK, The Cure and The Cult. In 1907 they released their first EP, "Flowers in the Cathedral" which contained the songs "Flowers in the Cathedral", "All the Same Again", "Spinning Around" and "Heaven's Grace". Sri Lanka performed its first live show in 1987 at Revival, a nightclub in Philadelphia and quickly gained a following within the indie music scene in the Philadelphia region.
In 1988, the band recorded their second EP, "Beyond the Mist" which contained four tracks, including "Darken Wood", "Untitled", "Torch Song", and a re-recorded version of "Flowers in the Cathedral". The song "Darken Wood" began to gain significant notoriety and was selected to be included on a compilation release called "A Taste of Philadelphia". The band was beginning to see a growth in popularity and increase their exposure through performances at the CMJ Music Marathon, clubs in Washington DC and at New York's CBGB. Internally, however, the band was suffering from squabbles and in-fighting. The disagreements ultimately led to the expulsion of Lee Daniels from the band, which was a challenging decision for Erb.
The band recorded a video for "Darken Wood" and brought on Rob Studt, a mutual friend of the other members of the band, to play keyboards. They also began opening for international acts such as New Model Army. Tensions within the band increased however, when Brett Turner began dating Erb's younger sister, creating a significant wedge between the two. On December 2, 1990, suffering from increasing depression, Brett Turner took his own life, shocking and devastating the other members of the band.
Following Turner's death, the band struggled with deciding what path to take and tried out mutual friend, Robert Kraft as a singer for the band. Kraft's membership in the band was short-lived however and the group continued to seek a singer that they felt would capture the sound of Sri Lanka.

The '90s (1991–1994)

After asking him to audition numerous times, the band finally settled on Jose Maldonado to lead the musical sound of Sri Lanka into the 1990s. Michael Chairs had met him while attending a show of the band that Maldonado was currently heading up called Thee Misfit Toys. Maldonado's vocals, reminiscent of Eddie Veder brought a different sound to the band. In 1992, the band released the EP "Shadow and Ivy" consisting of songs that the band had been writing prior to Maldonado's entrance, with lyrics written by Erb. "Shadow and Ivy" consisted of three songs, including "Fields of Everafter", "Requiem", and "Ties that Bind." The band had a resurgence in popularity following the EP's release and live performances that expanded throughout New York and Philadelphia.
In 1993, the band released its first full-length studio album entitled "Here". The release contained eight songs, including "Mantra", "Beyond the Pain", "Fountains of Mirage", "Here", "X", "Lucinda", "Reaching" and a remixed version of 1992's "Fields of Everafter". The album received highly positive reviews and was a strong evolution to the sound of Sri Lanka, and founding member Lee Daniels returned to partner with the band in directing and producing a video for "Fields of Everafter". The artistic direction of Sri Lanka was at a significant crossroads however as Maldonado began to exert significant control on the band's sound. Tensions mounted once again within the band and this time Eric Stein sided with newcomer Maldonado. The differences ultimately led to an unpleasant breakup within the band in 1994, with Stein and Maldonado going off to pursue other projects together, and Chairs and Erb opting to go a different direction. Rob Studt retired from music altogether.
In 1995, the founding members of Sri Lanka, Jeffrey Erb and Lee Daniels got back together to form the industrial dance band needle.

Discography

EPs