The Sri Lankan English Music Scene is one that is rarely spoken of. Even though English is a world
renowned language, we can see that it is not the most recognized when it comes to singing in our
country. The Sinhalese songs outweigh the English songs most of the time and only a few selected artists
are very common among listeners. In short, we feel that Sri Lankan English singers are rather
underrated.
“Lankan Plug” is a fresh, new platform initiated to show-case the English speaking Singers/Songwriters
and Musicians in Sri Lanka. One Artiste will be featured each month and we will be sharing with you the
hardships and challenges they’ve been through to reach where they’re now. Most of these musicians
are independent artists who have managed to somehow create their own musical path by battling so
many struggles in between.
Delvin Hindle is one such inspiring person who we were able to get in touch with for this month’s
edition. Being well-versed and experienced about Lankan jams since the age of 16, we decided to kick-
start this segment with him!
A rather friendly and approaching young man, Delvin has released some very catchy beats during his
tenure in the music field, some of them being “Wish You Were Here”, “Pictures”, “Hitlist” and “Ride It”.
He was first discovered by Azlan Shariffdeen, who later on became his manager and helped him bring his
songs to reality. “I still work with him and I still go to him for advice and guidance when needed” says
Hindle as he claimed that he had zero knowledge when first entering the Music Industry and he has
learnt a lot from Azlan ever since his training days!
He started off by posting covers and renditions of him singing on social media platforms such as
YouTube and Facebook and the only challenge he had was to find someone that was willing to help him
to pursue his dreams as a singer/songwriter. “At that time, there weren’t any software or the right
equipment in my reach to self-create. All I had was a pretty bad webcam on my PC”. When inquiring
more about the hardships he’d been through, Delvin told us the production of a song is the biggest
issue. When it comes to funding for a recording and/or music video, that’s when you realize the struggle
is real! “Coming from a middle-class family it wasn’t easy for anyone to throw away funds just because I
had a dream and passion for music” he states. “But I do have an amazing aunt and family that support
me in music or whatever of the few things I do”.
When speaking of the responses received by fans and the public for his groovy beats, Delvin told us that
he doesn’t have fans per say but is blessed with his family and friends who’ve been immensely
supportive since Day One. “And it’s been quite good. I haven’t disappointed anyone as of yet. Ha-ha”.
Since we’re living in the Digital Age, social media plays a huge role in our daily lives. For an artist, their
socials would be one of the biggest platforms used to frequently promote their work. “When I was 16,
the digital age was very much alive. So I did grasp my opportunities through social media” Hindle tells
us. Since this is the streaming era, singers and musicians mostly focus on selling their songs on music
stores such as Apple Music, Spotify etc. “But to dominate and grab the right audience is where social
media comes into play and I believe that you have to invest some time in finding your audience and
nurture them with constant content”.
Delvin shows us how passion meets reality as he shares with us that music is not the only drive he has in
his life. “I do enjoy doing a lot of other things as well; I race Go-Karts which stood with me right from the start. I do Karate which was also a passion that grew stronger after every Kung Fu movie I watched as a kid”. For any individual, this is a very common occurrence and sometimes we have to set our minds to do all our favourite things simultaneously. It’s not always about making money - it’s about doing the things we love to feel happy.
Delvin emphasized more on this factor for us – “to me making music isn’t about making money or fame
or anything in that sort. Music is my escape from the reality I lived as a child. I really enjoy making music
and seeing people’s comments or hearing their reactions. Always puts a smile on my face”.
When asking for his verdict on the Local English Music Scene, he thinks that it’s growing; “In terms of
production, there’s a huge spike with technology and the availability of having your own studio with just
a laptop and a microphone”.
The 22-year-old shared his most memorable moment on stage and that would be at ‘Xtaztic 2014’ which
was his first time at a concert where he was able to interact with a few esteemed local artists and
shared some ‘on-stage moments’ with some upcoming talent.
The latest single Delvin has dropped would be “Bring It On” which apparently seems to have the first
ever vocals he recorded at a real, live recording booth! “It’s a ‘Feel Good’ song that promotes courage
and pursue people to chase dreams no matter what people say and to me, at that time, it was very much
relevant personally” the singer explained the backstory of his new work. Co-written by Azlan and
himself, they were bound to release it back in 2014 for his debut but then decided to go with “Wish You
Were Here” instead- “I happened to have been playing “Wish You Were Here” the night I stayed over at
the studio and Azlan heard bits of it and found it very catchy and original leading to us ultimately go with
it and in a few hours, we had a demo track recorded and were ready for the video shoot by morning”.
“Bring It On” was released during quarantine because he thought it was timely and perfect.
What with quarantine, Delvin has been spending most of his time on his racing simulator but however,
he did not fail to mention that he has been working on a new single!- “This is quite different from the
usual style of music I put out. It has a special feature from the local Sinhala Rap arena” he revealed.
You can stay updated on Delvin’s work and music by following him on his socials:
Instagram: @delvinrh
YouTube: Delvin Hindle
Twitter: @DelvinRHindle
Facebook Page: OfficialDelvinHindle
Delvin’s music is available on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer and other streaming
platforms.
Finally, some words of wisdom from this month’s “Lankan Plug”:
Chase your dreams big or small. Follow your heart. Give it your all.
