They may be Chilled, but not how you’d expect
THEIR band may be called Forever Chilled, but their music is anything but chilled.
The five-man rock band, which was formed four years ago, has described their sound as “energy music”.
“If you don’t have the energy, don’t attempt it,” is the philosophy of founder Mike Newton, a self-employed town planner.
The band is based in Cowie’s Hill and other members are Leon Williams, the lead guitarist; Raymond Motian on keyboard; Ginger Subramoney, on drums; and Gary Terreblanche on percussion.
Newton and Terreblanche, who have been friends for more than 25 years, played for a band called Smelly Fingers in Pinetown until 2010.
Forever Chilled was formed with international guitar maestro Sean Dewhurst in early 2011.
He emigrated to the UK shortly afterwards.
Williams has performed with many local bands, including Tropical Heat and Crescendos.
Motian, a jazz pianist, performed with the band Naked Truth from Chatsworth, while Subramoney used to perform with the late Vuyani Hlope and his band Quest.
Rock
Their genre of music is rock, and according to Subramoney their favourite international bands are Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Grand Funk and Santana.
The band travels all over the country and have performed at Mr Price Beach Festivals, and at shows at Sibaya.
So how did they get the name?
“One afternoon Mike, Gary and I were at a pub on the North Coast and Mike looked at a beer poster.
“At the bottom it read ‘Forever Chilled’, and he turned to us and said ‘ That’s the name of our band’,” said Subromoney.
“It is such a contrast from the type of music we play.
“At a show, the people put the name to a very laid-back band until they listen to the first few lines, and then the smiles and clapping starts.
“It’s really energising and people love it.”
The members are all professionals.
When it comes to their lives outside music, Terreblanche is a manager at a printing company, Subramaniam a businessman, and Motian is employed at the KZN Department of Education’s IT department, while Williams is an accountant who holds an MBA qualification.
The band has a few projects overseas in the pipeline.