Kerrigan La-Brooy Interview – Sri Lankan born Singer Songwriter now living in Australia.

Kerrigan La-Brooy Interview – Sri Lankan born Singer Songwriter now living in Australia.

Interview Done By: Duzzy Clayton

INTRO

Kerrigan La-Brooy is back with his latest single ‘Democracy Hypocrisy’ and we think it is awesome. Kerrigan is not only a great guy but also very talented, He has been blessed to have spent the last 85 consecutive weeks on the airplay charts with 10 #1 singles. He wrote this particular song during lockdown and it’s been one of his best kept secrets until its release.

We catch up with Kerrigan to chat about the new single and get to know this down to earth, awesome talented musician. Enjoy the interview

 

 

INTERVIEW

Hi Kerrigan, welcome to Fanbase Music Magazine, it’s awesome to feature you on this platform.

HI Duzzy, thanks for having me – it’s an honour to be here.

How are you doing with Covid, are you and your family all safe?

Thanks for asking. Yes, praise God my family and I remain untouched by the virus. In faith we believe we will continue to be so.

You were born in Sri Lanka and then moved to Australia. Can you tell us about your background and tell us about your childhood; why did you move to Australia?

Sri Lanka was previously known as Ceylon and was a colony of the Dutch and also the British; the country was predominantly English-speaking at that time. However, when Sri Lanka gained independence, they changed the name and also the language. Hence, we the English-speaking Burghers (spelled different to the hamburgers), felt like foreigners in our own land. I moved to Australia in pursuit of brighter prospects and better opportunities.

What got you into music?

The fact that I was brought up in a musical family and music always filled every nook and cranny of our tiny little home. My Dad and Mum met and fell in love through music – and history repeated itself, because that’s exactly how my wife and I met and fell in love many moons later.

For people who haven’t heard of your music, what genre would you fall under?

If I was to pick one, I’d say ‘Country’. But then, I can’t stop at one because I’m also into ‘Gospel’ and ‘Country Rock’. Then again, I’m also into ‘Rock and Roll’. Lol. So, to answer your question, I probably don’t fall into one particular genre. Guess I’m an indecisive ‘Gemini Man’ 😊

What kind of music were you into when you were growing up and even today?

Predominantly Country music, and also Rock & Roll and Gospel. But as I grew older, I became a die-hard ABBA fan. I ate, drank and slept them. Posters on the wall, the works! I’d gladly accept an Abba Trivia contest any day. Speaking of today, I’m into the same kind of music I grew up with. It’s in my veins.

Do you feel the music that you were influenced by creeps into your music and the songs you write?

Definitely. In particular, the Country and Gospel aspects. But I also write a lot from personal experience, which has no bounds and is not limited to the music I was influenced by.

You are a pastor and also head a charity, can you tell us more about that please?

Wow, great question. Please forgive the lengthy answer. I shelved my career at its height when I got married to my beautiful wife Michelle and we started having our 6 Priceless Treasure children. Michelle and I met during one of my world tours. Our 6 children were all born a year apart – when our eldest was only 5, we had our 6^th – so they were 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in 2013, six years after marriage. That was the plan and we stuck to it, thank you Lord 😊. No sooner our first child was born and I vowed never to leave my family, which meant I stopped my music as it wasn’t feasible to take them on the road either; living out of a suitcase and waking up in different locations each morning. It just wasn’t fair on them. My wife and children will always remain my #1 priority.

Then when our eldest turned 9 and they were old enough to travel, with no bottle-feeding, nappy-changing etc, I made a come-back to the music scene. I was rapt to discover the fans and promoters had remained faithful all those years. They welcomed me back with open arms. But then the Lord divinely directed me to plant Gethsemane Church. I obeyed immediately and shelved my career for the second time. At our very 1^st service, we were given bread to distribute to the community. Pretty significant biblically. Immediately, I founded Gethsemane Charity which now feeds, clothes, showers and serves thousands, 365 days of the year, including public holidays – approximately one hundred and fifty thousand mouths annually.

How has God and your faith helped you in your music?

God has helped me in EVERY way. Without Him there’s nothing I can do and with Him there’s nothing I can’t do. All the songs I write, record and subsequently release, including all my albums, are done prayerfully – seeking God’s perfect timing – which means displaying lots of patience because often I’m raring to go with a particular release, but I wait on God’s instruction. He has never failed me, and He never will. He brought me back to my musical gifting 3 years after I’d obeyed Him and planted Gethsemane Church and founded Gethsemane Charity. He did so with my family and with our Church family. Twenty years after my previous six albums I returned to the recording studio and did my 7^th, which was my first Gospel. I’ve never been more successful. Today marks the 89^th consecutive week I’ve been on the charts since June 7^th 2020, with 13 number one singles during this time. All Glory to God.

You have a TV and radio station, please tell us more about that?

Gethsemane Radio and Gethsemane TV live stream 24/7. They can both be accessed at www.gethsemane.com.au . On my radio station I do 3 syndicated shows each week which go out to various stations in America, Poland, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands and the UK. One is Country, one is strictly Independent Artists and the other is Gospel. I welcome all artists to send me their music and I’ll gladly promote them. I’m closing in on three hundred episodes.

With my Television station, which also airs 24/7, I do a special weekly segment titled ‘Gethsemane On TV’. This entails music predominantly, but also features segments for Children, Comedy, Cooking, Charity, etc. I have a special guest each week who performs 2 songs and promotes themselves and their merchandise. It’s great to see the tremendous talent around today from different corners of the globe. All they have to do is send me video footage of them performing and speaking; providing it’s exclusive to the show.

Let’s talk about your latest track Democracy Hypocrisy, please tell the readers how did the song come about?

‘Democracy Hypocrisy’ is more than a song about the pandemic and the vaccine. In fact, it’s not about vaxed or unvaxed. It’s about human rights and freedom of choice. It’s about health and wellbeing. It’s about humanity, liberty, integrity and unity. It’s about children and families, the old and the young. The lyrics are meaningful, the title is memorable, the tune is catchy, and the entire song is ‘contagious’, no pun intended.

I wrote this song during the idiocracy that’s been going on and it was one of my best kept secrets until its release. I’m in no way ‘anti-vaccine’ but I’m in every way ‘pro-choice’. The song has been well received by DJs, listeners, humanitarians, health professionals and even politicians, who have related to the lyrics which apparently reflect the views of a large majority of our population; not just in Australia, but around the world. Some reckon this song should be a national anthem. It’s reached #1 in Australia and around the World and has achieved Gold and Platinum status for Airplay. It’s currently nominated for Song of the Year.

Where was it recorded?

It was recorded in Australia at Soggy Dog Recording Studio with (in my humble opinion) the best sound engineer and record producer around. His name is Steve Vertigan and I’m blessed to know him. Musicians who feature on my song include Michael Tipping from New Zealand and Jack Earle from Australia. Mike is a multi-instrumentalist and a legend in his own time. So is Jack, who has worked on Professional Musical Theatre including The Lion King, Jesus Christ Superstar, West Side Story and Dream Lover. Jack has also toured with Rhonda Burchmore, Kate Ceberano and Tina Arena. I feel honoured to have such an outstanding calibre of musos featuring on my song.

Can we talk about the video of the song which I think is awesome, what was the concept of the video?

Firstly, thanks for saying that – it means a lot. The concept behind the video was basically highlighting the fact that this covid madness has affected the entire world. It’s no respecter of nationality. I thought the best way to portray this was by including the flags of every country which flash behind me. My wife filmed the video and I produced it. We were charting unknown territory and we’re so thankful for God’s favour and that it received thousands of views within minutes of its release.

I must tell you something, the other day I woke up and had your song stuck in my head and found myself singing it in my head, how does it make you feel when your music reaches people all over the world?

Hahaha Wowzer Kabowzer! That means more than words can say and I wish I had a bigger word than thanks. It makes me feel surreal when my music does that to people. Part of me still pinches myself and in all honesty, it’s left me pretty bruised over the years – Lol. But I’m always extremely grateful for such comments and they don’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. If you don’t mind, may I please mention a lovely lady all the way in the UK who was going through a tough time? She says that listening to my songs helped her overcome her situation. She ended up buying around thirty or forty albums and gifting copies to all her friends. Another wheelchair-bound lady visiting the Tamworth Country Music Festival heard me singing in the distance and asked the person pushing her wheelchair to take her to that voice. She ended up sponsoring my next EP of 3 songs produced by Garth Porter of Sherbet fame. Yet another young girl suffering from Huntington’s disease requested that I sing at her funeral. I did, challenging as it was, because she had my photo placed on her chest in the open casket. I guess the best testament to my music is the fact that my darling wife met me and fell in love with me as a result of it; and my children like listening to me sing. Also, members of our Gethsemane family who are the first to buy my music – Steph, Gail, Luis & Cecilia. I feel blessed to donate 50% of every sale to God’s work in the community.

Do you feel technology has been good or bad for the music industry?

I believe there’s good and bad in everything and I’ve learned to use it rather than abuse it; and to not be abused by it either. I embrace the good and overlook the bad. The good thing is that artists can accomplish so much through modern technology. They can reach people and places that would otherwise be impossible. Gone are the days when you had to slow-mail a track to someone and wait for ages for it to be delivered. Today we have the luxuries of email, mp3, zoom, etc.

One of the bad things is that music and voices can turn out quite contrived in the recording studio as opposed to being spontaneous. That’s why I do a lot of ‘one-takes’ as Steve my recording ‘guru’ will testify to. I like to bring a ‘live’ element to the studio and often if there’s a tear in my voice for example, I leave it in there, rather than try to rectify it or re-record it. I don’t like taking away the rawness from a song. Some songs with 3 or 4 takes have really only had a single word or part of a line redone. Overall, I’d say technology has been more good than bad for the music industry.

Seeing what the song Democracy Hypocrisy is about, do you feel that governments all around the world take advantage of the people instead of being for the people?

Great question but how much time do I have? It’s a matter of opinion. This is mine:

Personally, through informed decisions and credible information, I do believe that there’s a lot of hypocrisy going on. It makes no sense! It’s NONsense! That’s what does my head in. My dear Mum had a stroke and is in a nursing home. The isolation is affecting her more than the virus. It’s heart-breaking to hear your Mum weep through loneliness. We’re not allowed to visit Mum, yet Mum is allowed to visit us. Isn’t that ridiculous? How does that contain the virus? If a child in school has a classmate with covid, all the children in that class need to stay home, yet the rest of the family are allowed to mingle with the community. Hello!

Many people who allegedly died ‘of’ the virus, actually died ‘with’ the virus. There’s a difference. They died of other underlying ailments. Every death is heart-breaking, but those dear souls were dying anyway, regardless of covid. Some died of depression and suicide, yet governments claim they died of the virus. While those deaths are covid-related, those poor people didn’t die of the virus. Covid-related in the sense, the lockdowns and isolation led them to depression and suicide. And what about the common flu – hasn’t that died a slow death? Usually, thousands die of the flu annually, yet in the last couple of years I haven’t heard of a single flu-related death – they’re all attributed to covid.

If only they’ll look at things in perspective. This is a virus with a survival rate of over 99%. Out of almost 8 BILLION people in the world, less than 6 MILLION deaths are attributed to covid. That’s less than 1% – 80 million would have made it 1% (although I’m no brainiac). Australia has a population of almost 26 MILLION with less than 5 THOUSAND covid-related deaths. South Africa has over 60 MILLION people and less than 1 HUNDRED THOUSAND have allegedly died of covid. It’s not that these numbers have been contained due to lockdowns or vaccinations. Quite the contrary! These numbers have escalated pursuant to the vaccination. And that begs the next question – is it really a vaccination or a clinical trial? Are we mice or men? Sheep or human beings?

The above numbers do not necessitate people losing their human rights over or being stripped of their freedom and dignity. Many who have got the vax have done so under duress and fear of losing their jobs – not because they believe in its safety or the effectiveness of it. And where does it stop? After 10 jabs, if they refuse the 11^th, they’ll be considered unvaxed and find themselves back at square one with all those who refused the first. And if the vax makes you immune to the virus, then why be forced to get more and more even after you’ve had the virus? No sense just plain democracy hypocrisy! Hence why I wrote my song – it’s a statement! In many families the vaxed have caught the virus and put their unvaxed family members at risk. I reiterate, it’s a matter of opinion and I don’t hold anything against the vaxed or unvaxed. I’m just disheartened that they are forced to do something they don’t necessarily believe in, and that their own bodies don’t seem to belong to them anymore, just because governments say so.

Can you tell us about your family life, you have 6 kids who have actually appeared in your songs in the past?

Oh wow, my favourite questions are always those that involve my beautiful wife Michelle and my Priceless Treasure children, Kerrigan Jr, Heathcliff, Tempest, Xondra, Tennessee & Jerusalem. Our lifestyle is very fulfilling and very contented. My favourite all-time recording was the song I did with my 6 children; ‘Thank You Lord For Your Blessings On Me’. This too got to #1 in Australia and around the World and received Gold & Platinum status for airplay. The video went #1 as well. But guess what? My next single is going to be our second song together and I hope and pray it will be even bigger than our first. There will be a video to coincide with the release of the song. We’re looking at 2 or 3 weeks from now, simply because we want to give Democracy Hypocrisy more time to complete its run on the charts. Each political update seems to give the song renewed airplay.

What does the future hold for you, can you tell us what you have in the pipeline?

In addition to our next release, several more singles and albums will be released, including a family album. I’m anticipating my next album will come out around Christmastime, if not sooner. I’ve received several nominations, including Male Artist of the Year, Songwriter, Video, Song of the Year, Lyricist, etc. I look forward to the results excitedly. There’s also a lot going on with my kiddos schooling and extra-curricular activities, plus with Gethsemane Church & Charity. I’m slowly getting back to the novel I’ve been writing (when time permits), which has been put on ice for decades. I also need to concentrate on my children’s book which I’ve published but haven’t properly promoted.

Can you tell us your social media links?

Facebook

Gethsemane (including TV, Radio, Church & Charity) Website

Youtube

Thank you for joining us in Fanbase Music Magazine, do you have any last messages for our readers and your fans?

Thank you for having me Duzzy – I admire your work and I appreciate all you do. Much love and blessings to you and your family and also to all your readers and listeners. As for my fans, who I prefer to call my friends; I can’t thank you enough for your love and support. Always know that I couldn’t do what I do, without you. I praise my Lord for His favour. God bless you all.