CREASIAN’S “Get The Picture?” is seeing light of day after 17 years.

The album is set for release online tomorrow. It features 10 songs, seven of which are written by Allan Perera and two by Australian guitarist Jamie Wilson of AkashA. One is an ethnic fusion cover of Mack Rice’s “Mustang Sally”.

There are 13 musicians in CreAsian.

The songs in the album carry a distinct sound, being a fusion of Western and classical Indian music styles.

Perera, who sings and plays the keyboards in the band, told The Malaysian Insight he had always been intrigued by fusion music that was “brand new and complex”.

“It (the making of the album) started in 1996 when I contacted Samuel and (we) spent four years together discovering each other’s music.I was exposed to Western music and he was exposed to classical Indian music,”  he said, referring to band member, local award-winning sitarist Samuel J. Dass.

“We decided to use Western (music) as the base and Indian music as the colour, icing and cherry on top.  It was very much like marriage. There was a lot of give and take.

“It was only after four years of trying we managed to be comfortable with the arrangement. When we got into the studio we already knew more or less the sound (for the album).”

The album was recorded between November 1999 and March 2000 and cost Perera RM150,000, but it was rejected by many record companies which said there was no market for it.

Life, meanwhile, went on.

Perera became a comedian and joined the Instant Cafe Theatre. He also formed one half of the Comedy Court act, before starring in the sold-out fictional-reality comedy show, “Malaysia’s Got Scandal”.

When informed about the long overdue release of the album, Perera said his band members burst out laughing. They had long ago forgotten about it.

“We enjoyed ourselves when we were doing it and every musician had a fun time.

“I knew that at the time, looking at the market… record labels would never fund it so I funded it myself,” he said.

Perera said it was the internet that made the release of the album possible.

“There was no market for it then. Although I was disappointed, I thought to myself, maybe one day it will be okay.”

With the advent of the internet, he realised that the “one day” had arrived.

“I can do it online now. Hopefully people will like it,” he said.

CreAsian consists of internationally acclaimed musicians such as traditional Indian percussionist Kirubakaran Narayansamy of Aseana Percussion Unit, Temple of Fine Arts tabla teacher Prakash Kandasamy, Mridangam player Ram Gopal Sivadas, Latin percussionist Steve Thornton from New York, drummer Luke Mason, British saxophonist Greg Lyons, local trumpeter Coni Soliano of the Soliano family, bassist David “Ah Wah” Yee, Aswara traditional Malay music lecturer Zin Ngah, and Malaysian film composer and bassist Pacai.

On what’s next for the band, Perera said a concert in Kuala Lumpur with the original band members next year could be in the offing.

“It would be great to see the band play live. It will be a pleasure to have it (the concert) and all of them have become very famous. It is wonderful.”

Perera, a professional musician since 1976, has performed with Faith Symphony, AsiaBeat, Falcons, Forever Band, Pieces, and Made in Malaysia, among others.

He is a sought-after vocalist and composer for television and radio commercials, and a television and record producer partnered with Articulate Entertainment.

“Get the Picture” is distributed by the Giggle group, a fundraising initiative founded by Perera. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the album will go to selected charities. – October 12, 2017.