Interviewer: Daniel d’Amico.
Last week Malta hosted the eighth annual Mediterranean Tourism Forum.
In addition to the exchange of experiences in the tourism field, Mediterranean culture was also represented at the forum.
One of the highlights was a group of artists embodying the music of the Levant and based in Jordan.
Let’s get to know them better…
Luai Ahmaro is the soul of the group. Luai is a Jordanian-Palestinian singer, musician, and content creator.
He also plays an instrument called saz.
“It’s very similar to the Greek bouzouki, but it’s more common in Kurdish and Turkish culture as well. It’s a main instrument in Kurdistan.” – Said Luai.
So, Luai, tell me what is the genre of your music?
– There are, actually, two genres of music that I specialize in:
The first one is the renovation of Levantine and specifically Palestinian folkloric songs.
I’ve had successful songs in the past period that were released in a period of three years. It was Palestinian Mashup Volume 1 and 2 with my fellow artist Natalie Saman. She and I did this project and we accumulated around 20 million views on YouTube.
And then the second genre, which is of course going to be the theme of my next album, is called Dabketronics, which is electronic music infused with Dabke tunes.
Dabke is becoming more and more popular. It’s a group dance, it’s very upbeat, and it’s done at weddings and neighborhood fiestas and festivals.
It’s people’s music, but of course with modern beats and of course the heavy usage of the saz, the instrument that I play, and it also incorporates new sounds, not the regular ones for the saz, it’s usually electro saz with high distortion sounds. So, it’s very engaging, especially for the younger generation.
The second member of the group is Qutaiba Iseed. He’s a singer and a guitar player.
– I sing the Arabic taste of music in all of its beautiful variations.
I also like specifically the mountainous type of vocal acapella and singing.
Was it like a Levantine mountain folklore before?
– Yes, exactly. And I also like to take this theme, that we’ve just discussed with Luai, to the electronic execution of melodies and songs.
It’s also important for a key reason which is it was never done before, that somebody took this mountainous method of singing and playing, which might come out as maybe a bit old. But what we did was very innovative in transforming it electronically to a whole new level.
Is it a new future for the music of the Levant?
– I believe so
“Exactly. This is what we’re creating actually.” – Luai adds – “And what Qutaiba does, and of course given his mountainous vocal capabilities, is to incorporate that and his talent in that regard with the electronic way of execution songs and melodies.”
Tarek Rabah, another member of this band. Tarek is a musician and he plays on the Arabic flute.
– I am from Syria and I am based in Jordan.
I’m playing in many bands in Jordan with Qutaiba and Luai and with the other bands. I like the jazz and blues and I tried to mix the Arabian music specifically the Ney with the jazz music.
And the name of the Arabian flute is, actually, Ney. It’s important.
Ney? Tell me about this instrument.
– Ney means the spirit.
The word Ney means “the instrument” in the Persian language, which is kind of linked with its roots as well.
The Ney is the most ancient instrument in the world.
Because it’s made out of roots. They were also found in caves.
Yeah, because you know, maybe someone cut off a branch of a tree or whatever, and then air came through, and then the sound came up, and then it became music.
So you play the most ancient instrument in the world, right?
“He’s taking it to the modern era!” – responded Luai.
Why do you have so many Ney, so many fluets in your case?
– Every Ney has one bass note.
Can you change it during the play or do you use just one for each song?
– It depends on the song. Basically, for Arabic music, it’s usually one bass note so I usually use one Ney. For example, if the song is on G I use the G Ney, if it’s on A I use the A Ney.
But in Western music sometimes there’s a change of bass notes
so it might start as G and then shift to A so if that happens I will change the Ney on stage.
Last but not least is Husam Bseis. He’s a 21-year-old Jordanian percussionist.
– I play different oriental instruments like darbuka, riq, bandir, daf.
These instruments have many types of techniques.
Each instrument has a feeling, has a spirit in each song.
On this trip, I shared many feelings with each group here.
As you could see, I was outside playing with the Italian band.
I also heard you playing yesterday on the transfer bus.
– Yeah, we were playing on the bus with Tarek. So this is the best advantage and benefit we took from this trip.
Can we classify your instruments as Levant region instruments as well?
– It’s Arabic instruments. You can find them in the whole Arab world and the Levant region as well.
The idea:
Can you tell me about how the idea of this group came to you?
And what is your project all about?
How do you know each other etc.?
(Luai Ahmaro)
–Okay, so we met each other very casually.
I used to live with Qutaiba’s cousin.
And I was that very polite guy who never interfered with his roommates.
And of course, I was like a bit shy and he was shy as well. And we were respectful to each other.
But then Qutaiba came one day. And his cousin, the one I was staying with, told me that he needed to introduce me to Qutaiba, my cousin, who is also a musician like me.
So Qutaiba came to my room, knocked on the door, and spoke for two minutes with me.
And then all of a sudden, we’re like, come on, bro, what are you doing here? You should be with us in the other room.
Why are you sitting here like a lonely guy? Come on, bro. So we clicked instantly. And then two minutes later, we were having a party in his cousin’s room.
Yeah, this is how it happened.
So you and Qutaiba meet each other first?
– Yeah, through his cousin.
And then, of course, we started working together with music projects. And things progressed and we became best friends as well.
Then I went to Azraq, which is Qutaiba’s city in Jordan. A very hospitable community. And I share with them true warm emotions and such love. Also, I was very lucky to meet Qutaiba’s family and, of course, his cousins and other relatives, of which Tarek happens to be one.
So Tarek is also related to Qutaiba and he’s also a musician.
So we met together.
And then Tarek introduced us to Husam because we also met during the music projects. And we came up with the idea of producing a project together.
What is the idea of the project?
– The project it’s the expression of the music of the Levant as part of the Mediterranean mosaic.
So, we’re looking forward to exposing our music to Europe and the world as well. We do our music with such great love, and we love always to convey this love to our beloved audience.
The Levantine countries, as a common fact, the Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria, are called, historically, Levant.
This is important because many of the songs that are sung in that area specifically are shared amongst all the countries, they’re intertwined.
So one song you hear in Lebanon you might hear it in Palestine or maybe in Syria or whatever but of course with maybe slight variations but the basis is almost the same.
Do you, generally, use the same Arabic language?
– It’s the same Arabic language but sometimes there’s a minor change in terms of the accents and the slight difference in executing a certain melody. For example, Dal’ona in Lebanon might sound just a little bit different from Palestine and sometimes it’s sung the same across the countries, it depends on the song.
So in the end we came together and we decided we wanted to make this project and we thought that our work with the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation fits the theme.
How do you know about the Mediterranean Tourism Forum (MTF)?
Have this event met your expectations?
– We were contacted by dear Mona under the instruction of Andrew the Secretary-General for the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation
and we shared a nice conversation about how to include our type of music that comes from the Levant which is of course part of the Mediterranean within the forum and it made such a good match.
People loved it and it’s not very far from the music that we heard from the other bands from Sicily and the Maltese Cantera as well.
And of course, Master Nabil came here from Tunisia. So our music of course is a representative of the Levant as part of the Mediterranean, it blends perfectly with the other types of Mediterranean music because the whole Mediterranean area also shares a lot of Musical heritage. I covered this also in a program that I run on Instagram.
It’s called “Did you know?” and you would find there that a song that is, actually, Arabic has Greek roots for example, or the other way around, or you might find a song that is Tunisian that has Persian roots for example.
The forum of course met our expectations to the highest. Its main title is Life. You feel that. It’s not just a word that is being thrown around in a regular boring conference. This truly represents the MTF, this title specifically through all the work that they do.
Is it your first MTF?
– It’s the first cooperation with MTF. Yes. And they combine the tourism factor and the artistic factor, the music.
Even we, as artists, were so delighted to meet people from different sectors not just the artistic sector and we also shared nice ideas that were related to Mediterranean tourism, which is amazing because you have these conversations and then the tourism sector understands the artist. So we all complement each other and we can all learn from each other and this is what the MTF does.
They gave us this platform to all integrate with one another and to speak freely and of course, create more opportunities and change for a better future.
Let’s talk about your future then. How do you see your future as a group or maybe separately anybody of you can add something in terms of future projects that you think about?
(Luai Ahmaro)
– Our joint project it’s just a renovation of Levantine Folklore. This is the joint project.
But of course, I have my folkloric renovation project that is more Palestinian-leaning.
And the second thing that I specialize in is the electro-dabke style, the dabketronics.
I’m going to be, and this is an exclusive release for you guys. I’m going to be releasing my third Palestinian mashup very soon!
So it was going to be top secret, but now it’s not.
And I’m very happy to give you this exclusive piece of information!
And also another Dabketronics album. I will be releasing two or three songs very soon. I think I will be launching them in Canada, but the dates are not confirmed yet.
And of course, I’m looking forward to having more and more people enjoy the positive vibes and the upbeat vibes that my music creates.
And just feeling free to dance and engage and forget any negative emotions and just enjoy life and have fun.
Are you also open to any opportunities to play together?
– Definitely. Also, we’re going to be visiting Europe very soon. Hopefully, Italy very soon and perform our songs and maybe collaborate also with the different bands and musicians, and artists in Italy and across Europe as well.
(Qutaiba Iseed)
– As for me, I’m also preparing for a new song.
And it’s about how a person falls in love with someone. So maybe you have certain characteristics in a person or a certain personality, but love
does not understand that. So you fall in love with people or your partner without, you know, these filters that you originally put in your mind.
So you be, you be hit by love when you’re not expecting.
And sometimes you think: “Ah, maybe that person is not a hundred percent matching with what I expected or what I would usually be attracted to”. But love does not understand that, it happens spontaneously.
And that’s what my new song is about.
(Tarek Rabah)
– For my next project I will try to create a band with many instruments like Ney and piano, bass, and drums for playing Arabian classical music with a jazz mood.
So I want to infuse all of this classical setting with the jazz mood. And, of course, where the Ney leads the whole picture.
(Husam Bseis)
– I think that each instrument that I play has its
own project because each instrument has its technique, and its own culture. I mean, you can play it with the many styles, like a Spanish style,
Oriental style, Peru style, Cuba style.
Anytime you take a different instrument, you are like a different person, are you?
– Yeah, that’s why I separate different instruments for different projects.
We wish the guys good luck and hope to see them and hear their music in Italy very soon.
