Posts Tagged ‘Dubai’
DJ Solo
A throwback interview from when I used to write for Mid East Dynasty.
Neil Andrew aka DJ Solo is a turntablist and producer. Originally from High Wycombe and London, U.K., he now lives in Dubai, UAE. Read on to find out more about his EP “Who is Wriggly Scott?”, how Neil got the “DJ Solo” moniker and more.
Hi Neil, hows it going? Congrats on the release of your “Who Is Wriggly Scott” EP. How has the response to it been so far?
The response so far has been amazing both here and abroad. It’s been featured on various blogs and radio shows in the US and Europe, and one of the tracks is currently no.21 in the US College/Internet Radio Chart.
When did you start working on the EP? What was the writing and recording process like?
I didn’t specifically start working on an EP, and was just working on separate tracks. After a few of them came together and I did the track ‘Tangible Dream’ with Orifice Vulgatron, I think it was his encouragement which made me decide to try and release something. So from then on I would write beats, and then contact MCs that I knew and thought would suit specific tracks. The only MCs that recorded their verses in my studio were Feras, Jibberish and Orifice, all of the others sent their verses from abroad. It was actually a pretty smooth process all in all.
How did you choose which MCs to work with? How did you get J Live to feature on your EP?
The guys that I worked with were all friends that I’d known or worked with before, and it really was more of a case of suiting certain beats to certain MCs – obviously it depends on which beats they’re feeling also, or the verses would lack energy. In the back of my mind however I did have the inkling that I wanted it to have broad spectrum of nationalities on it. I met J-Live a few years ago when he performed here. Myself and Solphonic always said that we could retire from producing if we ever worked with him, – he’s really been one of my favourite MCs for a long time. Anyway, I managed to get in touch with him via Ben McDonald (Mach 4), who was originally involved in bringing him to perform here, luckily J liked the track and we took it from there, it reminded me of one of the beats off his second LP which is why I felt it would suit him.
“Who Is Wriggly Scott” EP will be released digitally by Dented Records, how did the deal come about?
Honestly it just kind of came up in conversation. I remember when I recorded Orifice’s verse (he’s a co-founder of Dented Records) for ‘Tangible Dream’ he said “you’d better do something with it”, or something like that. I think later on he just asked me if I’d like to release it on the label, to which of course I said yes. It’s been a real learning curve so far, and I’m lucky to have landed on a label that’s professional, and is already established with such great contacts in the industry. As a producer, especially in this region, it’s hard to guage the quality of your work and we always look to producer such as J Dilla or Madlib, as opposed to someone in London who probably knows a producer who lives on his street corner with a string of releases under his belt – I mean it’s great that we do that because that’s a very high standard to set yourself, but it can also make you question the level of your production.
When did you start DJing using turntables?
Well I started collecting records when I was 13 or 14 as it seemed that I could only buy the hip hop I liked on vinyl at the time. I bought my first turntable I think when I was 14 or 15, it was a belt-driven JB Systems Disco 2000 – I bought it from my friend who also threw in loads of old Jungle records. I used to call friends and scratch down the phone on my one turntable – my first DJ name was ‘The Deck Destroyer’.By the time I was 16 some of my friends were DJing, but they were all playing Jungle, Garage or Happy Hardcore and as none of them were playing Hip Hop I felt like it was kind of my duty as my home town (High Wycombe) once had a thriving hip hop scene which nobody seemed to be catering for anymore, so for my birthday I asked for another turntable – this time a belt-driven Soundlab – so my set-up didn’t even match. I also got a Kam GM25 mixer whish was particularly bad. I then changed my name to ‘The Drunken Master’, but it turned out there already was one in Wycombe, so I called myself ‘Peter Parker’ and later ‘Hash Solo’ (which stuck and became shortened once I moved to the U.A.E.) When I was 18 I visited New York with my Art College, and actually saved my money so that upon my return I could buy some Vestax turntables, the rest is history.
Do you play any musical instruments ?
I used to pay the piano growing up, then the guitar but unfortunately put them down when I started DJing. I still like to play the keys when I’m producing and also record a lot of percussion to give it a more ‘live’ feel. My mother and sister were both piano teachers, and I definitely feel that having even a small background in music theory helps me to structure things more musically when producing or scratching. I did take the piano up again a few years back, but due to a heavy workload had to drop it again.
When did you move to UAE? How did you get involved in the music scene?
Around 7 years ago. At first I played at a few MIS parties, and those guys later opened ibo, where I used to play quite regularly. I also played at some of the Global Funk parties. I actually gained a lot of exposure by just handing out mixtapes wherever I went. After meeting Dany Neville, he offered me guest spots on his show so that also helped a lot. Just meeting like-minded people leads you to meet more such people and before you know it you have a good circle of contacts.
The hip hop scene has been slowly developing in the UAE and the Middle East in the past few years, where do you see it going in the future?
Hip Hop and music as a whole has always been an extremely powerful tool to get your message across, but it’s a shame that many of the artists that I revere in this region seemingly don’t get enough exposure. Not only are record companies or club promoters generally more interested in the more commercially-viable artists, but individuals often get held back from traveling or studying abroad due to which passport they hold. Honestly I cannot predict where it will be in the future in the same way you cannot predict where this region as a whole will be next year, but I do see it growing and hope that the scene continues to develop in diverse ways.
You have a weekly online radio show “Another music” and also run a weekly club night “Freshly Laced”, any other ventures that we should know of?
Hmm, well I’m already working on my follow-up release which will be the first official release under the guise of ‘Wriggly Scott’ – it will be a lot more diverse in terms of the production, and will feature a mixture of instrumental and vocal tracks. I’m also working on a release for one of my other aliases ‘Ductchild’ which is much more moody, electronic stuff. I have another few ideas kicking around my head for collaborations but I have to keep them secret for the time being.
What are your plans for the rest of 2011?
Mainly to continue working on my production. I think that after my second or third release I will start looking into performing abroad more but am in no rush right now.
Palayan interview
Palayan is the solo project of Sandeep Sequeira. I know Sandeep from my time in Dubai where he was part of a metal band, Beneath the Remains. The band featured the Ampulance compilation that I helped to put together. Last month, Sandeep released his first album as Palayan, Metanoia. The album is a mix of post rock and electronica, a big departure from the metal sound.
I spoke to Sandeep about the origins of Palayan, the album and the possibility of performing live.
Picture by Ahmed Carter
Your recently released your first album as Palayan, Metanoia. How does it feel now that the album has been released?
Just sitting with the mastered tracks in my AirBnB rented room in Chiswick was a feeling of pride. I was proud that I didn’t settle on any aspect of the album and that it was the album I was always dreamed to make but didn’t think I was capable of years ago. When I was in that room I thought, even if I don’t get to release this properly I wouldn’t be upset, because I had done something for myself. I took moments of sadness, grief, pain, anger, betrayal, confusion and made something that made me feel none of those things. Anything I write is self therapy, so far. Releasing the album and people listening to it and messaging me about the songs is a bonus for me and a testament to my team’s dedication and patience.
From those who are unfamiliar with Palayan. How did you start the project?
Back in 2012, I kind of left my music dreams in a bin. The trauma of the drama and failure from my first metal band, left me frustrated and sick of chasing the dream. After not doing any music at all in 2012, my dream was re-ignited. Collaborating with Hesham Abdul Wahab here in Dubai in our time in university inspired me and gave me confidence to explore what I was ridiculed for before. People told me I can’t sing and that I wasn’t really capable of making anything other than metal. Which was strange because even in those metal days I wrote the same way as I write now, the same sense of melodies, chords, etc. I just present it differently now. So working with Hesham was an eye opening experience. I owe the start of Palayan to him. I started out making electronic and post rock instrumentals filled with elements of fusion. I started singing in 2014 and the way I write changed after that, I found another instrument to use.
From a guitarist in a metal band to a singer-songwriter. How did you make the transition?
I always wanted to sing but the people around me at the time never gave me the confidence and I guess I allowed them to put me down. I always wrote anyway, writing songs and recording was always happening. There are albums worth of material lying in hard drives. All the songs I wrote in the metal days and now always start on the acoustic guitar. So in that sense I still write and compose the same way. Having the confidence to sing and seeing people’s amazing reaction to my first vocal recording in 2014 was enough for me to make the transition to a singer-songwriter.
The inspiration behind Metanoia is a relationship that you went through. How did you go about the songwriting process for the album?
The songwriting didn’t happen intentionally. My friends joke about my writing volume. Sometimes I feel I have the opposite of writer’s block. My phone and computer is filled with music written from 2005. There are thousands of pieces scattered and I haven’t even listened to 5% of them. These songs on the record were phone recordings found on my phone from December 2015 to October 2016. Each song is an incident or a moment. And every track is in the order it was written. I only intended to release Chapter 1 as an EP because that was already recorded before I recorded the rest. Luckily, I found some more phone recordings and I started finding all the notes in my phone and in my books. I made a list thinking, ‘Maybe this can be an album.’ That idea marinated in my head for a couple of months before I knew I had to do it. And it was a journey of sorts.
The album features Indian musical instruments like the tabla. How did they become a part of your sound?
I have always had an interest in Indian classical instruments. From the earlier days of listening to Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar and all those other greats, it was a sound that became a part of me. In fact any traditional instrument is something that I am a sucker for. If you remember Sting’s Desert Rose , it has the middle eastern vocals and percussion in it, but the track is not middle eastern, neither can it be classified as fusion. That is one example of how I like to fuse traditional instruments in my songs. Discovering fusion rock band Advaita helped opened this idea further. The way they use the tabla, sparingly and effectively, and over western arrangements, is something that I have always wanted to listen to.
You have released a music video for the track Empty Seed . How relevant do you think music videos are in the age of Youtube and Vimeo?
I don’t really know how relevant it is to be honest. I barely watch music videos, I like lyric videos more. I’ve had this vision of creating visual pieces for all the songs and I wanted to collaborate with all my friends, half of them being filmmakers. Most of my friends love watching music videos so making videos caters to that crowd as well.
What have you been listening to lately? Are there any acts that have inspired you of late?
These days I’m listening to Alice In Chains, Sepultura, PVRIS, Metallica and Nickelback to name a few. I guess you can say London Grammar has been an inspiration over the last few years. Their less is more approach is something I adore. The lyrics, melodies, chords and beats are next level.
What are your plans for the coming year? Do you have any plans to play live ?
Some of the plans are that I have to release music videos for every song on the album. So far I have 8 out of the 15 tracks. The others in planning and pre-production stages. I also want to record some live studio sessions and release some alternate studio versions of some songs. I really do want to play but that will have to be another project on its own. Pooling musicians together to play my song my way is quite tough. But I can see it happening.
Thanks for answering all my questions. Do you have any final words?
It is my pleasure to do this with you. I always wanted to be featured by Trendcrusher back in the metal days. So this is really great to do with you after all these years. Thank you for the opportunity.
Listen to Metanoia below
The Recipe
The Recipe started out as a hip hop collective in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to record a compilation album and help promote the culture. In the past 8 years, the group has gone on to release multiple mixtapes and support international artists ranging from Snoop Dogg, Fat Boy Slim to Foreign Beggars and Pendulum.
The Recipe is currently 3 MC’s, Swerte, Kaz Money and Perfect Storm and their first studio album Funerals & Purgatory releases today. Check out the first single, Uma Thurman.
Here is a throwback to an interview I did with Swerte and Jabbar when they first started out in 2009.
What is “The Recipe”?Who is cooking it?
Swerte: The recipe is a collection of hip hop artists in the UAE, who are trying to push the scene here by doing gigs and putting out a mixtape which is currently being produced. The Two people behind it are Jabbar and myself (swerte)
Why the name “The Recipe”?
Swerte: Cus the people involved are the main “ingredients” in the hip hop culture here. Hehe. plus we wrestled with a name for so long and we always referred to the studio as the kitchen. it’s cliché in a way to say that we ‘cook up’ tracks in the studio but, we were just having fun and joking around. Hip hop has this serious, gangsta bling bling appearance.. we wanted it to be fun and more about the music and talent.
Where did the idea/inspiration for “The Recipe” come from?
Swerte: It came about from just watching people try things and fail. I think artists here were just going about things the wrong way. They had this idea that in order to be a star you had to act like one already. So they were reaching for goals they couldn’t reach. We wanted to bring it back down to pure talent and entertainment. Focus more on us and what we were doing instead of trying to impress record labels.
What differentiates “The Recipe” from Hip-hop/Rap that is normally heard on radio or seen on TV?
Swerte: Its local talent for one. And the artists are talking about issues that people herein the uae face and deal with.
What is “Dead-Ears Productions”?
Swerte: Hahahahaha.. a joke. Jabbar has this production house called “deaf ears” and mine is called “dead end”… so it was either gonna be “deaf end” or “dead ears” when we worked together.. again.. we just having fun
Since both of you have lived in other countries, do you notice any difference in the Hip-hop/Rap artists and fans in the UAE?
Swerte: All in all I think the culture here is still very young.. its just getting past the mimicking stage.. all hip hop cultures start off by mimicking what they see on tv. it takes awhile before they start developing their own styles and incorporate their own native culture to build a hip hop scene they can call their own.
Jabbar: also at the same time, very few people in the media actually support the local talent which has been discouraging for a lot of artists. you have to look at the UAE population, a lot of people see the country as a pit stop, so they don’t take time to listen to the local talent and would rather listen to international artists they are familiar with. this dictates radio and club playlists…in most of the other major cities, they support their local talent…but we have a feeling things are about to change.
Tell me a bit about your musical background.
Swerte: Check out my myspace. www.myspace.com/swertemc
Jabbar: I don’t have a musical background really..never had training in music…just love making it tho
What have you been listening to lately?
Swerte: A lot of british hip hop.. it goes well with the rain that’s been happening.
Jabbar: Most of the stuff being put out is crap, so I’ve been listening a lot Lupe, The Roots, and some JayZ here and there.
27th of March was the first live gig for “The Recipe”, how was it performing live for the first time? What was the response from the audience?
Swerte: It was amazing. I don’t think anyone, especially us, expected it to be so successful and enjoyable. The crowd was absolutely amazing.
Jabbar: What was encouraging was the crowd’s feedback considering they haven’t heard most of the music. Not only did the crowd enjoyed but everyone on stage was so psyched up about it that we wanted to keep performing.
Do you any more live gigs planned in the coming months?
Swerte: We’re looking at doing as many as we can. Maybe even going on tour around the region. But we’ll see.
What plans do you have for the rest of 2009?
Swerte: Make music and travel.
Jabbar: Continue making music…and try to make it my primary source of income!
Nervecell
Nervecell are stalwarts of the Middle East metal scene. The UAE based death metal band have released 2 full length albums, toured across Europe and performed alongside legendary metal acts like Metallica and recently Nile.
Next week the band release their third album Past, Present…Torture via Lifeforce Records (US/Europe) and Metal East Records (Middle East). The band have premiered 3 tracks from the album so far, a peek into their heaviest material yet. A few listens of the album was all it took for me to get convinced that Nervecell had topped their previous album Pscyhogencide.
I spoke to guitarist Barney Ribeiro about Past, Present…Torture, death metal in 2017 and also performing in India.
Your third album Past, Present…Torture releases this month. How does it feel now that the album is going to be released?
Nervecell (Barney): Pretty damn good, we were in Lyon, France exactly around this same time last year (July 2016) tracking drums with Kevin. After which we brought the drum tracks back with us to Dubai and immediately went into Haven Studios to track the guitars, bass and vocal tracks. So even though the album is new to the rest of the world, those songs have actually been with us for the better half of the last 2 years that we’ve been working on and crafting. If anything it just amazes me how fast time flies. I’m just really glad we’re finally going to release this thing, the fans have been very patient waiting for new music from us and their going to get what they’ve been waiting for.
The album has a post apocalyptic theme. What was the inspiration behind it?
Nervecell: Honestly it’s something we came up with very gradually as the song titles started to come in one after the other. The music has this post apocalyptic vibe in a lot of the songs and the subject matter of the lyrics that James was singing about too was resonating with us quite a lot during the writing stage, which had to do with past events and the dark ages. There is still so much of untold information out there from the past that people do not necessarily know about, and that is only until recently being brought into the limelight. One would expect we live in a modern civilized world today but the future has so much of unpredictability ahead of us that it will inevitably lead to the fall of the human race. The present basically represents us trying to do our bit and alarm everyone to start taking action before it gets too late, hence why you see the Nervecell Emblem arising from the grounds on the album artwork to resemble a sense of warning and symbolism to act now, so take matters in our own hands so to speak, before it’s too late.
You’ve have upped the ante on the production of the album. Did you try anything different this time around with the recording process?
Nervecell: Thanks! Well we played around with loads of stuff. We’ve always been a band that is heavily involved throughout the entire recording process. I mean we used our own Engl guitar amp heads for starters. Basically what we use live, we wanted the very same sound we deliver live to be used in the studio. So we had Rami and my guitar tones intentionally set out differently in that aspect while recording each of our songs. We also have songs on the album that Rami wrote individually and songs that I wrote individually as well, which is different this time around as we used to always merge our ideas together in our songs on previous releases. There are only 2 songs on this album that the entire band contributed to as a whole. We also wrote almost all the drum parts on this record and got Kevin to basically perform / record our ideas while doing the drum tracking. Unlike the first 2 albums, where we pretty much left Dave Haley with a lot of freedom you can say. So all of that together with that fact that we utilized some atmospheric elements into the songs, very faint stuff but you do here these minor details that add that extra element that helps emphasize the mood of certain tracks. Also we’ve recorded the entire album on a different tuning in comparison to our older releases, which gave a different edge on how our songs sounded this time around. We just went into making this record knowing we wanted a brutal more technical sounding record and to keep it as organic as possible.
Kevin Foley (One life All-in, Benigthed) has recorded the drums on the album. How did he become a part of the album?
Nervecell: Kevin has always been a guy we’ve been very close with. We’ve worked with various drummers over the years but you know not everyone is necessarily the same. Kevin honestly reminds me of us, he’s extremely down to earth, extremely talented, very versatile by the way in his playing style, completely drama free, real fun to hang with and also has loads of recording experience in him as well! I mean there is more to just being a good drummer that we look for when selecting who we want to have be a part of our band and perform on our songs. Chemistry is so very important to me and I make sure there is that chemistry that we get along with all the drummers we work with more than anything else I’d say. He just had it all man and like I said, a very good friend to the band. Don’t forget he’s toured with us all over Asia and Europe for a good 2 to 3 years so all that counts too.
What are your thoughts on the current state of death metal?
Nervecell: It’s coming back like a fucking tsumani, I mean we’ve got all the iconic death metal bands either releasing / released or working on new albums this year like ourselves, it’s ridiculous. Morbid Angel, Deicide, Suffocation, Decapitated, Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope, Origin, Decrepit Birth, Obituary and a shit load of newer extreme metal bands too of course…I can keep naming them but anyway. I put up a post about this earlier this year on my Facebook stating how if there was anyone out there who claims Death Metal is dead or going nowhere in 2017 can seriously F#*k off! There are a lot more players now in the genre and the competition is getting real hot. I love it because we coming from the Middle East are used to the heat (and by heat I mean more of those who are envious and jealous of others success – especially in this region), so we are sooo super stoked to kick the shit out of all the non-believers with this new record and let the music speak for itself. “Past, Present…Torture” is going to seal the deal that we aren’t stopping anytime soon, and we are going out there proudly representing the Middle East for Extreme Metal in general.
What have you been listening to lately (metal and non-metal)? Are there any acts that have inspired you of late?
Nervecell: Honestly I haven’t been inspired for the last 4 to 5 years musically. Even in Metal there hasn’t really been anything that really does it for me anymore. There is this whole new wave of Death core bands that I just really can’t get into man. I mean I get it, it’s brutal, break-downs, crisp production etc. etc. but they have like 20 laptops on stage playing backing tracks man…I’m sorry I don’t give in to that shit! Part of me liking metal is that raw, unpredictable and spontaneous energy you get when performing live that keeps this genre pure and different from the rest for me personally. I can’t stand these bands with their choreographed performances. I always keep an open ear for new music though, but really if there is anything I’ve been listening to lately it’s just the classic Thrash and Death metal bands I grew up to man. There just don’t make good old-school quality music like that anymore, the closest to that sound I can relate to today is probably Bloodbath, although that last album they did with Nick Holmes was rather disappointing. If I want to just chill and mellow out I’ll pop in some Sithu Aye, Plini, God is an Astronaut, Massive Attack, Anathema, Leprous…and perhaps even some Extol too, another very underrated band.
You’ll did a short tour of India in 2010. What are your memories from then?
Nervecell: I’ll keep this one short. That Blue Frog venue we played in Mumbai, India was one of the best live shows I’ve ever played with Nervecell. Dudes in the crowd went absolute nuts! I have no idea why the hell we haven’t been back there again since… I mean we almost sold out that venue and it was only our first time in Mumbai. Apart from that, we enjoyed the food and came back home to Dubai humbled, cause every time you feel you have something to complain about in your life, one must go visit India, shit will wake you the fuck up there and make you appreciate every little thing you got going. I’m just grateful we got fans there!
You recently performed with Nile in Dubai. How did the show go?
Nervecell: It was excellent, we haven’t played in Dubai for almost 3 years, so it was nice to come back and perform at home again one last time before we release the new album officially. As always there were a lot of new faces in the audience, but that’s something we are used to being based here throughout our entire career. We will probably look at playing Dubai again and other neighboring countries in the Middle East once the new album is released later this month.
Do you have any more shows/tours planned this year?
Nervecell: Nothing as of now, but we sure as hell plan on touring a lot for the better half of next year in support of our new album “Past, Present…Torture”.
Thanks for doing this interview. Do you have any final words?
Nervecell: Well thank you for having me here Peter. Nervecell fans, don’t forget the new album “Past, Present…Torture” comes out on August 25th around the world. Fans in the Middle East can pick it up on shelves post August 25th via Metal East Records and fans from North America / Europe can pick it up from your local music stores via Lifeforce Records. We can’t wait to hear all of your feedback and we definitely look forward to playing in your cities very soon. Cheers!
Tyranny Rising interview
Tyranny Rising is an upcoming death metal band from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Members of the band have been part of the metal scene in UAE for some time now. Last month, they released their debut EP ‘Prepare to Die’.
I spoke to vocalist Borna about the EP, recording at Haven studio and also their plans for the rest of the year.
United Arab Emirates is not a country known for its metal scene. How did the band get together?
It’s a really lost story. But to summarize, we all met when we were in school. Mon, our drummer, relocated between many schools, which was a blessing in disguise because that’s pretty much how he met all of us. Eventually, when he decided to start a band, he introduced us to each other and we formed a band called “Story of Grace”. When Story of Grace disbanded, Mon formed another band with Mark (his brother who was also in Story of Grace) and after a few months, they decided to ask Bassel and I to join as the Guitarist and Vocalist, respectively. We then contacted Crabz, who was Mon’s friend in his final year of high school, and he was happy to join us as the Bassist.
What made you decide to start a death metal band? What about the style appeals to you?
We all come from different backgrounds, different cultures, and although we love Metal, our tastes in specific genre differ. For example, I’m more into Melodic Death Metal, which influences my style of Vocals. Marco and Bassel are into Death Metal. Mon is into Nu Metal, and I’m not really sure what Crabz likes. It doesn’t really matter, because he’s the Bassist anyway. And we all have our influences of Thrash Metal.
To sum it all up, basically, we love all types of Metal and we love the music we write. We don’t aim to make it sound like any genre, really. We just put our minds together and write what we want to write, and what we think sounds good to us.
Your debut EP ‘Prepare to Die’ released last week. What are the songs on the EP about?
The title of the EP says it all, really. Go for the Throat, Power Overwhelming and Burn them to the ground are pretty much about change, and fighting back through Power and Hatred. But, Venture is my personal favorite in terms of lyrics. It tells a story. I’m not going to go to anything specific, because the story may differ depending on the readers’ perception. We have lyrics out with all songs on all stores and streams, so everyone can check it out for themselves.
The EP was recorded by Hand at Haven studio. What was the recording process like?
Working with Hadi Sarieddine was the best decision we’ve made in this band. Amazing producer, amazing personality, and man is the guy talented. Just a great experience over all. The process of the recording and mixing was rather quick, but we had difficulty with the timing of our release. We had a lot of other issues on the side which we had to deal with before releasing the EP. And we apologize for the long wait. But it’s out now, and even though donations are welcome, it’s completely FREE to listen and to download.
What are your thoughts on the metal scene in UAE?
The metal scene is a really touchy subject, unfortunately. A lot of hate. A lot of cancelled shows due to phony complaints, which just ruins everything for everyone, including the reputation of the people working hard to host gigs. On the bright side, there are more bands coming in from outside the Gulf area, which is a good thing. But the biggest issue, in my opinion, is that there aren’t enough all age shows. Gigs in Dubai, are MOSTLY in the same place, with the same set of bands taking turns to play every week or so, with the same faces showing up to support them. A lot has changed over the past decade, and it’s getting worse and worse. Hopefully we will see a change for the better.
Do recommend bands from UAE and the Arabian Gulf region that we should check out.
There is massive talent out there. A lot of amazing bands. We have played a lot of grindcore gigs, alongside great bands like Gates of Gomorrah, Project Skvll Fvck, Maticrust, In Times of Despair and many more. Apart from the grindcore scene, you should definitely check out Alpha.Kenny.Buddy, Voice of the Soul, and Benevolent.
What are your plans to promote the EP? Do you have any shows planned?
Unfortunately, we do not have any booked shows at the moment, we are busy writing some more music and working on hopefully getting some merch out there. We’ve had a lot of requests for merch, so we will have something coming up in the near future.
Do you have any final words?
Support, support, support. You don’t need to go to every single event in order to be a fan or a supporter. We hear a lot of complaints about people not “supporting the scene”. The sad truth is that the same people refuse to attend other events apart from their own, so how can you expect any different from others. And lastly, support new upcoming bands and give them a chance.
Listen to ‘Prepare to Die’ below
Blaakyum interview
Blaakyum is a thrash/heavy metal band from Beirut, Lebanon. The band came third place in the worldwide finals of the Metal Battle at Wacken Open Air last year. Currently the band is working on the release of ‘Line of Fear’, the follow up album to their their debut ‘Lord of the Night’.
I spoke to vocalist/guitarist Bassem Deaibess about their new single ‘Riot again Riot’, their upcoming album and also their gig in Dubai this weekend.
The band has been around for some time now. How did the present line up of the band get together?
A constant fixed line-up is fictional, for bands in the Middle East and elsewhere for sure, but mainly for people in the Middle East. That is mainly due to the fact that not only are Rock and Metal underground genres but also because it is a constant sacrifice to be in a band. So Blaakyum’s line-up changes have been sporadic. The longest line up stability held from 2012 till February 2016. Our beloved drummer is immigrating to Canada soon, so he left the band to make space for someone else to step in. We were lucky to discover a very young talented drummer through a Facebook post. His name is Hassan Kheder. Sadly he will not be able to perform with us in Dubai because the absurd law there says that even artists cannot enter clubs to perform if they are under 21. So for our show in Dubai, Ziad El Alam (ex-Kaoteon, Zix) will perform in Hassan’s place. Also, our bassist Rany Battikh, who has been with Blaakyum ever since it was reformed in 2007, is no longer able to commit to us especially for touring and gigs outside Lebanon, and for that we have also been very lucky to meet Pierre Le Port who recently moved to Lebanon, and who has agreed to join the band. As for my brother Rabih Deaibess, he joined Blaakyum in 2012 during “The First In Line” tour of Lebanon after Elias Njaim, who recorded “Lord Of The Night” with us, was unable to perform as a permanent member of the band due to his work commitments.
Last month you released a new single Riot against Riot which sounds awesome. Tell us a bit about the single.
We wrote this single during the garbage crisis protests-turned-riots in August 2015. We had just come back from Wacken Open Air to find Lebanon thrown into chaos. We were angry and frustrated, some of the band members including myself and Rabih took part in the protests and are active in the civil movement, and it was natural to let our frustration and anger have an outlet of expression through our music. The song itself has never been performed live before, and if luck has it we might perform it in Dubai for the first time.
You have recorded your second album ‘Line of Fear’ last year with Manuele Pesaresi at Dyne Engine Studios in Italy. Tell us about the album?
We finished laying down the tracks last year, but the mixing and mastering process was finished a couple of weeks ago. First we would like to point out what a positive and relaxing experience it was to record at Dyne Engine Studio, despite the rush and the extensive work. Manuele Pesaresi is such a remarkable person to work with, calm, understanding, patient and highly talented. The majority of the songs on the album, which amount to eight, were written between 2012 and 2015. Some of the songs started as intro riffs we did during our 2012 tour; one song in particular, Wicked Revelation, was written as early as 2011. The initial plan was to have a theme based around our own literature and historical heritage, hence the song Baal-Adon, but the events of Massacore 2012 (a new wave of witch hunting and idiotic accusations of Satanism and Devil worshipping that Blaakyum and Kimaera were directly accused of by the Lebanese media following a joint concert with the name Massacore), changed our plans. The album theme is based around cultural terrorism and the basic right of freedom of expression. Maybe few songs are a bit cynical but that is what happens when an entire society bullies you and pushes you around with ignorance and superstitions.
How does the album compare to your previous album ‘Lord of the Night’? Have you tried anything different this time around?
Lord Of The Night was in some unusual way a “Best Of” album, not of previously released songs obviously (except Am I Black) but because of the long time that Blaakyum had existed and the endless live shows we had; we picked the best songs we had been composing over a decade and made them into an album. It was our debut and it had a wide, varied range of styles and even genres, including orchestral compositions and ballads. We just wanted to capture what Blaakyum was about all these years. Line Of Fear is a more defined album, it is way heavier, way more Thrashy and way more aggressive than LOTN, and because we are a bit more experienced it was better produced. Also we further emphasised oriental elements in the music. Although LOTN had such elements in songs such as ‘The Land’ and ‘March Of The Eastern Man’, it was a shy attempt. In LOF we upped the dose, the Tabla (also known as Dirbakkeh in Lebanon) was used way more frequently and more aggressively; in fact, we never expected that Tabla could be such Heavy Metal and even Thrash/Death Metal friendly. As always what we are trying to do is to have an oriental sound yet without compromising the heaviness and thrashiness of the music. The majority of Oriental Metal bands in the Middle East rely on keyboards to make the sound more oriental. What we are doing is making the Metal sound oriental, not just add oriental elements to the music. Thus we did not use keyboards at all in LOF, except for the album intro which was in collaboration with the highly talented Mood Yassin.
When can we expect the album to be released?
Mid to end of June 2016.
What are the bands from Lebanon that you recommend we should check out?
I am pretty sure no matter what bands we name here we will be forgetting other great bands, but those that come to mind are definitely Kimaera, the Lebanese Ambassadors of Doom, Zix the True Lebanese Metal Warriors, if you are a fan of Manowar and Iron Maiden Zix will be your thing. Inner Guilt are not for the faint hearted as they are one of the most aggressive Death Metal bands in Lebanon. We also have a comeback of two legendary bands in Lebanon Blood Ink and Element 26 who merged into a supper group called Ink26, you definitely need to check these guys out. Last but not least there are two up and coming bands that are really worth the support, one is a traditional Heavy/Thrash Metal band called Phenomy, and the other is a modern wave Djent/Metalcore-ish band with a very fresh and interesting musical approach called Qantara, if anyone is in town and these guys have a gig, make sure not to miss it. I am sure I am forgetting many other bands, oh yeah… there is also Eden, and Amadeus Awad, there are some Black Metal bands but I am not sure how active they are, such as Deathlam for example.
You are touring Europe alongside veteran thrash metal band Onslaught as part of the Thrash Mercenaries Tour in September. How did you become a part of the tour? What are you looking forward to at the tour?
I do not know how it actually happened exactly, after Wacken a lot of eyes were on us, naturally it is not just the fact that we ended up the 3rd best unsigned Metal band in the world’s biggest Metal competition, as we all know such titles never last more than few weeks, it’s that the biggest Metal festival on earth noticed a band from Lebanon and it was not expected. So we know that we made a bit of noise somewhere somehow. But it was that night when our manager contacted us and asked us to name bands we would like to perform with. I gave one name: Onslaught, of course I gave other names later after being urged by the manager to give more. Other band members also gave the name Onslaught among others. Then few days later our manager just announced to us that we will be touring with them. As we understood, our single Riot Against Riot and our portfolio of live performances caught the attention of Onslaught’s promoters and we were chosen!
We are eager to see how we will handle the pressure of performing 16 dates in 16 consecutive days without any day off, this will be the ultimate test. Needless to say we are thrilled to meet Onslaught, such a privilege has never been given to us before, although we did meet a lot of our favourite bands during our tour in 2012 and our show at MetalDays in 2013, but to have the chance to spend 16 days with one of our idols is beyond anything we expected. As well as Onslaught, the tour has two great bands on the bill Mors Principium Est and NO RETURN. Besides the fact that the bands are extremely friendly and such a delight to be around, they are very talented and… well, this will be one hell of a tour \m/
Next week you will perform at Blast Night 3 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. What are you looking forward to at the show?
I have performed twice in Dubai before, and our sessionist Drummer Ziad performed there once with Kaoteon. But it is Blaakyum’s first time in Dubai. And we are eager to see how the Metal Scene in Dubai is, how well they support and appreciate the local Middle Eastern scene. Dubai has been famous for its glamorous Metal Scene during the 90s with Dubai Desert Rock Festival, and it has been the hub of Metal in the Middle East, almost every great Metal band has performed there, and so we are so excited to go there and meet that vibrant Metal society. I have been many times to the Music Room during daytime to rehearse with my Syrian band The Hourglass when they were to perform there, so I’m super excited to be back in the Music Room as a performing artist.
As this is your first time in UAE, what can fans expect from your set in Dubai? Do you have anything special planned?
For sure we will be giving our best in Dubai, it is uncharted territory for us and we are eager to conquer it. We will be performing mainly from our upcoming album, with some songs from our debut. Unfortunately due to the fact that our drummer will not be allowed to perform with us, we had little time to prepare what we originally had in mind for Dubai. We are rehearsing constantly with our replacement drummer Ziad El Alam who has been doing an amazing job given the extremely short notice time and tremendous pressure that he is having to deal with to memorize our songs which are rhythmically very complex and not too straight forward. Also sadly our Tabla player is not able to be with us in Dubai due to his pressing commitments in Lebanon. So we will see how it will all turn out, one thing for sure, we are eager to bring the house down no matter what \m/
Thanks for answering all my questions. Do you have any final words?
Dubai… SHOW US WHAT YOU’VE GOT \m/
Check the poster below for all details about ‘Blast Night 3’
Insomnium Live in Dubai
The metal scene in Dubai has been quiet for the past couple of months. However that changed last weekend, Finnish melodic death metal band Insomnium performed at the Music Room.
I was expecting the gig to start after 10 pm but when I reached the venue I realised that the openers Smouldering in the Forgotten had already finished their set. It was good to finally meet the guys later in the night.
I have been listening to Insomnium for a decade now. The first album I heard by them was “Above the weeping world” and was really glad that they played songs from the album like “The Killjoy“, “The Gale” and “Mortal Share“. The band started off their set with tracks from their recent release “Shadows of the Dying Sun” and covered their entire discography. They were in top form and put on a great show. The audience were equally enthusiastic, I noticed a moshpit going during their faster songs. Here is the entire set list they performed
I was glad to see a good turnout for the show. It shows that metal is still alive in the city. Overall it was good night thanks to Metal East Records. Looking forward to Finish doom metal band Swallow the Sun next month.
Here are a couple of pictures of Insomnium I took on my phone.
ReyXJustice (Criminal Records) Interview
Criminal Records is a UAE based metal/punk label. Started a few months ago by ReyXJustice (I Cease), the first release from the label is United Assault, a compilation of demos by UAE bands. The compilation features band like Manhunt, Maticrust, Devastatory and others.
I spoke to ReyXJustice about the compilation, the music scene in UAE and also his zine Wrong Choice of Words.
How you came up with the compilation ‘United Assault’?
Well I met a lotsa people with their heart on the right places. Good people who want to put up a proper CD record for everyone to enjoy but doesn’t have the money to do it coz’ the greedy lunatics who run music studios here charge people like they have people’s kids hidden in their basement and can ask the craziest amount of money for ransom and people would pay em like junkies. Like they only build recording studios exclusively for people with their own oil rigs or employ dwarves to mine fuckin’ diamonds for em singing hi ho hi ho keepin a runaway princess in their dwarf crib all tied up for dwarf gang rape… So Compared to most yuppies the can afford musicians, We are poor as a rat, that’s why Dubai music scene wimmin’ doesn’t hang out with us, coz’ they’re convenience whose. we live in flats partitioned like friggin’ Noah’s arc and struggle to make ends meet coz’ the cost of living in Dubai is bat shit crazy expensive. specially if you’re not getting white people salary. so what’s the back door to that? Convince people to pull up their measly shits and money together and do a combined effort compilation all DIY and they did! So here we are now with a professionally pressed demo compilation distributed worldwide. Fun!
How did you select the bands for the compilation?
The compilation is an underground compilation so I selected underground bands = simple system. People in bands who knows what’s real and live it. whose involvement is beyond music and reinforce the growth of their local scene to bolster a humane community. An environment that supports each other rather than the dog eat dog society normal fucktards with the combined IQ of 2 noontime TV show are into. bands outside the hypocrisy of the mainstream music scene. The nice to you face to face but stab you in the back people which dominate the city and for some weird reason keeps picking on a small underground scene that exist completely opposite to their way of life and try their asshole best to make it what it isn’t. Weird right? like people, why bother? You already got all the nice superficial things why soil something you’re not? spare yourself the humiliation coz you look stupid. So one day I finally got tired of all the bullshit and went ‘you know what? Fuck it, Let’s draw the line it’s either you’re real or you’re a mainstream piece of shit. Stop wasting good people’s time and join a fuckin’ talent contest somewhere.
What are your thoughts on the music scene in Dubai/UAE?
The music scene here is filled with talented musicians. that’s it I really don’t think about the music scene here a lot. I think about why all the Zoom in metro stations doesn’t sell peanut butter flavored M&Ms anymore where are they and how to get them.
You also have a zine ‘Wrong Choice of Words’. How long have you been working on it?
Doing a zine is one of my favorite pastime just doing it for the love of writing. Writing stuffs i think of and writing about shits i really like and people doing shits that I really love and support. I know it will never get me laid hell, nowadays in the age of the bully majority acting like cops an policing people’s thought in social media I know free speech will put me in a lot of trouble against a lot of fucking assholes. but I don’t care anymore. Free speech also land me good friends and 1 real friend is better than a hundred asshole i’d rather be enemies with. Writing truth is my passion and I love using nib pens on shitty parched paper then type it on the pc (coz it’s a must) ..who knows maybe someday I can make a book out of it. I’ve been doing a zine for quite some time now started when I was still in the P.I. first zine I’ve done was cut and paste did it with some punk pals back in college. We called it ANTI, school fraternities tried to kill us for that, then when I begin to really like hardcore music I did my own zine called KEEP DA FAITH elitist PC punks and commies tried to kill me for that, And now i’m doing WCOW here which is more of a journal and essays rather than a current events mag. been doing that here and show band yuppier posers try to kill me for that as well. Must’ve been writing stuffs for this zine for 2 years now. I just released my 2nd issue this year and the third issue might come out next summer hopefully with more real u.g. bands from the UAE and from the Phils., Japan and the US. The bands I interviewed from the U.S. are Filipino bands too like Digma from CA and NSI from NY. so more columns more weird stories documenting OFW life from a Filipino (not kabayan but) Filipino punk point of view. Copies are still available. 15 bux back issue plus courier cost. for same day delivery. try snail mail! you’ll love it!
How can people buy the compilation?
They can buy it through every band who is included in the compilation because as I mentioned earlier all of these bands are active ug bands and not babies who expect labels to do shits for them like fucking retards on a wheelchairs. All these groups PSF, MANHUNT, S.D., CYNTHIA LUSTER, DEVASTATORY, MATICRUST, I CEASE these bands are all fuckin’ DIY and put a lot of efforts to reinforce each other and the micro u.g. scene they are part of. People can also get it from CRIMINAL RECORDS just email us through me! from us at 30 bux a copy and extra 20 bux gets you a copy within the same day via courier service. we also distro bulk rates which is dirt cheap! so do get in touch!
What’s next for you, new edition of the zine? New music?
Well yeah, a new issue of the zine is on it’s way. not that anyone gives a fuck about it hahahaha, new music as well right now, A number of u.g. bands are recording materials on their own so expect some really city leveling EPs to come out soon. Even my buddies in I CEASE are recording new songs to annoy the shit out of yuppies and bullies set to be released on January when people least expect it coz that’s just how we blow up things. I’m also excited for the PROJECT SKULL FUCK EP coming soon and for MANHUNT EP as well..Things are looking up for 2016 all these people have to do is not lose faith in what they are and stop dealing with show band leeches, Coz’ these scene parasites just suck the fun out of everything. They actually tried to sabotage the compilation but the good prevailed. so fuck em until the next life. But our biggest thanx to you Peter! Keep doing your blog coz this shit is awesome! I hope you help carry some old Emirati lady’s grocery one day and as a gesture of thank you she gives you 5 Billion Dhs. Respects to the Real and to all the show band suckers out there and fake punk bands I hope you all die of liver cancer! Peace!
REY JUSTICE x I CEASE rmbforme@outlook.com P.O.B. 1155 DUBAI, UAE
Department of Correction Interview
Last month I moved back to the United Arab Emirates. The metal scene here has been stagnant for some time especially in the live gigs front. As a fan of grindcore, I was really glad to hear that Department of Correction from France would be performing later this month. I spoke to guitarist Flo via email about the upcoming mini tour and their plans for the rest of the year.
“It feels very good! Flight tickets are booked, we are very excited to come and play to the Emirates!” said Flo about their mini tour of United Arab Emirates which is a couple weeks away. “It’s our first time here. We’ll travel 20 hours in and 20 hours out to play the festivals that we’ll headline in Dubaï and Abu Dhabi. We can’t wait for that.”
“We got a connection with Dondon and Erickson from the Dubaï band Maticrust. We agreed together to make DOC come play some shows in the Emirates.” said Flo about how the ‘Croissant-Grindcore-Baguette’ tour come about. “All of it came through internet. Erickson makes me discover some UAE bands, that’s very great! Almost nobody here in France hear about the UAE scene, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to make us discover our musical cultures!”
“We started in 2010 as a studio and tour band, after spending 2 years in studios to find our musical orientation and compose our first Ep.” Said Flo about how the band started. “From then we toured in Russia, USA, and Europe, played some awesome festivals as Obscene Extreme. We did more than 200 shows and travelled more than 120.000km. We are very happy of it. It gives some more excitements to our personal lives.”
The band have released a few splits with bands like Noisear, Strong intention, Proletar and others. “They are all better one from another.” said Flo about thee releases.”I mean, they are all coming from a different period of the band, it evolved all the time, split to split. So this is the best of every period of the band. The best is to listen and download for free all our discography at http://www.departmentofcorrection.bandcamp.com”
France has well known metal scene. “You can check Inhumate, that are Grindcore legend here, Blockheads also that is very straight to the sickest grindcore, Unsu that is a new comer in the vein of Rotten Sound, Trepan Dead that has an old school taste, Pulmonary Fibrosis that is GoreGrind legend here” said Flo recommending bands from his country. “There is a lot ! I made a compilation with 37 Grindcore, Goregrind, PowerViolence bands from France. It’s called IN GRINDO VERITAS. You can find it on internet through Kaotoxin records, and also on CD for cheap. Of course there is way lot more good bands but it would be too long to mention all of them.”
“Yeah, at this time we work on our very first full length. We will record it in 2016.” said Flo about their plans. The bands is also working on number of releases. “Coming soon, we are waiting for the release of our split with Proletar on CD and vinyl, and our split with Mincecore legends Agathocles, from Belgium, on vinyl (already out on CD). Also in february, a short Ep with 2 covers and an original unreleased track, to be released by Kaotoxin records, a very serious label for Grindcore and DeathMetal, Funeral doom etc.”
“The UAE will be our last plan for 2015. We’ll also record the demo of our album. “said Flo about their plans for the rest of the year. “Next things will come in 2016. We’ll do a Europe tour with Die Choking from USA. I’m booking the tour right now.”
“I hope we’ll bring them a lot of fun and energy. Music is friendship, Grindcore is love.” said Flo about what to expect from their shows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. “Bring some croissants and baguettes and throw it on us during the show hahaha”
Here is a glimpse of what to expect from the Correction of Department next week
Trendcrusher 