Khatchadourian school of rock
Photo by by Tania Traboulsi
Armenian rocker Eileen Khatchadourian has managed to blend traditional Armenian rhythms with rock, and more rock. Here's how she did it.
Why Rock? Do you feel it talks to people better?
I love rock! Many kinds of rock, and I wanted to adapt Armenian music to a style suitable and accessible to teenage Armenians, or simply to Armenians of a certain age, and of course a style my musicians and I would enjoy composing, rehearsing and performing. There is a gothic touch in my music, but it can be generally categorized as Alternative Rock . I am not the one who arranges the songs, my arrangers are Miran Gurunian and Mazen Siblini, I give the go-ahead after debates and discussions, I get to say the final word, isn't that cool? Traditional Armenian songs have never been given a good rock before! This might be one of the major reasons why people enjoy it.
Don't you feel this limits your crowd?
Definitely not! The crowd and listeners are Armenian youngsters, Armenian adults, and non Armenians who like world music, rock, and mostly good music. Music is universal; do you really need to understand the lyrics to appreciate a song? Do you need to be a musician to feel the music?
So what's the point then?
I'm trying to introduce traditional Armenian songs that might very well disappear in time. I want the young Armenian generations to feel their roots, to abide by them if need be. Also, I'm trying to introduce Armenian music to the non Armenians.
We need a drink; what's your favorite?
Fernet Branca!
What she said, and a Jack please. So how about those flashy outfits?
I design my own outfits sometimes, and I've been a stylist for many yeas now, so I put them together. But since I came back to Beirut Krikor Jabotian, my friend and fashion designer, designs my concert outfits. His style is just what I like. It's as if his clothes were made for me
Do you like feathers?
Feathers? Mmm... Now that's the most interesting question I've heard. It depends where and how I am using them.
Emperor Elefteriades speaks
Michel Elefteriades - guerrilla fighter, artist, musician - doesn't even consider himself Lebanese, rather the Emperor of Nowheristan, a state with no land and where everyone is welcome. Provided they pass the test. Where do we sign up?
The folks back in the office kept calling you the gypsy, why is that?
It might be the look that I used to have when I came back to Lebanon after my exile, or maybe it's the fact that I don't really have a home country. I'm as much Cuban as I am Lebanese. I'm French in my thoughts and writing. I used to move around a lot, with a plane as my caravan and I just changed countries as soon as I get bored of a place.
And professions I hear; you've been everything from an artist to a guerrilla fighter, really? Have you managed to find yourself?
It's not like that. I've been all those things all the time. When I was fighting with a machine gun in my hand I was still a musician. After the fight, the machine gun was replaced by a guitar. I'm into music, sure, I have had projects lined up for ten years. Music for me is the best way to express my ideas and make money.
And it seems you're passionate about it.
Yes, of course. I inherited that from my father who's a great musician. My mother also plays piano. But it only became a viable career in my late twenties, when there was little else to do. I've wasted a lot of time and only got into politics in my early teens.
And you've held many successful events...
I have. I remember my Wadih al Safi and Jose Fernandez tour was a huge success worldwide. We sold so many albums, it was almost a shock. The press-book was huge. People for and against the combination had a lot to say about it. I love contrasts - in food, in relationships, aesthetics. I love surprises: whores who look like saints and saints who look like whores, bankers who wear earrings and artists who dress up as bankers. A gypsy and a conservative singer is a lovely contrast, and we traveled all around with it. People loved it.
Rock hard
Gassan Rahbani shouts about everything from politics to the environment.
Translated from its original Arabic
You always seem to want to preach, is this intentional?
I do whatever makes me feel better. I'll sing about what bothers me and if it so happens that people agree with me then I'm glad. But even if you don't agree with my beliefs, I can't stop talking about them.
But aren't you out to change the country, and whatnot?
I believe in change, of course. I started back in the '90s and I believe that things do change when you shout about them long enough, and you get enough people to listen.
I feel there's something in particular you're talking about...
Remember the quarries? They were tearing down the mountains for stones and the law states that you're not allowed to blast a mountain if it has trees on it, because you'll be destroying the trees. They all moved from Dahr el Baydar to Jabal el Sheikh. Of course some of them have returned, but that's always the case isn't it? You stop shaking the stick at someone and they go back to their disgusting habits. But at least the few that have opened are decidedly illegal now and they aren't comfortable about getting away with it. They're now ashamed of what they do, and this is an internal change. A good change.
Lift your voices up
Magida el Roumi may have been singing for over 30 years, and despite the dip in optimism, her passion for peace is undimmed.
You've been working on the symbol of peace image for as long as I can remember; is it fun carrying the weight of the world?
In this country, everyone's job is politics. All we talk about all day, every day, is war. War is a loss, always, it doesn't matter who wins anymore. This made me decide to sing for peace. For as long as I am blessed with the strength and the voice.
Make songs not guns; you think that'll work?
I was born with a good voice and so it was my best weapon. War begets misery, breaks families, buys and sells people and freedom. I'm tired, I'm disgusted. Lebanon's lost a lot in all these wars. Where would Lebanon be if it weren't for the war? We should have been important, a Monte Carlo, a lighthouse of art, culture and knowledge. I swore that I would never support anyone except my government.
But do you really think music gets through to people?
People are affected by words. This has been proven over and over. Have you noticed how the people labeled dangerous are usually the speakers? Words are far better weapons than guns and the guns know this. The media is powerful.
All mixed up
One of the only women in the local DJ industry, Shadia Bseiso's and her mixes have caught on like a regional wildfire.
So, a babe in the cut-throat world of record spinning; what gives?
In my experience, the music industry is tough. Full stop. For men and women both, it's demanding and competitive; you have to be constantly on your game and there's no room for laziness. For a woman in this industry, there are indeed special challenges, and I find that they are mostly the result of gender-based stereotypes. I try to overcome people's misconceptions by being assertive, open-minded and firm.
So girls, walk into a club, hijack the booth and work your way up?
A budding DJ can start anywhere! Opportunities rarely present themselves as such, and it's up to you to turn a situation into an opportunity. I just love music, and when I started I was organizing the music library of a radio station in Amman, and from there I went to producing my own show. Beginnings are just that, a way to begin, and once you start there's no telling where you're going to go!
It's no small highlight on your portfolio opening for Akon in Bahrain, any other gigs we should worry about?
The Formula 1 event with Akon was amazing! Upcoming events in the works include Beirut, Jordan and maybe even India!
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