The Trailblazers | Pocketmags.com

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The Trailblazers

Seán: Having released your fourth studio album The Beirut School in February, you’re also playing the Body And Soul Festival, tell me about what we can expect.

Firas: We just released our, kind of, ten year celebration album with some new tracks. Because we find it an achievement that we’ve been able to make it as a band singing in Arabic from the Middle East! And so we think it’s a big cause for celebration.

At this point I should do a little background filling-in. Contrary to what you might be thinking, Firas mentioned it’s unusual for a contemporary music act from the Middle East to perform all their songs in Arabic. Mashrou’ Leila’s openly gay lead singer, Hamed Sinno, grew up speaking English, continuing to learn Arabic as he wrote songs. While many bands from the region perform in English to try and extend their listenership internationally, Mashrou’ Leila went against the popular tide and here we are ten years later.

Seán: What do you think of Irish crowds, Irish audiences?

Firas: I think live music is a big part of going out in Ireland, It’s a big contrast to over here (Lebanon) where live music culture is still very young and still exploring and figuring itself out.

Seán: I’d like to ask you a little bit about your work with Irish artist Roisin Murphy? She’s on the the track, ‘Salam’, from your new album, right?

Firas: We were invited to be a part of this retreat and residency in Palestine. And it was a special thing because as Lebanese citizens we can’t actually go to Palestine. It’s something that we’re not allowed to do basically. So we ended up Skyping in to this intense residency where a lot of international artists and regional local artists were invited to go and see what’s happening in Palestine, see the kind of conditions people are living in, see the kind of atrocities being committed. All the things that these people encounter everyday. But I guess a lot of the world either forgets or isn’t exposed to it as much.

There were a lot of big names; Brian Eno, Roisin Murphy, Black Madonna. We ended up asking Roisin Murphy if she’d be interested in singing a verse on the song that we had written about this idea of being so close but separated. We feel so distant from all our fans in Palestine, all the people of Palestine who we know and respect, the artists, the writers, the journalists, the thinkers, the musicians. It was a very honest and simple way of explaining our situation.

Seán: So, Mashrou’ Leila is linked to protest?

Firas: I think that everybody who’s living in Lebanon or in the region are complicit and linked. Everything that’s happening in our backyard, it’s one of the main topics of any thinker, philosopher or analyst who works on the tensions that have been happening in the Middle East over the last 20/30 years, really. It’s a subject that we’re intertwined with. And one that we don’t speak of enough. And people dismiss too often I guess.

Seán: Tell me about your gigs being banned in Jordan and Egypt, did that surprise you?

Firas: I guess it did, yeah. We had been playing in Jordan and Egypt for years like, literally they were the first places that we played! Our biggest fan bases are there. We didn’t really expect it. The first time it happened was in 2016 and it was a huge scandal. The international press got involved over the censorship of freedom of expression.

Seán: Was it linked to the mention of LGBT+ content in some of your lyrics?

Firas: The first time we were banned, the things we were talking about were a bit obscure and a bit lateral. The government department (in Jordan), said our music was unfit for the venue, even though we’d played there many times before. And the audience we were playing to, we’d played to before! They ended up reversing the decision only a couple of hours before we were supposed to be on stage. It was too late and the show didn’t end up happening, but we thought things were ok.

A couple of months later when we decided to go back and do the show the ban was much clearer. There was a decision from the Mayor’s office basically saying that what we represent is damaging to the morals of the youth, in a way talking about our calls towards acceptance, towards inclusion, towards equal treatment, towards being critical, being outspoken, to not censoring, and not allowing censorship to take control. To all these things really.

Seán: Do you meet resistance to your messages of freedom, acceptance and inclusion at home in the Lebanon?

Firas: Yes and no, it’s as surprising to us as it would be to you I imagine. In Lebanon, the situation is a bit different because governance, control and power are differently distributed. It’s much more complex, much more classist. It’s a much more capitalistic segregated society in Lebanon. And so decisions are taken up differently. But yes we do, we get that same kind of reaction sometimes but not as often and not as severe.

Seán: Is it common for music to be openly supportive, or talk openly about LGBT+ people in the Lebanon?

Firas: I mean here’s the thing, a lot of the content of our music is quite subtle and quite suggestive rather than on the nose and very obvious. And a lot of it talks about situations that have actually happened, like police brutality, censorship, things like that. Or situations that we find ourselves in that are quite universal and not very specific. It’s not like big slogans or big activist anthems you know! But as people, as humans, we are extremely vocal with our support, extremely open about what we think, and what we think needs to be said. Which we think is the main problem. That’s where people take bigger offence, more than from the music actually. I’m not even sure if the people that have such strong opinions about us even hear or listen to our music so much to be honest.

Seán: I understand as a band you’re often met with questions around social justice, politics and rebellion, but I’d like to bring it back to your music. For people that haven’t yet heard your music, could you tell me a little about it?

Firas: I don’t how how to define our music because I think we’ve just done what we like to do for as long as I can remember! Which means we change a lot. Our interests are always changing. But we like to think that a big part of our identity is the fact that we sing in Arabic, and we give importance to the Arabic language in a place where a lot of people don’t. It was a big deal to sing in Arabic, especially in the beginning because we just didn’t have music in Arabic that we respected and that we listened to, or were influenced by as kids.

Seán: I’ve one last question and it’s a light hearted one. Is there anything you hope to see or do when you’re in Ireland this summer?

Firas: I’m hoping to spend a bit more time around Ireland. Last time we rented a car and drove to the west and stayed there in an old castle. It was a really nice bonding experience for us. We went up to Dublin for a couple of days too. Actually it was funny, we even went to the Bingo in the George! That was unexpected. We just thought we’d go into the bar and have a drink and then it was Bingo night! It was a bit intense but it was really fun.

Mashrou’ Leila will perform at this year’s Body And Soul Festival. Their album, ‘The Beirut School’, is out now.

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