interview
Bahrain in the Spotlight
Popular Bahraini musician, Ala Ghawas, and well-known Bahraini band, Likwid, collaborated, and represented the Kingdom at the Cairo Jazz Fest 2016. HOW WAS THE EXPERIENCE AT THE CAIRO JAZZ FEST? Ala & Likwid: It was definitely a great feeling not just to participate, but to also open the three-day festival. It was also an honor to be the first group of musicians from Bahrain and from all GCC countries to ever perform at the festival, which has been running for eight years now. It was a great experience as a whole since we got to perform for a large crowd at the festival, and then later in a much smaller and cozier atmosphere at the Cairo Jazz Club. Both were certainly nights to remember.
HOW HAS BAHRAIN INFLUENCED YOUR LOVE FOR MUSIC? Ala & Likwid: We grew up in multicultural Bahrain in the eighties and nineties, there were a lot of local
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musical acts then that were influenced by western music, like The Brothers, Osiris, Mirza Al Shareef, Ajras and many others. But we would all agree that The Brothers, especially, had the biggest influence on us individually and made us interested in rock, folk, jazz and pop music from Europe and the US at a relatively young age.
ANY CHALLENGES YOU'VE OVERCOME AND WANT TO SHARE WITH ASPIRANT MUSICIANS ON THE ISLAND? Ala & Likwid: Even with social media nowadays, getting recognition and exposure is quite tough. Still we were able to convince the festival organizers in Egypt by letting them hear our collection of original songs between both Ala Ghawas and Likwid, and by them viewing the videos of us performing
these songs live for the feature film "Ala Ghawas & Likwid: Live From Allston". So the point is, all musicians have to work hard and truly invest in themselves and their own original music, and good things will come in good time.
ANY SURPRISES FOR 2017? Ala: I'm currently very busy recording my 5th studio album. It's called "Tryst" and it's due for a release next summer. The album will be supported by a tour in the Middle East and the UK. Likwid: Since, some of our upcoming songs are already recorded and almost done; we will definitely release our second EP or most probably our first LP during 2017, which might feature collaborations with popular musicians and singers from Bahrain. We are also currently relocating Likwid Studios to a bigger location and we're very excited about that.