MUSIC
On the cusp of releasing her debut EP, Wafia Al-Rikabi has already made a massive mark on the Brisbane music scene. Her success is attributed to her beautiful voice and talent for music.
When did your career as a musician begin? My music career only really started last year. It’s always been a dream but I didn’t really consider pursuing it till last year. Was it something you always wanted to do or did you consider other careers? Yes, I mean, I’ve always wanted to persue music professionally but I wasn’t sure how realistic it would be. After high school I never ever would have thought I’d be here right now so I went to university to study Biomedicine and planned to later go into Medicine and become a doctor or surgeon of sorts. I don’t regret it though, I love that I have the option to go back and finish med if I ever decide music isn’t right for me; although that’s very unlikely haha. Your single Alice is beautiful and haunting, can you explain what it is about? Thank you! The song was actually inspired by a painting called Untitled (With Veil) by Esao Andrews who has always been one of my inspirations. His painting consumed me for countless days to the point where I was obsessively showing to every person I know. By this point, most of the tracks on the EP were finalised but then I began writing Alice. Personally, the song has many darker meanings to me, but basically Alice is about a girl who has lost all hope but finds trust in a boy because he is somewhat relatable position to herself, although she’s left more of a victim of his actions and seemingly pure intentions. He takes advantage of her. Once I wrote it I realised I couldn’t not put it on the EP. How did you find the process of putting together your debut EP, “Wafia”? The process of making this EP was incredible. I got to work with some amazing people like Dan
Freeman and Zac Engledow who were the two best producers I could ask for. They understood exactly what this EP meant to me and where I wanted to go with it, and co-producing the EP is definitely something I would do again. Because I wanted to be part of every aspect of the EP and I had uni to juggle, it took us about 10 months in studio all up, which is much longer than most people would spend on a full length album. In short, it was one of the best experiences of my life. What instruments do you play and what would you like to learn? I play the guitar, piano, ukelele, drums and I can also play this instrument called a oud which is very similar to a lute (in that it has a slender neck and round shape) but it’s tuned and played in a format that is one sixth up from the western scale but if I could learn anything, I think it would be the harp because it’s so majestic and lulling. What emotions do you want your music to make people feel? Putting names to emotions I want to convey in people through my music is incredibly difficult but really, if it makes people feel calm then I’ll have done what I intended. Where would you life to see yourself in a year’s time? I would really love to be a part of a major music festival, or on tour, or having just released my second EP/first album. Because I’m really only just starting out, the possibilities are (hopefully) endless. www.wafiaal-rikabimusic.com www.triplejunearthed.com/wafia www.facebook.com/WafiaMusic