The Maghreban interview: “Nowadays I like who I am.”
Meet the man behind the intriguing electronica of Connection
As soon as we heard Connection, we knew The Maghreban was not your average electronica producer – its unusual montage of influence and tonality saw it stand apart. Naturally, we wanted to know more, so we tracked him down to his hometown Guildford and discovered he has Egyptian and Saudi roots, isn’t afraid to share some of his less cool influences and is capable of persuading a household acid jazz soulboy like Omar on board…
We’re guessing there weren’t a lot of people with Egyptian and Saudi heritage growing up in Guildford. Is that an advantage, disadvantage, a bit of both or minimal in terms of its effect on you?
There weren’t many, apart from a couple of Egyptians my dad was friends with. We weren’t getting bricks through the window, but I was aware we were different. Maybe I thought it was a disadvantage when I was young and didn’t want to stick out. Nowadays I like who I am.
And how about as a musical influence? What are your earliest musical memories – early listening, parents’ tastes etc, first instrument and embarrassing bands here please!
I remember my dad burning and playing Oum Kalthoum and Abdel Halim Hafez so those sounds are deeply embedded. Alongside Bob Marley and Otis Redding a bit of James Brown, and lots of less cool stuff like Johnny Mathis and Paul Young. A lot of stuff from my brother like U2, Dire Straits. I think the first record I got was a KC and the Sunshine Band 45 that was free with a pair of Clarks shoes. I was very enamoured with Belinda Carlisle at one point. And firmly into Iron Maiden simultaneously. I played the violin for a bit, badly.
What set up do you use and how do the tracks tend to come about – what comes first?
I use Ableton, and tracks usually come about with me messing about with samples. I’ve always got a little stack of records that I’ve picked up recently, and I just sit down and sift through those and take little bits that I think I can use. I like the challenge of trying to make stuff out of bad or cheap records. But I pick up good ones too. I don’t like to take big chunks, I take little sounds. I get those in the computer, chop them up and spread them on the keyboard and just see what I can come up with.
When I come up with something that I think can go somewhere I just start building things on top with more sounds. It’s often rhythmic things that come first, drums and percussion.
You mention the album’s title refers simply to the ‘deeper’ nature of the tracks – and also that they are more emotive. So is it about communication with the listener….
Definitely, and I think all music is. Conveying different moods. A big theme on this LP is grief and sadness and I think you can hear that in there.
What else has shaped your sound since the last album, and what did you learn about making albums from the first time round?
I’m always evolving in terms of the music I am listening to and learning to appreciate. As I was making this LP I was getting deeper into a lot of early 80s music, new wave stuff. Its not very evident in terms of the sound, but perhaps in terms of some of the moods.
I was going to make this album with me playing all the instruments and no samples, as kind of a follow up to an album I made for Black Acre in 2013 (“Grupo Zygote”). It didn’t end up being that but I did play a lot more on this than on my last album, and along with the saxophone from Idris Rahman it has much more of a live feel.
My first LP as The Maghreban was quite a mixed bag. Lots of little ideas put together, like a beat tape, and perhaps not any overarching themes. The title “01DEAS” nods to that. I wanted Connection to have longer tracks that went a bit deeper and for it to sound more cohesive, for there to be some commonality between the tracks.
Talk me through the guests on the album… And how did the hook up with Omar happen? Like many of the greats – Satisfaction, Yesterday, – it came to you in a dream…
I came across Idris Rahman hearing Ill Considered and we have a mutual friend who hooked me up. Hearing his work, I knew he could do what I needed on the LP and his saxophone playing really helped flesh it all out.
Nah Eeto is a boss, that was evident the moment I heard her. I’m still in hip hop and that’s how I came across her, on some Lee Scott tunes. I hit her up straight away. Abdullah Miniawy’s record with Carl Gari on TTT made a massive impact on me and I had to reach out immediately.
Omar was working with a mutual friend so I reached out there. I think he probably got wound up by all the back and forth while we were making the track but we had to get it right. I changed up the bass line halfway through, we were a bit stuck with the track how it was, I thought it needed to be more nasty. At a bit of an impasse perhaps, I woke up one morning with the vocal melody in my head and hummed it into my phone. Then he wrote lyrics based on that and it came out nice I think.
What’s next, live shows etc and any plans taking shape for a future release.
I’m getting together a new live set to showcase the album at the moment, which is fun. Seeing how it can all work with some randomness and peril. Perhaps some visuals as well. I’ll be dropping some remixes of the track with Omar, and then some random tracks of my own. Fun dance music, nothing too deep. Nice to get back to it.
Ben Willmott
Connection is out on vinyl on September 2 – pre-order your copy here