Earlier this month The Sound Trunk covered Jordanian chart-topping singer-songwriter and producer Jaafar, who recently shared his new single 'Yara.' After exploding onto the scene with a debut single titled ‘Sixteen’ (which hit US Billboard charts) Jaafar went on to release two more singles, ‘Dalia’ and ‘Salma’, the latter being his first in Arabic, quickly gaining him nearly 2 million YouTube views.
'Yara' has been described as an "instant seasonal classic" and the track's Eastern inspired sound is refreshing. Citing inspiration from artists such as Sting and Peter Gabriel, Jaafar’s music could be described as a fusion of sounds, where UK jazz-pop meets deep Eastern influence.
We caught up with him to find out more about 'Yara.'
Q) To those not familiar with you, how would you describe your sound?
A) The best way I can describe my sound is ‘fusion’. I love incorporating both western and
middle eastern elements in to my music.
Q) Can you tell us a bit about the subject of the song? Who is Yara?
A) ‘Yara’ is an Arabic female name. I wrote it about a girl who I had a thing for at the time, her
name wasn’t Yara though. It’s about a new love interest, and I purposely exaggerated with the
lyrics a to create that excitement and passion we often feel at the beginning stages of a
relationship.
Q) What are the 5 albums that have influenced you the most?
A) - 1, 2, 3 Soleil (Live à Bercy) by Khaled, Faudel and Rachid Taha.
-Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens.
- Damn the Torpedoes - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
- So - Peter Gabriel
- Enta Omri - Umm Kalthoum
Q) What techniques do you experiment with to form your sound?
A) I don’t know that there are necessarily techniques that I experiment with. It’s more just a matter
of bringing the sound in my head to life, and that could come about in a number of ways, some
more traditional than others. For example, on ‘Yara’ I recorded some pots and pans that I banged
on with a pen as percussion.
Q) Are there any key pieces of equipment that you can't live without?
A) I wouldn’t say that I couldn’t live without them, but I will say that in ear monitoring systems
have truly made such a difference to my live performance. It’s funny to say that now, because I
remember hating them at first. Come to think of it though, perhaps a good monitoring engineer is
what I really can’t live without! Nothing is worse than a bad mix in your ear.
Q) What are some of your key influences in your music? Whether it be the sound created by
others, imagery, films or any kind of art form.
A) Middle Eatern music and culture in general are hugely influential on my sound in general.
Q) What has been a memorable highlight in your career so far?
A) anytime I’m on stage and i feel the crowd getting in to the performance.
Q) If you could work with, or perform alongside any artist of your choice, who would it be?
A) Sade.
Q) If you weren't a musician what would you be?
A) An equestrian probably, or working with horses in some capacity.
Follow Jaafar:
No comments:
Post a Comment