East is East: Introducing Omar Souleyman

Omar Souleyman is in exile. He is living in Turkey because his home country, Syria, shows no signs of relenting from a vicious civil war. Despite this, he's just released an album which credits Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) as its producer. He has about 500 further albums to his back catalogue.

I first met Souleyman this summer, during Worldwide Festival, when an entire afternoon’s schedule was jumbled because of his late arrival. Souleyman's visa is periodically blocked by countries which decide he may be a threat. His performance at the Stockholm Music and Arts festival was nearly cancelled because the Swedish government worrying that he and his band might try to apply for residency during their stay. Sweden eventually backed down, but it won’t be the last time a country get huffy about his arrival.

When he finally took to the stage at Worldwide, Souleyman was serene and stoical. If he is aware of the line up changes that made room for him he makes no mention of it, and performs centre stage dressed in a keffiyeh and black sunglasses. The festival goers are clueless as how to dance to a sound dubbed "Syrian Techno", traditional Middle Eastern music but faster and more urgent, the sound of dabke sieved through the walls of the Berghain. Souleyman is simultaneously the leader and the observer, moving little, only clapping and directing, (I assume, but I don't speak Arabic, he could be calmly reciting A Tale Of Two Cities). The only pronounced sign of exuberance comes from his keyboard player, Rizan Sai’d, whose fingers are epileptic when they hit the keys. There are three French girls who have stormed the stage to dance, apparently from backstage. Behind his sunglasses Omar Souleyman sees nothing yet sees everything, and it is captivating.

The juxtaposition of this visually calm man and his music that attacks has excited audiences all over Europe and America. Though there are hundreds of his live recordings sold as cassettes on marketstalls in Syria, his recent album, Wenu Wenu is perhaps his first proper album, being distributed internationally, featuring new material rather than a compilation of other recordings. It's also the first to be produced by a Western producer, with Kieran Hebden taking on knob-twiddling duties.

The pair worked on it in New York, and the result was produced in two days. In our difficult Skype interview (me, Omar, his translator and manager, all hooked up over an incredibly pre-menstrual connection) I asked about the experience of working with Four Tet, and whether Souleyman has his sights set on other Western producers. “Keiran didn’t intervene with any of my work, or the videos. He only added his own touches. It was recorded so quickly because I sang it live, on a stage. Kieran knew what he was doing, and we are both experienced. We didn’t have to add any sound effects or anything extra”. The romantic in me creates a blissful image of two musical geniuses coexisting in a silent musical harmony.

Souleyman refutes any interest of moving to the States permanently. He is protective of Syria, a country that like thousand of others he has had to escape from in order to continue his life. Though I was instructed not to ask him any specific questions about the state of the country (Souleyman iterates that he is a musician, not a politician) there is a fierce pride to his nationalism and despite his courtship with the West, he remains a musician rooted in tradition.

He cannot name other producers he wants to work with simply because he does not know any, and despite setting off crowds of thousands around the world, he has no preference over who to perform to. “As long as the audience is happy, I am happy”. Is he pleased with album? “Oh yes. Very pleased. Though I cannot be sure of the complete outcome until I know the record sales.”

That's about all I can get from Souleyman before the internet starts coughing up blood, but while he might not be much of a talker Omar Souleyman is perhaps one of the most exciting musicians we have, quietly bridging a gap between East and West. I watch Four Tet play “Wenu Wenu” at Warehouse Project the next weekend, and once again the crowd goes ballistic, not knowing quite what to do with themselves as Omar Souleyman’s lyrics simultaneously entrance and confuse once again.

Omar Souleyman plays London this Sunday. Buy tickets here.

Follow Tamara Roper on Twitter @tamararoper

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