Monday, 3 May 2010
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Feature article
A contagious sense of relaxation clouds over the dressing room of Isam Bachiri as he sits comfortably on a sofa reading a newspaper! (Is this our Isam? Reading?) …..Hmm, he certainly looks like our Isam as he is dressed and ready to perform at this years UK AM Awards, taking place in Central London. Sunday evening: after a day of relaxing, sleeping and eating lots of sweets, he is now dressed in blue skinny’s, a white kaftan top exposing a part of our favourite part of his body and his tattoo, his black leather boots, and a necklace he vows he will never take off, with a cheeky smile he looks up at me and states “I am ready to go”.
Isam, how did your music career kick off?
Well music has always been a big part of my life. Since I was a teenager I was taking guitar lessons, listening to lots of music, writing my own songs and I loved to take part in music competitions. It was only when I was in University studying Law that I realised that, actually this is not me; I needed something more exciting. I then won a musical talent competition with a prize of meeting my favourite Arab singer; Ihab Tawfiq and my meeting with him gave me a lot of inspiration and courage to go into the music industry and he offered me work to help out on his new single named ‘Upside Down’ and I took up his offer.
If you had not chosen the path of music, eventually, where do you think you would be today?
I have no idea, but I know I would have dropped out of Law no matter what. I just came to discover it was not my field. Where I would have been after that, only God knows the answer to.
Isam, you come from a Muslim faith and many people who belong to this faith have negative views towards music, how do you deal with these views?
The issue of music is a very controversial one in the Islamic faith and there are a number of varying views in this section. My own beliefs for this issue are that as long as your music aims to give some light to people, help them and enlighten them in some way then your music qualifies as serving its purpose. Music shouldn’t just be to sound good to people it is an aid to people’s lives.
Are your parents supportive of your music? How did they react to you dropping out of Law?
My parents have always just wanted me to do something in life that I enjoy and will allow me to live. As I realised that music was what I really wanted and Law was not, they were happy to back my decision and support me fully. My happiness has been the most important factor to them and up until this point I am very thankful to them and hope they are proud of me.
Isam the rebellious or good boy teenager?
(Laughs) That’s for me to know and you to never find out (Winks).
Come on, spill.
Ok, ok this is especially for my fans. I was always part of the rebellious crowd, but as well as keeping cool I would always make sure I kept up to date with my studies. My parents did have a difficult time with me in terms of my behaviour, but that’s every teenager isn’t it? (Cheeky smile). There were times when me and my friends would turn the classroom clock forward whenever we had a supply teacher so we would be let out of class early. Worked every time. One thing my parents never had to worry about were my studies.
What is the story behind the necklace you vow to never take off?
Sorry that story is off limits.
Can you at least give us a hint?
It links me someone very special who was in my life once.
Was? So I am presuming you're single?
Single I am!
What features do you look for in a girl?
Smart, sense of humour, beautiful smile, a good person and an appreciation for life as well as music.
You have a limited number of tracks that are actually based on relationships, where do you get the inspiration for your other tracks from?
All my inspirations for my music come from my experiences in life and other paths of life my life has crossed. I have travelled a lot to countries such as morocco, India and even Africa and have come across a lot of poverty, but you realise that although these problems exist there is a strong sense of love and community that exists. This is an example of what my song ‘What Lies Underneath’ is about. My inspirations also come from my favourite artists such as Outlandish and Ihab Tawfiq.
Apart from Arab music, what other types of music do you listen to?
I enjoy listening to hip-hop, Rock and some types of R and B music. But we all know that Arab music rocks!
How did your music change from your first ever album ‘Too late’ in 2005 to your first ever worldwide famous album ‘The Only Truth’ in 2007?
When I first started off my music career, I never really had a lot of life experiences, I mean I had just come out of a few months of university and did not go through a lot of difficulties in my younger years and so never really had a basis for my music. However, in 2006 I went through many difficulties and issues with my family and learnt many new things and these experiences gave me my inspiration and basis for my 2007 album.
What was your favourite song in the 2007 album?
It would definitely be ‘Looking On’ because this song derived from a very close and personal experience of mine which really touched my life and affected me in such a way that is has made me the person I am today.
We know you work solo, but would you consider doing work with another artist?
I would definitely consider it… it depends.
What happened to you last year? What did you get up to?
After going through a difficult time of watching my mum go through cancer, I observed of how lucky we were to be living in this country with so many opportunities and support. After this I always wanted to go out and actually help communities and people in difficult situations who were less fortunate than me and that’s what I did last year. I travelled down to Honduras in South America and actually got involved in a community project of building schools. Altogether it was a very emotional yet satisfying experience.
Are you currently working on anything new this year?
There definitely is something new, which I cannot talk about at the moment; however you can keep up to date with it on my official website. (Smiles).
Oh quick last question before you go and rock that stage! Favourite word?
Patience
Isam, how did your music career kick off?
Well music has always been a big part of my life. Since I was a teenager I was taking guitar lessons, listening to lots of music, writing my own songs and I loved to take part in music competitions. It was only when I was in University studying Law that I realised that, actually this is not me; I needed something more exciting. I then won a musical talent competition with a prize of meeting my favourite Arab singer; Ihab Tawfiq and my meeting with him gave me a lot of inspiration and courage to go into the music industry and he offered me work to help out on his new single named ‘Upside Down’ and I took up his offer.
If you had not chosen the path of music, eventually, where do you think you would be today?
I have no idea, but I know I would have dropped out of Law no matter what. I just came to discover it was not my field. Where I would have been after that, only God knows the answer to.
Isam, you come from a Muslim faith and many people who belong to this faith have negative views towards music, how do you deal with these views?
The issue of music is a very controversial one in the Islamic faith and there are a number of varying views in this section. My own beliefs for this issue are that as long as your music aims to give some light to people, help them and enlighten them in some way then your music qualifies as serving its purpose. Music shouldn’t just be to sound good to people it is an aid to people’s lives.
Are your parents supportive of your music? How did they react to you dropping out of Law?
My parents have always just wanted me to do something in life that I enjoy and will allow me to live. As I realised that music was what I really wanted and Law was not, they were happy to back my decision and support me fully. My happiness has been the most important factor to them and up until this point I am very thankful to them and hope they are proud of me.
Isam the rebellious or good boy teenager?
(Laughs) That’s for me to know and you to never find out (Winks).
Come on, spill.
Ok, ok this is especially for my fans. I was always part of the rebellious crowd, but as well as keeping cool I would always make sure I kept up to date with my studies. My parents did have a difficult time with me in terms of my behaviour, but that’s every teenager isn’t it? (Cheeky smile). There were times when me and my friends would turn the classroom clock forward whenever we had a supply teacher so we would be let out of class early. Worked every time. One thing my parents never had to worry about were my studies.
What is the story behind the necklace you vow to never take off?
Sorry that story is off limits.
Can you at least give us a hint?
It links me someone very special who was in my life once.
Was? So I am presuming you're single?
Single I am!
What features do you look for in a girl?
Smart, sense of humour, beautiful smile, a good person and an appreciation for life as well as music.
You have a limited number of tracks that are actually based on relationships, where do you get the inspiration for your other tracks from?
All my inspirations for my music come from my experiences in life and other paths of life my life has crossed. I have travelled a lot to countries such as morocco, India and even Africa and have come across a lot of poverty, but you realise that although these problems exist there is a strong sense of love and community that exists. This is an example of what my song ‘What Lies Underneath’ is about. My inspirations also come from my favourite artists such as Outlandish and Ihab Tawfiq.
Apart from Arab music, what other types of music do you listen to?
I enjoy listening to hip-hop, Rock and some types of R and B music. But we all know that Arab music rocks!
How did your music change from your first ever album ‘Too late’ in 2005 to your first ever worldwide famous album ‘The Only Truth’ in 2007?
When I first started off my music career, I never really had a lot of life experiences, I mean I had just come out of a few months of university and did not go through a lot of difficulties in my younger years and so never really had a basis for my music. However, in 2006 I went through many difficulties and issues with my family and learnt many new things and these experiences gave me my inspiration and basis for my 2007 album.
What was your favourite song in the 2007 album?
It would definitely be ‘Looking On’ because this song derived from a very close and personal experience of mine which really touched my life and affected me in such a way that is has made me the person I am today.
We know you work solo, but would you consider doing work with another artist?
I would definitely consider it… it depends.
What happened to you last year? What did you get up to?
After going through a difficult time of watching my mum go through cancer, I observed of how lucky we were to be living in this country with so many opportunities and support. After this I always wanted to go out and actually help communities and people in difficult situations who were less fortunate than me and that’s what I did last year. I travelled down to Honduras in South America and actually got involved in a community project of building schools. Altogether it was a very emotional yet satisfying experience.
Are you currently working on anything new this year?
There definitely is something new, which I cannot talk about at the moment; however you can keep up to date with it on my official website. (Smiles).
Oh quick last question before you go and rock that stage! Favourite word?
Patience
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