#Sahar habibi

[kaypllaje]

Various tour posters (2020-2022)

Austin Millz - Demuja - Chase Shakur - Sam Wise - Kojey Radical - Sahar Habibi

by kaypllaje

[asal-bts]

[hafewa]

[taminoarticles]

— Tamino for Glamcult, #138 THE SANCTUM ISSUE / November 2022 (x)

SURRENDERING TO WHATEVER'S HAPPENING AT THE MOMENT: TAMINO

WORDS BY GRACE POWELL PHOTOGRAPHY BY JORRE JANSSENS

Belgian-Egyptian musician TAMINO-AMIR MOHARAM FOUAD (aka Tamino) is the singer-songwriter pulling on our heartstrings. Grandson to renowned movie star MUHARRAM FOUAD, Tamino has had stardom in his veins from the very beginning. Trained at the AMSTERDAM ROYAL CONSERVATORY, and having seen his first glimpse of fame with the 2017 release, Habibi, the artist has since been heard on stages around Europe. It was the release of his 2018 album, Amir, which made the world stop, listen and reflect as he hypnotised us all with tracks such as Indigo Night and goddess of nature, Persephone. After what felt like a prolonged hiatus — not so much as a cheeky Insta’ story — this year Tamino is back with his sophomore album, Sahar. Glamcult spoke with Tamino after the release of his first album, so why not make a tradition of it? From the flawless sounds of the Oud, the sight of a flamingo stuck in the mud, to his early days studying classical piano — we cover a lot from the backseat of a car en route to his Glamcult shoot in the depths of BELGIUM.

Gc: Hi Tamino. How’s it going? 

T: I’m good thank you — ready for my Glamcult shoot, so you know all about my day! The location is crazy, I didn’t even know this existed in Belgium. 

Gc: Yes, I’m the anonymous producer of your day, ha-ha. It’s going to be great. To start, could you tell us a bit about your musical beginnings?

T: Of course. So, if I go to the very beginning, I started with piano when I was around ten or eleven years old. It was my mum, actually, who proposed it, as she saw that I had a fascination for music. My mum also played classical piano, so it was a logical move for both myself and her. However, I didn’t last very long…

Gc: Logical — but less sustainable?

T: Honestly, I stopped because I didn’t have the patience to study the classical pieces to perfection. Because of this, I then decided to take a break from music for about a year before I started going back to the piano again. This time, I returned with a different mindset and I started to play freely; choosing my own chords and writing my own songs. This began when I was around fourteen.

Gc: So, no emo phase?

T: I did play in a couple of bands before finally performing solo at around seventeen.

Gc: I like this idea of beginning rigidly, and within that rigidity finding your draw to fluidity. Do you still feel like you need this freedom in music today as you did as a child?

T: I always pursue freedom in sound. Even though I love classical music (both listening to it and going to concerts) — and of course, I have admiration for those who are able to learn a piece to perfection. However, it just wasn’t for me as it was always someone else’s latest.

Gc: You recently released the single (and video) Fascination, one of the first tracks from your latest album, Sahar. What inspired this song?

T: Like most of my songs, it all began with noodling on the guitar. I usually begin by humming a melody before finding the words. For this song, however, the words came with the melody. There is this one specific anecdote within this song — “I didn’t cry for that flamingo stuck in the salt. Didn’t care for it at all, While you couldn’t hold your tears, Your fascination’s always fascinated me.” This came from watching BBC Planet with my significant other. It was about how our different reactions to the same scene caused inspiration.

Gc: So, it can really come from anywhere… Any other unusual inspiration points?

T: It’s so difficult to pinpoint! Often it’s less specific than this case. That’s the beautiful thing about songwriting. Often you don’t know how it happens — which is strange in itself. Even though you can sharpen your tools through practice, you still never know what’s going to happen.

Gc: It’s a never-ending journey…

T: Exactly. I feel like when it comes to songwriting, it’s very hard to become a master of your craft.

Gc: However, sonically — do certain genres inspire you? For example, there are many clear Arabic references, alongside folk music and jazz within your work.

T: The influences are for sure there. I love Arabic music.

Gc: Has living in Antwerp influenced your sound at all?

T: It has of course influenced me; however, I wouldn’t know precisely how. Antwerp is a cool place, but I think it’s time to spend some time elsewhere. Although, I’m going on tour soon — so it’s out of the question at the moment. 

Gc: A lot of artists I speak to describe the act of music creation as occuring subconsciously. Do you have the same experience?

T: Yes and no. It’s still me writing, but I can relate to this.

Gc: Your first release from the album, the aptly named The First Disciple, broke your online silence. Why did you pick this song as your reintroduction?

T: This song sits at the heart of the album… It’s also the longest song on the album (a side note, but still cool). Sonically, The First Disciple represents some new sounds I experimented with on this album. The combination of the nylon-string classical guitar with the nylon-string oud was super important to me. Lyrically, this song is also improtant to me.

Gc: Throughout the whole album your sound is far more complex than your previous work. Did this change in sound bring up any nervousness?

T: No, not really. I would have only felt nervous if I wasn't happy with the album.

Gc: That's the truly worst-case scenario.

T: But I'm super happy with the album, and stand fully behind it so I don’t have nerves.

Gc: As you should be. Before the release, you had a social media blackout — why?

T: I feel like when I'm not releasing new music, I have nothing to say. Social media is a HUGE distraction. Those apps are designed for you to become addicted. | know myself; if it's on my phone I will look at it at least three times a day. It was extremely liberating to not have Instagram on my phone for two years, it allowed me to be bored. Boredom is very important for the creative process,

which was the main reason why I didn't have it on my phone.

Gc: It’s kind of insane how today boredom has to be sought after. It’s a hard road to take.

T: It's true. You have to choose boredom, instead of just letting it happen the way it would in the past. lt's a conscious decision to not go on your phone, scroll through Instagram and so forth. We need to let things be as they are.

Gc: You're going on tour. How are you feeling about that?

T: On tour, you're everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It's not real life. However, playing live feels special. It's cliché, but I love playing for people that appreciate your music and the fact that you're sharing something with a group. Sometimes it feels like a transfer of energy. This transfer is healing.

Gc: Music certainly has healing properties. Presumable creating, performing and so forth is your safe space?

T: Performing to such a huge amount of people, you all feel open. You're all surrendering to whatever's happening in the moment. It connects to what we were saying earlier about

distractions. When performing, these distractions are not there, I'm fully in the moment. This moment is then something you can share with so many people. In this space there's room for emotion, there's room for everything to just exist. It feels both healing and freeing. It's the best high there is.

Gc: We're so excited about the launch of Sahar. What do you hope for your audience to feel from the album?

T: Honestly, whatever they want. I really have no say in that.

Gc: Do you feel a separation from your work once it’s released? Like it’s no longer yours?

T: A bit, I see the music as just as much mine as I do the listeners. Of course, I have my interpretations, thoughts, beliefs. I also have hopes for the listener's ability to read into the lyrics or hear about the songs. But in the end, | have no say.

Gc: And finally (and potentially, most importantly) what have you taken away from the album?

T: This album felt more experimental in the recording process. The arrangements really came from letting go (as opposed to being a control freak). So, I think this became a lesson. Letting things go in the creative process can lead to beautiful things. That's been the most important lesson.

[martinskiseyes]

hi hello<3 since u r THEEE tamino mutual to me and ive been listening to amir a lot lately ive also been thinking of you (normal. if its weird then that was a lie) so i was wondering what ur favorite songs of his are :)

hiiiiiiii<3 girl sjxfdl you should see how widely im smiling rn, i absolutely love that this is my brand. and you've been thinking of meee🥹

oh god this is impossible question fr bc i have so many and i've been the biggest amir fan and thought nothing could ever beat this record until sahar came out and both are so so close to my heart. i wanna say a very special song to me is sun may shine as it kept me company after my grandpa passed away and generally many different things happened that left me grieving back then but also the first song that got me into tamino was cigar. then i heard my dearest friend and enemy live and it changed the trajectory of my life forever sooo ahhhhhh i cant answer it really but without thinking too much into it im gonna say sun may shine, cigar, habibi, every pore, my dearest friend and enemy and only our love! tell me yours and which song is on repeat the most lately?

[grannypantiesnchill]

A feel good mix ✨

[laidback-lover]

(Sahar Habibi)

[loveicanthide-blog]

Sangini

[whereisko]

[dontsweatthefresh]

(Sahar Habibi)

[taminoarticles]

— Tamino for Style Magazine Italia, June 2023 (x) (x)

Tamino returns to play in Italy: “The warmer the countries are, the warmer the audience"

The singer will perform at the Rocca Malatestiana in Cesena on July 4th and at the Spazio 211 in Turin on July 5th. "In Italy I always like to play," he says. But "in reality it scares me to meet too many people.�� A true hero of introverts.

By Pier Andrea Canei June 15, 2023

The soundcheck is over, Alcatraz sold out, a thousand Milanese waiting to see the star of the evening: the Belgian-Egyptian singer Tamino. He relaxes behind the scenes, drinks green (tea) and wears black (Armani): like a 26-year-old prince of darkness. He has gentle manners, and a voice that vibrates on a broad spectrum. From the dark depths (the school is the one that goes from Leonard Cohen and Jacques Brel to Jeff Buckley and the alt-rock genre called “shoegaze”: emo tones, monochord guitars) to an angelic falsetto.

Soon, Tamino will go out there on stage and, without doing ballets or stepping on flowers, almost motionless except for when he holds his oud (a lute of the Arab tradition), he will attract attention. He is hieratic, with the charisma of a crusader of introverts, quiet people, and young romantic heroes; what allowed him to create a following that goes from [sic], (Colin Redwood [sic], former bassist of Radiohead, left Thom Yorke's group to follow him through studios and tours) up to the Arab world, from which it takes up sounds and instruments.

Tamino: Style's interview

Amir, the title of your first album and your middle name, means "prince" in Arabic. Were you raised as a little prince?

Well, I don't think so. Princes lead a very controlled life, lots of rules, discipline. I had a free childhood.

For the idea of calling you Tamino, like the young prince in Mozart's Magic Flute, we should thank your mother, Eva (de Pauw, anthropologist, hobby musician, passionate about cultures). What was it like growing up in Belgium?

Inspiring in many ways: lots of good art, music, art movements. From the Surrealism of René Magritte, to the music of Tom Barman's dEUS, a band that has opened many doors to the alternative scene. Then there are the negative sides in the social culture: in Belgium we tend not to value the potential of others... We are made like this, we like to see ourselves laying low, leveling ourselves up.

You realized this as soon as you finished compulsory school and left to study music in Holland.

It was an enlightening and difficult experience. From cool Antwerp designers to Amsterdam street style. Two hours by train and you land in another world. I wanted to shake off the provincial part of Belgium.

Habibi: I needed love

And your first hit song was born right in Amsterdam, in 2017: Habibi ... an Arabic and universal word of love.

You can say it to your loved one, to good friends, but also to a waiter: “Come here habibi, bring me a coffee”... Well, during the first days in Amsterdam I was depressed, very lonely, it was difficult to find human ties. I was looking for warmth, love: that piece came from there.

Of that vagueness that generates universality...

I think back to a title from the Talking Heads: Stop making sense. When you write lyrics for a song, you don't have to chase a precise meaning. Better ask yourself if your words convey the right feelings.

Typically Tamino: the yearning, the nostalgia. Songs like Indigo night: nocturnal, brooding, even melancholy. You recognise yourself in it?

I certainly tend to ruminate on things a lot. Too much...

An app to free yourself from the ego

And how do you free yourself from it?

Meditation helps. I also use a specific app, Waking Up: Beyond Meditation. Ten minutes a day is enough. It helps me to free myself from the ego, to feel myself a witness of thought, of consciousness. Simply necessary. More than diet or physical training.

Sahar, the title of the second and most recent album, means "at the crack of dawn."

For me it is already part of the past: the last words I sing are “before I step into darker days”...

That is: “Prima d'inoltrarmi in giorni più oscuri.”

I mean: before facing new torments, new struggles. What helps you grow is discomfort. That's the challenge. Never be afraid to step into the unknown.

Out of the comfort zone...

I like spending some time in New York. I stay out of my own comfort zone, it's not comfortable for me. And doing so inspires me.

Lone sailor

In the video for Sunflower, a duet with the singer Angèle, you have the air of a romantic hero. Do you want to act?

In that video I enjoyed interpreting, even without lines, this figure of the lonely sailor. This was an idea from the director. I've only done a little theater and at most a few sailing trips with friends.

Would you be a testimonial for a perfume?

Well, yes, under the right conditions... For example, a prestigious operation like the Bleu de Chanel campaign with Gaspard Ulliel, with that spot directed by Martin Scorsese.

A spot that stylises the clichés of a rock star life: glamorous places, flashes, meetings with crazy people...

In reality it scares me to meet too many people. I'm a very lonely guy. Even though I’m finding it easier and easier for me to make connections lately, I steer clear of glam dinners or events.

Then you spends the whole summer on the road

I have fun at festivals. My favourite is Into the Great Wide Open, on the island of Vlieland, Holland: 10,000 people, zero cars, music, love and kindness.

Your summer also includes two Italian stages.

I always like to play in Italy. The warmer the countries, the warmer the audience.

I live in Türkiye

Who knows in the Middle East, or in Africa.

We do the biggest lives in Turkey: crazy crowds. And Egypt is like coming home: you feel that for the people it is more than just a concert.

Your surname is famous in Egypt. Your grandfather Muharram Fouad was a musical star, your father started out as a performer.

It's like an Egyptian dynasty of music. A fun fact about me being a huge Lord of the Rings fan is that I've always felt like Aragorn, the legitimate heir to the Elven throne, who travels incognito. Nobody ever knows who he is. I felt like this growing up in Belgium. It was never talked about, nor was there much money, and that side of the family has only emerged now that I'm better known.

Who among the main names would you bring next to you at the festival of your dreams?

I don't even know if I would put myself among the top names... I'd like Anouar Brahem, Tunisian, master of the oud. And then something electronic, maybe the Aphex Twins. And I dream of working with Massive Attack.

Many festivals. But never a festive song?

I should write one first. But generally gloomy, tenebrous things come out to me.

Let's say you sing one happy song and save the world; which one do you choose?

I don't know if a happy song could save the world. Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side?

The height of happiness.A matter of feeling: a song can be sad in itself, but make you feel good. A glimmer of hope, an air of comfort. It can wrap you in emotions. Maybe you're sad, and that's okay: because you feel alive. A song full of life: well, for me it will always be a good song.

[kurtcobainindresses]

Tamino, Café de la Danse, June 14th 2022

[nctrnm]

NctrnmFM(nctrnm.com): #NowPlaying: "slakah - something forever (sahars slow jamz)" by Sahar Habibi. Stream my new EP, Mission @ https://nctrnm.com

[klaussgifs]

And in the end, you will all know that I won. You will remember me, Klaus Mikaelson.

Your maker.