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I'm Samer Saem Eldahr. I'm from Aleppo [Syria]
I currently live in Beirut
I make music. I studied visual arts at the University of Aleppo
I'm studying at the Lebanese University for my master's degree in arts now
For me, music is more of a hobby
My academic training is in drawing
I studied music a long time ago in Aleppo
And I kept working on my music
I played with some rock bands
I played the guitar and keyboards, and I sang
And I've been making electronic music for almost five years now
I started working on Hello Psychaleppo as a project three years ago
My approach was very spontaneous and personal
I used to work alone from home
After a while, I felt I had enough tracks to release an album online
I wasn't expecting much from the project
I published it online
I have a friend artist called Jumana Hougan
She designed the artwork
And we thought about names for the project
We decided on psychaleppo
Then we named each track and published the album online
We were then still in Aleppo
But we got positive feedback from people in Lebanon who listened to the music
such as Nabil Saliba, the producer of Trash Inc.
Saliba liked the music, so I came to Beirut and held my first event with him
We held our first gig at Metro Al Madina
They really liked the music and asked me to organize another concert
I didn't hold another concert till I finished the second album
So it took me 8-9 months to hold the second event
I started relying more on sampling to develop the music
This is because I really like Tarab and Shaabi music
Every region and artist has its unique sounds
It allows you to play around with it
It's very open and the possibilities are endless
You can make many different tracks using a range of combinations
I focused on a few things and gradually developed them
I have an old-school mentality where I like to perform solo with the track
I like that and think it's more original
So it's psycho electronic music but still has a human feel to it
I focus on the music flow and build up
You might think that the track reached its climax, then find it's still building up
No one funded Hello Psychaleppo. There was no produciton company
We all worked with what was available and contributed to the project
So we now have a team that is working on this project
I work on the music
Joan Baz and Marion Petegnief do the video mapping and visuals for the events
They collected old footage and did some animation work
We were thinking about the visual mood of each track
The underground scene in the Arab world doesn't collaborate enough
We have significant [Arab] musicians on the international scene
But they're not used to working together and collaborating
We're working on developing artwork for each of the album's tracks
Artists from Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon are designing posters for the tracks
Also from Spain. There are many contributors to the project
Each is working on a music track and design
And we'll be showing the artwork as an exhibition
This encourages further collaborations
So you get to know different artists through your production process
I really focus on the technical side while sampling the music
I also try to add my music to the original track without taking away from it
I wouldn't distort Abdel Halim [Hafez's] music as I really respect it
I would like to add to his music. It's just that the tools we use now are different
I grew up in an Arab country which influenced my character and interests
So I feel it's good that I propose something that has affected me so much
instead of artists from abroad
This music is related to my cildhood, my family, my memories. It's personal
I'm personally invested in the lyrics and tunes
Producing and publishing music online for free involves sacrifice
You don't expect to make money out of it
But I don't care as I'm not trying to make money from this
I like to work on projects and organize events. I like the music that I make
So I don't care about the money. Plus I have a career as a visual artist
I usually work on my paintings. Then I go back to making music
The moods they create are different. The satisfaction I get from them is different
You feel the satisfaction right away with music
With painting, it takes more time. The proces is longer and more complex