As the world opens up through our ability to travel and connect over the internet, so does the music industry. These days, it’s far more likely you will see songs in the Billboard Top 100 that aren’t in English — from Bad Bunny to BTS, becoming familiar with hits in a language you don’t speak is more common today.
And as the world starts to normalise and understand Arab culture amid unlearning biases the West created as we grew up, there is more space for artists to be who they truly are.
Enter Kuwaisiana, a dynamic bi-lingual alt-rock trio that blends culture and politics into music, moulding the many facets of Kuwait and its people. The group doesn’t just celebrate or educate but criticises and opens up a dialogue to understand a country they may not have given much thought to before.
Originally formed in 2016 by frontman +Aziz, featuring drummer Yousef Shami, and bassist Brian Riedel, Kuwaisiana is not your average mother’s Arabic musical group.
While inspired by Khaleeji elements and sounds, incorporating classic regional instruments like the oud, Kuwaisiana takes a more modern approach by infusing Tata’s favourite tunes with a blend of grunge, indie rock, funk, and punk.
“I've always been interested in kind of cracking an Arab rock sound, if you will,” +Aziz tells The New Arab.
“From a young age, I was listening to a lot of alternative rock music. As I got more exposed to '90s rock, Japanese rock and other interesting things that were happening in rock music, I wanted to hear an Arab identity through that prism.”
It’s a brilliant move, given the genre’s ability to easily convey emotions like anger and heartbreak. “With rock comes a kind of force, right? The aggression and the angst. And the Kuwaiti culture is very ripe for this kind of thing,” the musician adds.
Latest EP
Kuwaisiana’s latest EP, Mishriff, released October 18, is filled with the force that +Aziz mentions.
One of the tracks, Gentrification, is inspired by Kuwait’s issues of xenophobia and bureaucratic negligence, using rock and grunge to dive into the emotions of loss and frustration experienced by communities being displaced because of gentrification — a problem not just unique to Western countries.
“Kuwait is really something that's not really on the radar of most people,” +Aziz explains.
But don’t expect Kuwaisiana to simply want to put it on your radar in a way that prioritises appeal over truth. The beauty of Mishriff is that it doesn’t idolise Kuwaiti culture, it openly critiques it in a way that allows truth to also become art.
“I'm really trying to strike a balance where people are understanding the dimensions of what it means to be Arab, what it means to sit at the intersection of modernity and tradition,” +Aziz adds.
Part of sitting at those intersections means confronting the stereotypes that come up any time you talk about a certain culture or people. Take makeup and gender, for example, subjects that are often heavily stereotyped and siloed in Arab culture.
“I recently became very interested in makeup as a way of expressing aesthetics, or conveying identity,” +Aziz shares. “And [it] also crosses into this kind of gendered dynamic that is interesting to me, and something that my drummer Yousef could speak more to.
"But, generally, we want to take these stereotypes and challenge them, whether they are positive or negative. That's actually one of the things that Was6a, the opening track, is really about. No matter the background, there will be stereotypes that you are working against and challenging. That's where you find self-actualisation, and the naked truth of your self-expression.”
'Liberate Palestine, free Kuwait and, unite America'
One of the most beautiful things about Kuwaisiana is the wide breadth of experience they share as a band, because while +Aziz is from Kuwait, Yousef is Palestinian-American, and Brian grew up Mormon.
Together, they weave a story of real intersectionality and connectedness that this world desperately needs.
On their Instagram bio, it reads “Liberate Palestine, free Kuwait and, unite America,” and touches on the band’s eagerness to bring together the world in solidarity and strength.
“There's a struggle that's happening in every part of the world, and that's where we align ourselves — with the people who are struggling, feeling like outcasts or marginalised. And I think that whether you're in any of those places, you're feeling this really undefinable tension.”
But as +Aziz explains, that tension is not something we should be addressing in pockets and singularities, but something we need to focus on as a larger community. “We have to simultaneously address a lot of overwhelming things [at the same time] to get any potential movement going.”
Perhaps, by listening to bands like Kuwaisiana and opening yourselves up to stories that you might not have come across before, you’ll see just how much you share with them. And in learning that, maybe you’ll see how the struggle for liberation, self-determination, and peace is one better fought together than in our own separate bubbles.
Mishriff is available now on all major streaming platforms. For more information on Kuwaisiana, the EP, and upcoming show dates visit their official website at www.kuwaisiana.com and STREAM 'MISHRIFF' NOW
Tariq Raouf is a Palestinian-American Muslim writer, based in Seattle
Follow them on Instagram: @tariq_raouf