From Tetouan to Brussels Anwar Erases the Boundaries Between Musical Sounds

It's not the first time you've played in Morocco, but you're here as part of a series of concerts initiated by the Circle of Belgium laureates (CLB) How does it feel to come back home? It always makes me happy to come back and play in Morocco.

This is my country, my roots, my origins I'm happy to meet people here.

As a Belgian-Moroccan artist, I developed my work a lot in Belgium, in France I've done concerts all over Europe, a few times in the United States, but very little in Morocco, which is my country.

I think I belong here too, as an artist I was able to acquire some experience in Europe that I can bring here, through another way of making art and music.

It is not for the first time that I play in Morocco, yes I did a few small tours in the past, I was invited by the Federation of Wallonia-Brussels and I sang in bars-restaurants in Casablanca.

On the other hand, I've never done a festival or a big stage here, so I'm also here to see the possibilities in this direction I have six dates, in Tangier, Casablanca, Agadir and Rabat, in addition to less formal meetings and jam sessions.

This may be an opportunity to broaden the possibilities of coming back more often You are here to present your second album, “Lights”.

What musical register is there? I have already made a first album, “Beautiful Sunrise”, with Sony Music France and the American label Colombia Records He had his little life, with more than 22 million plays on the Spotify music streaming platform and lots of positive feedback.

After that, I was asked for a second album, in distribution at Universal Music, this time We worked on it with French artistic directors, to make a homogeneous, folk, bluesy and pop sound.

We hear a lot of guitar, keyboard, with sounds of the sixties and seventies This is what I came to present in particular, as part of my concert dates in Morocco.

We have already released a first single and five tracks, in a first EP which is on all platforms I wrote other songs, like “How can I do”.

This piece was not going to appear on an album, but it became a flagship title I remember writing it down on a piece of paper, sitting on the ground at the Casablanca train station, waiting to leave for Tangier.

It was six o'clock in the morning, I had gone to the café at the station to ask for something to write, they had given me a pencil The song was born that way and I was very hesitant to include it on the second album.

In the end, I received a lot of positive feedback and the song was successful with european radio stations What shaped your musical choices? We all have sources of musical inspiration from our family environment, during childhood.

My father was very into the hits of the 1960s and 1970s, everything from the Woodstock register, Jimi Hendrix, James Brown My mother listened more to Julio Iglesias, BB King, but also Arabic music like that of Warda, from time to time.

But until then, I didn't know Moroccan music at all My first contact with local music was in Tetouan, when I met a gnaoui who was singing while asking for coins.

This is the first time that I'm talking about this striking memory: I was fascinated by his percussion and his singing, to the point where it introduced me, in a way, to our ancestral repertoire, because I started to take a closer interest in it, since then I then met several connoisseurs of Gnaoua, especially since Tetouan, like all of northern Morocco, is known to have a very specific Gnaoui musical current in the region.

We started playing together In the beginning, I was the backing vocalist who sang in English, basically, and who did fusion with local groups.

What is the determining artistic encounter, Who marked a turning point in your musical career? The fundamental meeting that allowed me to propel myself to international labels was the one with the French artist Zaz At the end of one of my concerts, she came to see me congratulating me on my performance and asking me how she could help me make myself better known.

She then offered to accompany her on tour, to do the first part of her concerts I immediately found myself in large capacity halls, with 8,000 to 10,000 seats, notably the Zénith in Paris.

This was decisive for the rest of my career because on the second date of his tour, after playing in the legendary hall of the Casino de Paris, representatives from Sony Music came to see me, by offering to make a first album and sign a contract to release four I was also able to play the first parts with Mickey 3D, Jane, Boulevard des airs, Youri Buenaventura… I am very grateful to all the people who introduced me to the professional artistic environment and particularly to Zaz.

After musical influences, there are thematic inspirations What are the subjects that are close to your heart to the point of making songs about them? I don't put poetry or virtuosity in the lyrics of my songs.

Far from philosophizing to several degrees, I chose a simple register to talk about the things of everyday life The engine of the universe is love, so it's a main subject in many of my songs, without just relating my personal experience.

Songs from my first album, like “Lost in Babylon”, speak rather of migration and the dreams of a better tomorrow to which young people aspire and at the end of which they face a nightmare To write and compose my songs, I draw inspiration from all the experiences around me and from all the people I meet in my life.

I'm kind of a griot, a storyteller who makes choruses in a way that many can relate to, because I want my songs to be universal You lived between Morocco and Spain, before settling in Belgium.

What do you remember from these phases of your life? My grandparents emigrated to Belgium in the 1960s So I grew up there, with my mother.

My grandfather in Tetouan decided to resettle in Morocco My parents also followed him and from the age of 15, I too grew up in the country, where I had to relearn to speak Arabic fluently and to write it, to readjust myself to the education system, to everyday life here.

I also discovered my roots and my origins in a different way When I came back from Brussels, I spoke a Tetouan dialect, which I learned from my mother, who herself learned it from my grandfather in Belgium.

Suffice to say that I spoke a local Arabic of the 1960s, which often created a phase shift with friends who were the same age as me It was extraordinary to find his origins, to understand the path and the history of his grandparents, to know the great history of Morocco through them, with all the cultural diversity of which our country is rich.

Thanks to this, I got to know myself better and it gave me a lot of self-confidence, knowing where I come from, while continuing to learn from life I then left the family cocoon, I was supported by my parents, I worked with my father in Spain.

My grandfather, then owner of the only qoffa factory in Morocco, greatly instilled in us this self-entrepreneurial side of valuing work, the taste for effort and merit Ph.

Amin Bendriss I traveled a lot with my father in a truck, from a young age, to sell qoffa in all regions of the country I learned to negotiate, to do accounting, to reach out to people… At the age of eighteen, while at the baccalaureate, I already knew how to do manual trades and sell objects.

I then studied economics Coming back to Belgium with the dream of making a living from music, I had 5.

20 euros in my pocket, so I started doing odd jobs As soon as I finished my day, I took a guitar given by my cousin, for a long time, and I went to participate in jam sessions.

I asked around to learn how to play better and I repeated at home until my fingers hurt One thing leading to another, I started doing small concerts.

I knew I wanted to make music and despite the difficulties, I told myself that I always had to keep a positive attitude From the moment when we are positive, in all aspects of life, when we believe and we say to ourselves "I want to achieve this", when we remind ourselves of this every day, it will take the time will have to but everything will come true.

Whatever happens to us, either we learn from it, or we move forward With time, it becomes a mentality and a state of mind that you acquire.

After which, all the negative people will start moving out of your life, as they will no longer be compatible with you You will only find yourself with positive people, in a form of virtuous circle.

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