Listen to Al Thawra: Meet the Revolution

by Daniela

I never knew hardcore music could be soothing, but this is the effect Al Thawra has on me. Their album Who Benefits from War has many layers: samples of Middle Eastern music, recorded voices and sounds, on top of it, heavy guitars playing mantra like tunes, and an apocalyptic voice screaming dark incantations. The Al Thawra music is as rich as the story of taqwacore. I got to talk with Marwan Kamel, who screams, plays the guitar, the violin, and works the samples for the band.

Marwan Kamel is a son of Syrian father and a Polish mother, and grew up in Chicago. We talked a bit about Al Thawra music and a bit about his identity, and of course THE taqwacore movement and THE Taqwacores book (as seems inevitable in all the beginning taqwacore conversations). I was wondering if the questions about the identity and the book get boring or irritating given these bands must be asked the same thing over and over by the media since 2007.

Marwan was philosophical about this: He said the story becomes whatever the writer wants it to be. Often they already decided on the story before they talk to you, and, if you want publicity, you kind of have to bite the bullet. So, where do we start? I started on the Wikipedia: this is where I found Al Thawra, when trying to read up on the taqwacore movement.  Their video, Disorientation caught my attention, and so I set out to learn more about their story. I got their album, and fell in love with their music. Marwan says they are influenced by Sufi, and by Western experimental music (such as the composer John Cage), and one can really hear it. I swear I can hear Phil Glass inspiration somewhere in-between the lawyers too. I feel that with Al Thawra, you have to listen between the layers of sounds to really appreciate their music.

The beginnings of Al Thawra date to 2006 or 2007, when Marwan started experimenting with music on his computer. He calls it “me and my computer phase.”  He was trying to mix Middle Eastern music with punk and metal, trying to find commonalities, and differences. He put his song online for the first time sometimes in 2007, and within weeks, The Newsweek was calling him about an article they were doing on “Islam in America” (whatever that means).

Now, a question always comes up, what came first: forming the band, or reading Mike Knight’s book, The Taqwacores (published in 2003), which gave the name to this movement. In this case, Mike Knight and The Kominas somehow found the Al Thawra song online, and Mike Knight sent his book to Marwan. The book itself is a powerful story of several friends, living in a punk house in Buffalo, exploring sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll and questioning the traditions and conservatism of the Muslim community. The book has become something of a legend as it gave the name to the movement, and deserves a post in its own right. Marwan finished the book in two days, and felt like he could relate to its spirit.

Marwan says he sees a conservative Sunni community, with Imams in the US mosques being “imported” from Saudi Arabia, denying anything remotely different, such as the Shi’a form of Islam, and Sufism;  on the other hand, there are the mass media and general public, with their displays of prejudice, racism, and hate against the Muslims. Marwan said that this prejudice is probably the last “socially acceptable” form of racism in the United States, with even mass media displaying it without any repercussion.

One example Marwan quoted was when the shoe got thrown at George W. in Iraq. Some TV station commented on this as if it was some exotic custom: “Throwing shoes is a serious insult in Middle East.” Marwan was just thinking: why do they need to point this out? It’s as serious here in the US. It’s not like I’d be happy if someone were to throw a shoe on me here…. “Funny thing is, that shoe really did make a lasting impression on more than one taqwacore band. The Kominas made a point of throwing their shoes at their epic show in Oakland. I think one important message that taqwacore bands bring is that it’s time to get attuned to this prevalent and insidious prejudice, and start speaking up, speaking up like the philosopher Edward Said who talked about fascination with “Orientalism,” and whose words are used in Al Thawra’s video for Disorientation. Said says   “Orientalism is completely about the manufacture of the other, and that other is really of great convenience to oneself. It’s mainly done for purposes of domination….” We can see how the media today still perpetuate the notion of the “Other” when it comes to Muslims, and how dangerous the dehumanizing notion of the “Other” can be.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVI0xV6_gdA[/youtube]

Al Thawra music carries many other political themes, their song Miskeen, which means “someone who is doomed (or followed by bad fortune), comments on the situation in Gaza. It starts with a young Palestinian girl, reciting a sort of political protest poem, saying “we are the revolution,” the heirs of Salah ad-Din…. while the video shows dark streets of Chicago, public transport scene, and Al Thawra band members, with grim and somber expressions, as if reflecting the gloomy mood stemming from the incomprehensible and pointless oppression, regardless where it takes place.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNFjIkUodv4[/youtube]

Al Thawra’s songs are a commentary on political issues, and a criticism of hypocrisy, prejudice, and violence on all sides. The name of the band means The Revolution, and when we spoke with Marwan, we agreed on how this revolution really starts inside. How one has to go through, and face the darkness, but make sure that peace is first and foremost in one’s own heart, and relationships to one’s own family, friends, and community.

When it comes to community Al Thawra and the other taqwacores do find themselves in a strange place of tension that probably feeds their creativity. They feel the pull of their parents’ culture, as well as the pull of the culture of the US where they grew up. But they don’t completely belong anywhere. When Marwan goes to Syria, he is considered an American, here in the US, he is considered a Syrian. You know these questions, right – “Where are you from,  ORIGINALLY.” And the same thing with Islam: the Muslim community is not a homogenous group: there are variations in interpretation of the Holy Quran, variations in conservatism, but it is not likely that a traditional Muslim community would embrace a band of punks with open arms.

In 2007, Al Thawra and four other bands set out on a tour, accompanied by Omar Majeed, a film maker from Toronto who was working on his documentary called Taqwacores. They decided to conclude their tour at the ISNA conference in Chicago: the largest Muslim conference in North America. The bands decided to sign up to perform in at its Open Mic, which created an interesting reaction: the organizers were shocked and called the police to stop the show. The first band to perform was an all female band Secret Trial Five from Toronto. Second was Diacritical/ Sarmust from Washington DC. The cops arrived at the point when Sarmust was singing his song Ignorance, and he and a number of others were shouting “Stop the Hate.” It created an interesting contrast. As if both the community of their spiritual roots, as well as the community of their physical home conspired against them, as the cops arrived to put an end to their show.  All was captured for Omar’s film, and you can watch its teaser including some footage from ISNA here.

Since then, ISNA changed its policies, and performers must audition before being able to perform at the Open Mic. This was 2007, and the taqwacores are still going strong. Omar Majeed’s documentary is opening at the Vancouver International Film Festival in two weeks, and a movie based on the book The Taqwacores directed by Eyad Zahra is in production. Al Thawra is working on a new material in co-operation with an Indonesian band, The GATT, and with a Turkish artist, Serhat Koksal. Give them a listen. From the tension between the cultures, they create something new, something integrated, and something that transcends. Their music does carry a political statement, and walks through some dark places, but their message is ultimately about inclusion, unity, and transformation. All sides of this story can take something away from it.