When I was a little girl, I used to believe in angels, magic and that everyone is going to heaven!
I used to think that if I’m in danger, angels will save me!
And if I’m having a bad day, it is ok ,
because I’ll end up in heaven.

I’ve never felt sorry about kids with no parents, or my friend, that girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at.
Because no matter what happens, God will take them to heaven.

When I caught my mum crying after my grandma passed away, I didn’t even try to cheer her up
I though: oh it can’t be that bad, God knows she’s mad,
and he’ll take care of it, isn’t that’s why he invented heaven?
So that kids with no parents can have a shoulder to cry on when they’re sad?
So that my friend, the girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at, can actually laugh one day? Not out of misery, not out of shame, out of happiness and out of joy
So She can pick up the tiny pieces of her dreams off the floor, the dreams that everyone tried to destroy?
And that one day, instead of remembering her as the girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at,
she can be remembered as the most beautiful ,smart ,funny girl who knew no matter what happens, god will take us to heaven!

Now I’m not a little girl no more, I know that there’s no magic, there’s no angels…and probably there’s no heaven!
I know that kids with no parents, will have pain, sorrow and tears
And at the end of the night, there will be no one to whisper goodnight in their ears.
And when I think of my friend, I still remember her as the girl with big glasses at school who everyone used to laugh at!

Now, I know that life can be hard…it can be tragic,
and I can guarantee you, there’s no fairy tales and there’s no magic!

And that life can be an awful song, with bad rhymes that you have to listen to every morning!
But you have to sing it anyway, and sing it loud until your ears fall in love with what they’re hearing.

I tasted the bitterness and I’m still striving to taste the sweet.
I gave pieces of my heart away more than once without asking for anything, and I was like: hey, that’s my treat!
When I was close to the edge and about to fall, I reached out to life,
and instead of taking my hand she gave me an earthquake
I looked up and said no no, don’t expect me to fall…not that quick!

Life, tried to shake my faith, as hard as she could, and you know what! some of my faith is lost now
But As a grown up women, I still play hide and seek and merry go rounds
I hide from pain and seek comfort under my mum’s arms.
I run away from the people I don’t like and around the ones I love.

And if you’re having a bad day, I’ll tell you don’t worry, it is ok
Cause no matter what happens, god will take us to heaven!

As a British – Born Kurdish Health professional whereby having graduated in the cutting edge field of Biomedical Informatics I wanted to prove locally, nationally and internationally that this is not an accurate reflection of the Kurdish people.

Indeed, after visiting Kurdistan for the first time in July 2011 & October 2011 it was quite hard not to notice the wealth of talent, determination and skills that stem from the Kurdish professionals.

After visiting different universities and hospitals it was clear professionals and the youth were very dynamic and keen to grow. Moreover, the influx of girls being encouraged to study and work was overwhelming and an area that carries my support. As with any system, there will be flaws but a reform is happening and I always think of the saying ‘Rome was not built in a day’.

My message to my fellow Kurds has always been to study and utilize the knowledge gained effectively and contribute it back to Kurdistan. For Kurdish Anfal recognition I started an e-petition on the British Government website urging them to recognize and remember the Kurdish Anfal. Indeed,www.ekurd.net the weapon of defense for our forefathers was riffles but now it’s the pen and it should be used to protect Kurdistan and show the world the talent this forgotten nation holds.

However, actions speak louder then words so I nominated the Slemani Autism Centre a project initiated by a non-political NGO called Kurdistan Save The Children working collaboratively with the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs for the most prestigious award of public service from the United Nations. This is the first time in history that Iraq has been nominated for such an award and my rationale for doing so was because it promotes and integrates disability into society. it acts as a platform to encourage community partnership & serves as an educational tool in reforming the stigmatization of disabilities.

We may not win the award but at least we are striving hard to try and compete intellectually at that platform and will be recognized for attempting.

Kurdistan may not be independent at the moment but by working collaboratively as one voice we can claim independence at other channels, nationally and internationally which will gradually lead to Kurdistan’s independence by having people informed on our capabilities and peaceful rich culture.

Thus, as Kurds we must never give up, never be pessimistic and always support each other and aim high, with the hope we may become recognized for our good qualities and talented workforce.

Laween Atroshi
UK Health Informatician & Ambassador For Peace (UPF)
All views & opinions are of my own and do not reflect my employers or any organization whom I have a direct or indirect affiliation with.

Tweet me @laweenatroshi and let me know your opinions, I could be wrong but this is how I feel from my experience. My views do not reflect any individual or institution. www.laweenatroshi.com

Video of Bardo sit-in, December 6 (sit-inners chanting “the people claim the separation of powers”)

General Mobilization, a call from Doustourna:

“Doustourna, we’re from the street and we’ll come back to it”

Political activists from Doustourna have called via facebook to a “General Mobilization” in front of the National Constituent Assembly on December 30 from 9 a.m. to midday to criticize the draft law providing for the provisional organisation of the public authorities presented by the the majority tripartite coalition, which comprises Ennahdha Movement, the Congress for the Republic party and the Democratic Forum for Labour and Liberties. The sit-in actually continues until this minute. According to Doustourna, this draft law will re-establish dictatorship bcause of the following reasons:

- The powers of the prime minister are absolute and illimited (The Prime Ministeris from Ennahdha party).

- The powers of the president of the republic are very limited.

- The referundum on the constitution was not mentioned.

The goals of the “General Mobilization” and the continuing Occupy Bardo are mainly:

-  The seperation between the three powers.

-   50%+1 are necessary to nominate the three presidents (the president of the Assembly, the president of the republic and the president of the government)

-  The adoption of each article of the constitution requires a two-third majority

-  A two-third majority is necessary for the ratification of the constitution in case of a second reading.

- Insertion of the Code of Personal Status in the constitution

- Members of the Constituent Assembly should not hold positions in the government.

-  Live broadcast of the negotiations of the Constituent Assembly.

- 50%+1 votes are necessary to grant and repeal confidence from the government (the draft proposes 50+1 to grant confidence and 2/3 to repeal it.)

- Bringing killers of martyrs to court without delay.

- Granting the injured of the revolution their rights.

- Giving unemployed people from Gafsa priority over others concerning job opportunities in the field of phosphate.
- The independence of the judiciary

Representatives of the political parties and components of civil society as well as thousands of citizens are occping Bardo.

The Salafists Sit-in at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Manouba, Tunis prompts a reaction on the part of Bardo secularist sit-inners:

Salafist students have been holding a sit-in in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Manouba, Tunis, since Monday, December 28 after a girl wearing niqab was prevented from sitting for the exam. Lessons were suspended and other students prevented from sitting for their exams. The number of girls wearing the full-face veil are 3 out of 40,000 students. Salafist students have been camping out in front of the Dean’s offic who said he was held hostage all night on the first day of the sit-in. Salafist students asked for the right of girls wearing the niqab tobe enrolled at universities and to sit for exams. They also asked for a prayer room at university and no gender mixing in classrooms. The last demand which challenges a whole tradition of education in Tunisia was denied later on. The Dean affirmed that he had been physically abused on Wednesday after salafists broke into the universities despite suspending lectures.

In response to violence against the Dean, university teachers, students, political parties representatives, trade unionists and citizens rallied in front of the Constituent Assembly in Bardo on Thursday, December 1, to add other demands to those claimed by the sit-inners. They emphasized the importance of respecting academics, separating between powers and not between genders and denounced extremism.

Testimony of a student who witnessed violence at the Faculty of Manouba and took part in the Bardo sit-in (Video shot in December 1)

The protest was an action part of the general strike decided by the General Higher Education and Scientific Research Federation stemming from the Tunisian General Labour Union, following the violence against the Dean of the Faculty of Manouba.

Among the sit-inners who were camping out in front of the Constituent Assembly, a number of citizens has come from the Gafsa, the Mining Basin to claim their right to work and denounce the maldistribution of wealth. Citizens also demounced mixing religion in politics and education which distracts Tunisians from the real issues such as employment, the independence of the judiciary and the injured of the revolution.

The Commission on public authorities’ provisional organisation had adopted, on December 2, the draft law providing for the provisional organisation of the public authorities after some amendments that increased the prerogatives of the President of the Republic and reduced those of the Prime Minister. The amendments also ensured the adoption of the country’s new constitution with a two-third majority by the National constituent Assembly or else a referendum would be held.

Islmists pour to Bardo

On Saturday, December 3, thousands of islamists and secularists held parallel protests as islamists and salafists poured in hundreds to Bardo in answer to the sit-in in which has been staged there since Wednesday. They claimed that the people wanted an Islamic regime and that the Bardo sit-inners should accept the will of Tunisians who have elected the only religious Tunisian party Ennahdha in a relative majority and respect Islam which is the religion of the vast majority. Islamists waved Ennahda flags and black banners of the Salafist Hizb Tahrir which did not get a licence and did not take part in the elections held on October 23. Islamists asserted that secularist governments in Tunisia never gave them the full right to exercise the Islamic faith in total freedom and claimed the right to niqab for girls. They considered the attempt to ban the niqab at university to be much similar to Ben Ali’s ban of the hijab (the veil) in public places.

The Bardo sit-in is continuing. Keep up with all the developments and lively discussions on the ground via this live channel.

Feras Baqna, Hussam Al-Drewesh and Khaled Al-Rashed started an online television series based in Saudi Arabia called “We are being cheated.” They posted several episodes on topics that are often not covered by mainstream Saudi television. The last episode was called ‘Poverty’ where many issues were raised regarding Saudi Arabia and increasing poverty, which is ignored by the government. As a result on October 16, 2011 these three young Saudi men were summoned by the Bureau of investigation and Prosecution. They have been detained ever since, without charges, arrest warrant or legal representative.

The online series was started by these three young men because they loved Saudi Arabia and wanted to change aspects of it that were implemented poorly. Highlighting poverty was not to mock Saudi Arabia, but to change the lives of those who are poor by giving them better opportunities. Instead of these three pioneers being applauded, they were met with an iron fist, making the Kingdom appear as ridiculous, even more so than the ban on women driving.

Every country needs an opposition, it will keep the ruling party in check through scrutiny and accountability. Saudi Arabia’s attempts to censor voices of opposition, or concerned citizens will inevitably led to increased frustration and anger. And this particular case sets a precedent for future Saudi youth that their voices don’t matter, and efforts to highlight injustices will be met with scrutiny, which means citizens of Saudi Arabia must campaign for this case, and not allow censorship to continue.

The last video which led to their detainment has been translated to English, but was originally published without the subtitles, and has over one million views since the arrest. You can watch the video below for yourself and be the judge on whether the content was appropriate. If you believe their detainment is unlawful, please support their release campaign and raise awareness.

How can you help?

1. Raise awareness through social networking sites, on Twitter follow the Hashtag #Mal3ob3lena, and post their campaign blog on Human rights groups on Facebook.
2. Make a video on Youtube to show your support.
3. Contact the Saudi Embassy in your country and ask for their release.
4. Get in touch with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other relevant organisations to help this campaign grow bigger.
5.  Start a petition.

…Just don’t stay silent.

Hip-Hop and Rap are part of the few genres that were made to be used as a vehicle for exposing social injustice and expressing pent-up frustration. Be that as it may, it’s really no surprise that music from said genres with the same vibe as what was being produced in the 80′s and 90′s in the US is rising from Middle Eastern and African nations. I’d like to highlight in that respect how this musical movement has helped the Kurdish people raise awareness all around the world of the extreme persecution being carried out on them. Due to how isolated Kurdistan is from most of the world, the musicians with the most success in that end tend to be those that immigrate to foreign countries which adds an interesting slant to the music. What you are getting is still an authentic expression of those that experienced oppression but as filtered through someone who has seen that better is possible in places that accept their craft while holding a unique appreciation for their message.

Even so, on the rare case that something from within Kurdistan does reach the outside world, language barriers certainly do not impede their message. This kind of ties in with the 80′s-90′s vibe that I mentioned earlier since everything from the beat to the rhyming itself has a very somber undercurrent to it. It’s something that is easily recognizable which makes it a perfect example of how music has the power to transcend all borders that we erect between each other. Great examples of this would be Disaster and Aryan R2. Though techniques and style used is similar to what’s being put out today around the world, what is truly unique is the apprehension and tension that they build within their music. Understanding the lyrics truly isn’t necessary.

What intrigues me the most and what I find to be a refreshing change, is how some choose to rhyme in Kurdish even when living overseas. Some might say that that limits their audience dramatically, which is true to some extent, but I think that it also keeps their culture alive in the music. That is an element that I think is drastically needed in the face of what’s happening to their people back home. In the end, this music is part of what keeps the Kurdish spirit alive and strong no matter where her people may be residing. If you need further proof of this, look no farther than Siwan Erdal, Tolhildan, and Welat. As I always tend to advise, close your eyes and open your mind to their plight.

This idea has drawn my attention, through it’s ease, simplicity and in the same time creativity in which it gives each person the space to be creative in his own way, that is; you choose the theme, idea and place of your video, and when and what to comment, and after that, a documentary will be made, featuring videos collected about this day from all countries of the world.

One Day On Earth is a 3 years old idea, being first thought of and planned in early 2008, and executed for the first time in 10.10.10, and it was a total success; videos from all countries of the globe (192 countries, just imagine) were collected and viewed, including videos from war-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, and the famine-savaged Africa.

This year, everyone is looking forward to this day to implement the idea he/she is thinking of, and to show the whole world how his/her country is on this day, making this day of 11.11.11, truly, one of a kind.

Registering for this event can done through the following link:  www.onedayonearth.org

Riding on the heels of his latest album release, “difrent,” Stephan Said has been keeping busy with a project of the same name which aims to erase the borders that separate us with the power of music. His vision, in everything that he does, is to unite people under the common desire for peace; not just the older generations which most cater to. He wants to showcase and, at the same time, inspire the youth of the world. To give them the incentive to continue speaking out with music as their guide to a better world for all. His journey in music, starting in early childhood years, led eventually to a reconiclation with his own bi-racial heritage and that inner peace fuels every action that he has taken since. Difrent, the album and project, are a direct palpale manifestation of that. It is a movement as powerful as humanity’s capacity for empathy, something that I feel is the core of music itself. With that said, I thorougly enjoyed the experience of getting to know him a bit more on a personal level and I hope that you do too while you listen in on this interview. Podcast posted at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!

Recently, Stephan has been partaking in the Wallstreet protests which you can check out live footage of here:

Also, of the books I read in prison “In Search of Identity” for the former president “Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat”. He narrated a story, thought to be about Napoleon Bonaparte, which caught my attention. The story says that when Napoleon was in captivity, his jailers wanted to humiliate him, so they made the gate of the cell low so that he would be forced to bend his head whenever he wanted to exit or enter from the cell. However, Napoleon refused to bend his head, so he used to sit on the floor and enter sitting, so that he wouldn’t bend his head. This story reminded me of a saying for Amal Donqol in the poem “The Last Words of Spartacus” when he said “I’m hanged on the gallows and my head is bent, because I didn’t bend it alive”… So, I decided that I won’t bend my head to my enemies as long as I’m alive, even if that lead to my head being bent on the gallows.

Also, in Sadat’s book, he talked about circumstances of his imprisonment and rumors about that there was at one of the prisons an imprisoned count who was never acting as a prisoner, but as if he was still a count. Prisoners used to laugh at him continuously because he doesn’t live his reality, while his dignity refuses that he detracts his self-esteem… Here in prison, they continuously want to destroy the strength of my personality and always tell me “you’re imprisoned, you’re guilty, you’re sentenced to 3 years in prison”. As for me, I still see myself as the blogger and the famous political prisoner who tens of thousand are interested in his views. I will never allow prison to break me.

Despite my great hatred to Hitler, I can’t prevent myself from strong admiration for committing suicide when he was defeated in a battle… Hitler had a great feeling of dignity and megalomania, he didn’t accept the handcuffs be put on his hands or to be subjected to insult by armies of his enemies, so he preferred death over the insult of his dignity… My dignity also prevents me from accepting insult from militarists, I refuse life in the circumstances of continuous attempts to break my pride.
I’m not the first one to enter a hunger strike objecting my imprisonment… Sadat did it before me… Gandhi did it as well and when the Indian people came violently to free Gandhi, fearing his death because of his strike, he commanded them to step-back, because he refuses to be freed by violence.

When I feel that I could die because of the strike, I remember Mohamed Bouazizi… Mohamed Bouazizi is my greatest source of strength in my strike… Mohamed Bouazizi’s death was the reason for the start of the Arab Spring and changing history… That’s what I tell myself: never mind dying, if my death is going to benefit millions after me.

Ernesto Che Guevara was used to saying “I prefer to die standing to live kneeling”. It is said that when he was executed, they made him kneel, then started shooting bullets to his head. His enemies wished to see him kneeling… OK, the man doesn’t concern me, only his wonderful saying concern me. I won’t kneel for injustice and I’ll die with my dignity and it’s more honorable to me than a life with no dignity.

Holy books for Jews mention a story of the Babylonian captive when the people of Israel captives in Babylonia were living the life of slavery. At that time the Jewish people were invoking their god to free them from eating the bread of slavery (the bad bread which was given as food to slaves). But, I decided not to wait for anyone to free me, I’m a master and I refuse to eat the bread of slavery, I won’t eat any food as long as I’m in prison, till I get my freedom.

I could die as a result of my hunger strike, but that would benefit thousands of prisoners after me. After that, the authorities won’t ignore any hunger strike. There have be some sacrifices so that the extent of human rights in any homeland extends.

If I were free these days, I would have organized for a general hunger strike for all who were militarily tried… It is said that another 12 thousand were militarily tried in the past months. If only a thousand prisoners of them made a strike demanding to be be civilly tried, then that is enough to shake any regime in the universe.

Freedom has a price and we should pay it

Maikel Nabil Sanad
El-Marg General prison
The interior section – prison hospital
2011/9/11 after 20 days on a hunger strike

I kinda lucked out with this one. A friend happened to get me into personal contact with Busac of Smouldering In Forgotten for an interview via email. As people know, I’m very fond of conversational interviews any way I can get it other than verbal. This was an interesting one that spanned a total of two weeks with a week of inactivity due to hurricane Irene interrupting my trip back home from a much needed two day vacation spent in Michigan. How the world works in the Mideast is opening up, if not ever so slowly, to those in the US and it’s a very positive thing. So many here hardly know anything about people living there and music helps bridge that gap. Interviews help even more in that vein and this one was excellent in that respect (and in every other way I might add). As always, enjoy the read and getting to know Busac!

What made each of you choose metal as the primary medium in which to express yourselves?

I suppose it just came naturally. We were all friends before starting the band and all had this common attitude and were interested in mostly the same music because we enjoyed all the chaotic aggression found in more extreme sides of metal.

How did you guys come to get into metal, never mind the more extreme sub-genres, in Bahrain? Consequently, how did you all meet and come to find that you had the same attitude/ideology?

Our main exposure to metal came from the Internet. A few years back, metal albums weren’t usually available in music shops around here, and if they were they’d usually be more mainstream bands. Nowadays, metal in Bahrain is growing little by little and albums are easier to come by. My personal experience and interest in this music primarily came from watching a local underground gig years ago, that atmosphere is what really encouraged me to listen to this type of music.

It’s because of small local gigs that our paths crossed and helped form a bond between people here. We all liked the dark atmosphere,and we all like the rebellious and independent nature behind the music and it inspired many of us.

Since it was so hard to find the music, I am betting that it was just as hard for you to pick up instruments when you finally decided to do so. Which instrument attracted you and how did you go about your search to acquire it? What was the learning process like? Were you able to find any teachers in Bahrain for the instrument?

Almost all metal musicians around here are self taught, which is also a reason why many get frustrated and give up. For myself, I started learning guitar almost 9 years ago on my own and then about 4 years ago started to learn drums too for the sake of the band to play live (there aren’t many drummers around here). The learning process was a bit difficult since there was no one to guide us in the right path, we relied on each other for support and encouragement. There are a few music institutes around the country but resources are very limited and are usually aimed more towards basic training only, not so much when it comes to a more advanced level.

So it seems that that made you guys come form closer relationships with each other than most people do in bands over here. I know that in Bahrain, metal is very much looked down upon by society. How do you deal with that and still stay committed to the music that you love? Is living a double life necessary?

Sometimes living a double life just happens on its own because people generally do find it odd that we play loud music such as this and they believe that it is still a phase that we will eventually grow out of. This is one of the bigger challenges we face here because not many people are willing to dedicate a lot towards their passion in music, so when society starts playing a negative role then it just kills it for them completely. The thing that really encouraged us was hearing positive reviews from our releases, usually coming from abroad through social networking sites or album reviews.

As such, what’s recording albums and playing live for you guys like? I’m pretty sure that you can’t record your stuff in professional studios over there, right? What’s the live scene like over there? Tell me about the first time that you ever played live in a band.

Things have been dead here for quite some time but have started to improve recently. We couldn’t find a proper studio at the time so we had to literally make our own out of a bedroom. We invested and took the time to learn the proper steps to make it happen, it was a real struggle. Our experiences playing live is the reward that comes from all the hard work, when we are finally able to see what our music means to people. My first live experience was in 2004, I was a guitarist in a cover band, as soon as I got on stage I knew this was where I wanted to be. Good thing is that within the last 2 years, the number of gigs is starting to increase and there is finally a professional studio opening up soon, Rabble Rouser Studios, for metal bands to record in.

That sounds great! It should also make things easier for bands looking to be signed. Being how small Bahrain is, I’m sure that that almost every metal musician knows about one another in some way. Would you say that you all help support each other despite any differences you may have in approach to music with one another? I read that Mardus played a large role in keeping musicians connected over there, in what way was he able to accomplish that?

Actually you described it perfectly. Metal fans around here form a small community, maybe even a family. I don’t think there are any two bands in the country who haven’t already played with each other in gigs at some point and remained in touch afterwords. We encourage each other, offer whatever help we can for other musicians, even provide facilities if we have any. For instance, my bedroom studio was used to record for many bands besides our own, including Narjahanam, Lunacyst, Extinction Imminent, Punks Not Patriots, Scarlet Tear, and even more solo acts that have yet to be released.

I wouldn’t say Mardus keeps musicians connected, but rather he is an inspiration to many people here, including myself, for having his own vision and actually being able to accomplish it with Smouldering In Forgotten as well as Narjahanam. I haven’t met that many vocalists over here who can growl like him, and moreover, I haven’t met many musicians in the region who can pull off Arabian styled metal as well as he did with Narjahanam.

Ah, I see. So he was one of the first successful musicians from your country, basically. Do musicians from your region tend to work with those from the surrounding countries as well, i.e., the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc? Where did you guys come up with the name “Smouldering in Forgotten” by the way? I’ve been wondering that for awhile.

We’ve had the opportunity to go do Dubai last year for a gig and are actually going there again late September to play in the “Obscura Live In Dubai” gig. Bands from Saudi, such as Sound of Ruby, have come over to Bahrain almost regularly for gigs, Nervecell once came to Bahrain too a short while ago. The only band we worked with in terms of writing music was Al Namrood from Saudi Arabia, Mardus agreed to be a session vocalist for one album and it was recorded in my bedroom studio.

“Smouldering In Forgotten” is a phrase in the song “Upon This Deathbed Of Cold Fire” by Goatwhore. This band was a big influence on us at the time we started the band and it just sounded cool.

Reading your lyrics, they’re very interesting. What inspires them and who does the lyric writing for the band? Also, you mentioned Goatwhore being a huge influence on you guys, any other bands influence your sound as much? Where did you guys get the artwork for your albums? They’re pretty damn good, especially for your 2010 release.

The lyrics were a journey of their own that took a whole year to get done. For our last album, we worked with a good friend of ours, Hammers. He has always supported us so we wanted to involve him in this release somehow. We know he’s an amazing story teller so we sat in lots of brainstorming sessions before deciding to tell a whole story throughout the album, with each track representing a certain event leading to the next. We won’t reveal the details of the story though, you need to do that on your own through the lyrics. All I can say is that it revolves around many themes like revenge, insanity, myths, war… etc.

Goatwhore was definitely a big influence when we first started the band and it really shows in our album “Legions Into Black Flames” in terms of music. By the next release we decided to add a little more variety from other genres, making it more atmospheric, a bit of death metal here and there, some thrash, classical, and even gothic at one point. So it’s a little difficult to name the influences there, it was just a whole lot of experimentation.

The artwork of “I, Devourer” was done by Killustrations, really amazing artist with a twisted taste, definitely a wonderful opportunity to have worked with him. The artwork of the previous releases were designed by us.

For you personally, what keeps you motivated to do what you do, i.e. creating music and helping musicians around you?

For me, it’s just seeing how people react and respond to my music that motivates me. I’m not saying I’m an amazing musician or composer, but I’ve been getting positive reviews so far so that lets me know that I’m on the right track. This is also what makes me want to help people because I know that not everyone has the resources or the time to do everything they want to. I was fortunate enough to be able to commit enough of my time to learn how the recording process works, but others don’t always have this time. If not me, then who?

Creating music is an almost entirely different story though, I can never trigger it no matter how hard I tried. Sometimes it just hits me and I already have a full vision of a song and sometimes I feel like I struggle for months before writing anything. It’s hard to determine what really does it for me, but I try and maintain a certain level of quality in anything I write so I end up not using and forgetting many things I come up with.

Does your interest in music extend to other styles or do you just stick to the extreme genres of metal? Do you have any long term plans for yourself in music? Is there are particular goal that you want to achieve before you are able to “retire” with satisfaction? How does Smoldering In Forgotten fit into those plans?

We occasionally write stuff besides metal, it’s usually more geared towards classical I suppose, an example of this was the ending of “Spiritus Nes Sancti,” that ending inspired the rest of the song. I personally try to explore other music styles as well, as evident in the band Scarlet Tear. Give it a listen and I hope you enjoy it.

My only goal is to go wherever my music takes me. Right now I’m planning on studying music at a well established college, but other than that, I guess we just want to leave our mark in Bahrain’s metal music history.

Seems like you’ve left a pretty nice mark so far. I would like to thank you for doing this interview with me, it’s been a great pleasure and I learned quite a bit about the music scene there. As a closing remark, please describe four our readers one of the greatest hurdles that you’ve had and how you’ve overcome it while transversing your still evolving path as a metal musician in Bahrain.

All I can say is to stay true to yourself and you’ll find your own way to get your message across. All our biggest challenges would have been easily avoided if we decided to take an easier way out, but on the other hand, it’s these challenges that make it all worthwhile in the end.

I also want to thank you for giving me the pleasure of being in this interview. It’s certainly a first time for me to take part in a 2 week interview.