Some details about the band:

The band kicked off in 2009 with Dyaz on vocals and Emz on guitars. Although the band consisted of 2 females, their taste in music was indeed a force to be reckoned with. They decided to explore a deeper and darker side of music, one that can speak out to individuals at different levels. Most of the lyrics are based on real life situations and some even revolve around their own personal life experiences. The music itself was not limited to a certain style, but rather chosen carefully to capture the emotions behind the lyrics. With this approach, you’ll find the songs ranging from soft rock to grunge to full blown heavy metal!

Taken from their profile at Mideast Tunes.

Below you’ll find a podcast with the band’s two members.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Busac, without whom this interview (and many other things) wouldn’t be possible. Busac is a musician himself, and has helped numerous musicians in the country thrive with production assistance, support, etc. Amongst other things Busac was the primary inspiration behind Mideast Tunes. You would hear him mentioned towards the end of the podcast as Scarlet Tear’s members give their thanks to people who helped them get to where they are today, including Thee Project, who continue to offer their generous support to the band.

Today we speak with Huma Imtiaz, Pakistani journalist, who gives us an insight of what’s going on.

We are extremely proud of Nuha’s work and her continued dedication. For more information please visit the Alliance for Kurdish Rights website, and please considering installing this Facebook application.

Blag Hag blogger Jen McCreight responded by saying women should show off their cleavage as a playful sign of protest.

Golbarg Bashi and Negar Mottahedeh had a different reaction. Listen to this podcast and find out what it is!

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For an endless stream of fabulous content, please subscribe to her blog and follow her tweets.

This is the first podcast in a long series on homosexuality in Sudan. Mideast Youth talks to Ali, a single gay Sudanese man living and working in the Gulf. When Ali started his blog, black-gay-Arab, he was only trying to find himself. Three years later, Ali has a lot of followers and writes about his identity as a gay man, posts videos and songs featuring interviews with mothers finding about that their sons are gay and shares the struggle of LGBT people in many Arab countries.

In this podcast, we discuss his identity, his struggles and the situation of LGBT people in the Arab world.

In his blog, Ali shares some of his views on the subject of coming-out of the closet or revealing to people your sexuality.

Marwan Kamel is a son of Syrian father and a Polish mother, and grew up in Chicago. 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. [Read more.]

In this podcast, Marwan talks about his background, influences, issues of identity, and a lot of things in between.

This is one of their music videos, Miskeen, best described by Daniela as the following:

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.

You may also stream the following songs:

Gaza Choking:

Download.

A Las Cinco:

Download.

For more of their music, photos, and information, check out their MySpace page. You should also follow them on Twitter @althawra.

Most of us at Mideast Youth wholeheartedly support this project and can’t wait to start collaborating with them in the near future.

In the meantime, here is the podcast.

Every once in a while I contact my friend Huma Imtiaz, a Pakistani journalist, for updates. You may remember her from this previous podcast. This time she’s here to let us know why these attacks are taking place, by whom, where, and what the government is doing about it (nothing, apparently.)

Huma blogs here. You are encouraged to subscribe to her RSS feed.

Keep in mind that most of what’s in the podcast is a result of our observations and personal opinions. Regardless of whether or not you agree, we urge you to keep the conversation respectful.