Avowed intent

Back home in Jordan again, for the first time since his LA-based band Avowed emerged from the seemingly bottomless morass of rock stars-in-waiting to release an accomplished debut album and harvest a hard core of committed fans, he can be forgiven for being self conscious about his attire. Jordanian rock stars, he has learned, still have Jordanian parents. “Well, I studied economics to appease my dad, but I think he always knew that I wanted music to be my career – and it seems my good grades got me off the hook,” he says. “But I’m sure the rest of my family wished I would get a proper job; it wasn’t that long ago that rock music here was associated with Satan worship! But at least I hardly drink these days – although that’s mainly to protect my voice.” 

 

And Arab parents need to be doubly aware: the success of Avowed, and the debut album of the same name, is proof that grad school – or indeed, sobriety – isn’t the only route to prosperity. Although the moniker “the land of the free” is one America doesn’t quite always live up to, you can hardly criticise a country where a kid with the most Muslim-sounding name this side of Mohammad Ali can arrive with a guitar, a leather jacket and a few copied Bon Jovi tapes and go on to sell out a venue as legendary as the Viper Room. 

 

Conversely, in Amman, the packs of pre-teen kids who are now staring at the curly-haired, goatee-bearded 30-year-old as we try to find somewhere for a cliché-free-but-still-locally-relevant portrait, have no idea he is even from this planet, never mind from these very streets. His other-worldly appearance, filling up an iron gate or overlooking the stone-coloured folds of Downtown Amman, merits an avalanche of hellos in English, and even his Jordan-accented Arabic responses merely prompt a renewed flurry of TV English. He immediately expresses reservations about his forthcoming interview on the Arabic radio station Sawt al-Ghad. 

 

“I’d put up a flier asking for a guitarist, and after about six months of false starts, Jesse calls me up, comes by the garage and from the very first note we played, we knew we had something,” says Emad. “At first, it was me bringing all the songs to the band, but eventually he started coming forward with ideas – and he comes from a hardcore Dream Theater and Pantera background – and introduced a new outlook of songwriting to me. It was offbeat, experimental and sometimes completely crazy, but it really gave us more dimensions.”

 

In the early days, the band was known as Third Wish, and they released three albums that they were far from satisfied with. Only since they changed their name to Avowed, and recruited Bullets and Octane bassist Brent Clawson to produce their album (he’s also worked with The Knives), have they a sound and an approach that they can call their own. “There’s always a tug of war between me and Jesse, but it’s free from egos,” Emad says. “We respect each other’s talents and ideas, and it’s all to search for this middle point that is Avowed. 

 

Of course, the Arabness isn’t completely buried. In early songs, Emad would add vocal flourishes not dissimilar to a muezzin, and there are certainly chord progressions with an Eastern flavour. He also admits to bringing tapes of classic Arab singers to rehearsal. “I call it torture time! But I guess they’re at least beginning to understand it, and they’re definitely looking forward to coming here in the summer and learning a lot more about where I’m from – and they better believe I am going to insist on playing a few Arab covers!”

 

The one thing they might have to work on, though, is that groupie thing. It may be some time before Almost Famous is remade in Jordan. But Emad is making a start on recreating the LA vibe in West Amman with his new pad in Dabooq, which he says he is going to “MTV Crib the f**k out of” when he moves in. “We all live in the same house in Cali, and we reward our street team (the girls who put out the fliers, go on the blogs and tell their friends about us) by inviting them over for private shows. I’d love to have that in Amman, where rock kids can hang out, play and express themselves. Okay, I might have to give up some things, but I’d trade the LA life for being 

a positive influence. I can’t wait to get back, man!”

 

For a full version of this article, see NOX31.