Lightning Strike

It is perhaps inaccurate to describe Kima, a six-piece Arab-rock-funk fusion band starting to make considerable waves on Amman’s developing music scene, as reluctant rock stars. After all, as they haven’t finished their first record, and have yet to play live other than for a few friends in their rehearsal space, they hardly qualify as “stars”. But they have definitely nailed the “reluctant” part already.

“We just want to be worth talking about when people hear our music,” adds Basel Naouri, whose slight reticence when the tape machine starts running belies his role as the band’s trumpet-player, an instrument Kamel is happy to concede is key to Kima’s upbeat sound. “We’re not going to be one of those typical Jordanian bands who make one song then spend the next year being interviewed in magazines about it! It’s too commercial. It’s not real and it’s just doesn’t interest us.”

In fact, the fact that only one third of the band turned up for a 10am interview at a Medina Street coffee shop to talk to NOX tells its own story. Not that they were being uncooperative; four of the six are still in university, and the band is a pursuit that runs parallel to attending lectures in subjects as diverse as logistics, graphic design, accounting and architecture. But even when we are invited to hear them play in a makeshift studio, converted from an outhouse in drummer Ammar Urabi’s family home near the 8th Circle, two of the band failed to show. The four members present then launch into an improv groove, with bassist Amjad Shahrour mouthing “B Minor” to Kamel, and the drums tripping out a 4/3 rhythm. It’s then punctured by flourishes of Ahmad Abbad’s lead guitar. The track snakes round for a few minutes, a couple of departures are tried, Kamel tries to keep up, Amjad furrows his brow and tries to work out which chord his companion has slipped into, and it eventually dissolves into a chaos of amplifier wails and giggles.

Basel finally appears, offering apologies in three languages – four of the band study at the German University, and have added that to usual West Amman Arabic-English fluency – and while he is warming up his lips, Kamel nods at the guys and they pump out a stomping, almost military beat. “Eddie, oh Eddie from NOX magazine,” Kamel croons in the interviewer’s honour. “He better write good things about us, or we will make him look very bad in this song.”

NOX: So, let’s start with the obvious question: What was the genesis of the band? How did you guys start?
Basel Naouri: It was really just three guys in a jamming session to begin with, the drummer, the guitarist and the bassist. Then they brought in Kamel, who they already knew about from his time in bands such as Jedel. Then, Mohammed, the oud player, came on board, and they realised they wanted another element, and I came along with the trumpet. They were playing mostly funk, so the trumpet made sense, but it had strong Arabic influences, too. It had Arabic scales and the lyrics were all in Ammani dialect. I was excited about the potential.

Kamel al-Mani: I liked them because the music came first; they weren’t really interested in fame or fans or success, they just liked hanging out, playing music, and enjoying it. That was exactly what I was looking for.

NOX: Pardon our ignorance here, but what does Kima actually mean – if anything at all?
Kamel: It’s a Bedouin word for those mushrooms that come out in the desert, which only grow when the ground has been hit by lightning. Half of them are poisonous, half of them aren’t – and there’s no way to tell which is which. So we though that was kind of perfect! Plus, we like the way it spreads, which is what we want to do.

NOX: So, we understand that you haven’t played live yet. What’s the reason for that?
Kamel: Honestly, we’ve mainly been focusing on recording, which we have been doing for the past six months now. Every other band, whether here or the rest of the world, starts by going out live, and then thinks about making records. We’re sick of that, and we think we’re a live band now, anyway!

Basel: We’re constantly being asked why we don’t play live, why we don’t have more concerts. But if it comes, it comes. We’re playing, we’re having fun, I don’t see it as a big deal. We’re not scavenging for attention! We were actually looking to do a few things in May.

NOX: Is there a principal songwriter in the band? Whose vision is Kima?
Basel: Honestly, the great thing is there is no real leader. Every opinion counts, and we all contribute equally to the sound and the decision making. Whatever is brought to the band is tried out. We really feed off each other’s creativity – as long as we’re all true to what we want to achieve.

NOX: Are the lyrics  a message or simply about attitude?
Kamel: We use the urban slang of Amman, and that gives us a really strong character. Sorry, I keep talking about ourselves. But I guess that’s okay for an interview, right? Anyway, one of the songs I’ve written is about a Bedouin woman who is forced to marry her cousin, even though she’s in love with another man. Another is about a really hot girl, who is choking me because she’s so cute!

Basel: We sing about regional politics, about the wars going on in our area; and it’s how we see these things from our point of view. It’s important to use lyrics in the right way.

NOX: It’s fair to say that there really isn’t a rich musical landscape here. How hard is it for you guys to find an audience who understand what you want to achieve?
Basel: It’s tough here. Really, there isn’t a scene of anything. We lack musicians full stop; we lack people who can play. But I also think it’s changing, there is a growing desire to find one’s own voice. The development of the country in the last ten years has been incredible, and I think there are more opportunities now than ever before. So, our hope is to communicate to people here, and then take our message out of Jordan and to the rest of the Middle East.  
Kamel: It’s sad that there aren’t enough people here in Jordan who just play music for fun, who just jam for the hell of it, who have instruments and want to make some noise. And with that comes a lack of an audience, sure. The music scene here needs more of everything – musicians, engineers, producers, editors, everything!

NOX: Thanks for your time. We know you don’t like this!
Kamel: Hey, no problem. But that’s what Kima is as a band – we do what we feel like doing at that one moment. We don’t like interviews, but what we say matters only at the time you say it. Come see us play instead. In our music we talk about real topics, things that affect people. What we put out there is out there. After that, we just don’t care.

Kima
Kamel al-Mani
Vocals, rhythm guitar
Amjad Shahrour
Bass guitar
Basel Naouri
Trumpet
Ahmad Abbad
Lead guitar
Ammar Urabi
Drums
Mohammad Farahneh
Oud
NB: The band have worked on several tracks for a forthcoming album to raise money for Gaza.
It is scheduled for a summer release.

For a full version of this interview and for more on Kima's music, see NOX 334