UAE musician Abri talks music, Covid-19 pandemic

Musician Hamdan Al Abri, now a household name, emerged on the UAE’s music scene all the way back in 2007 when Abri, the soul band formed by Hamdan and Julian Symes in 2005, released their first-ever album Sunchild consisting of 12 tracks.

The widely acclaimed album paved the way for Abri to the frontline of the UAE music scene as they would go on to perform at live venues across the country and their songs were heavily played on local radio stations.

In 2009, Julian and drummer Andre Atherley went back home and, as Hamdan insists, the band experienced a hiatus. That’s when Hamdan’s solo career came into the spotlight. His self-titled solo debut EP containing five tracks was released in 2011. It garnered huge praise from the music industry.

An entire decade and several performances later, Hamdan participated in the inaugural Living Room Live event, held at W Abu Dhabi, Yas Island, on March 26 to celebrate Earth Hour, an initiative where only candles lit up the room.

“I love the Earth Hour concert initiative,” Hamdan told City Times. “We need more initiatives like this, anything that brings awareness to helping our earth.”

Hamdan, who has shared the stage with international artists including, Kanye West, Mika, Joss Stone, and Ziggy Marley amongst others, treated fans to his greatest hits in his soulful voice. His music sees influences as diverse as samba, jazz, soul, R&B, and swing, all under an accessible pop polish. And that was evident when Hamdan sang a cover for Childish Gambino’s Feels Like Summer during the live performance.

We caught up with the artist to talk about music, the pandemic and more after his gig.

Legendary Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins recently passed away. Any favourite works of his?

It’s always sad to hear that someone has passed on. Condolences and prayers to his family and friends. I grew up on Foo Fighters and I really love their earlier albums. Taylor lives on in the music he was a part of.

Where do you think the rock music genre is headed?

I know that the airwaves are dominated by pop, hip-hop and Afrobeats music at the moment but genres always come back full circle. I feel that is happening with rock music. There is still great rock music being made and will continue being made. I am really excited to see where it goes.

Will it enjoy the glory days of the 70s and 80s right till the 90s? Has pop music now pushed all other forms of music into the background?

I don’t think any genre ever re-experiences its glory days. That’s just how it goes. Genres change and evolve with the times. I love it when genres merge and mix together to form something new and fresh. It’s happening a lot nowadays.

Can you make a living out of doing only rock music these days or do you have to get involved with other genres too?

The one main inspiring thing that I take from the UAE’s story is to always dream big, never give up on those dreams and achieve those said dreams with hard work and patience.