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\n\tDHAHRAN: Zamzam and Mustafa\u00a0Koheji\u00a0are siblings first and bandmates second\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a family duo with a closeness all their own, trading riffs and exploring melodies together, all while bantering in Arabic and\u00a0nerding\u00a0out on instruments and inside jokes in English.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tZamzam, the older of the two, began seriously making music independently while at university in Australia,\u00a0releasing material under her own name\u00a0before returning home to the Kingdom and eventually collaborating with\u00a0Mustafa, five years her junior, who\u00a0had been composing and experimenting quietly for years.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tIn their\u00a0band, named Zamzam,\u00a0Mustafa is the composer, producer and \u2014 at live shows \u2014 drummer, while Zamzam is the lead vocalist, lyric writer, and guitarist. Both are quick to admit the lines often blur, though.\u00a0\u201cWe take on a lot of roles because there are only two of us,\u201d\u00a0Mustafa tells Arab News.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tTheir\u00a0recorded\u00a0music\u00a0could most easily be classified as\u00a0soft rock\u00a0\u2014\u00a0albeit\u00a0sometimes sharper and harder, sometimes gentler. Their live shows give out a whole different vibe and energy though.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tBoth siblings started playing music early during their childhoods in Riyadh.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u00a0picked up an instrument\u00a0very, very young. I remember my parents bought me a\u00a0\u2018Barbie\u2019\u00a0(keyboard),\u201d\u00a0says Zamzam.\u00a0\u201cIt had letters \u2014 like, paint-by-numbers but with musical notes.\u00a0It was\u00a0a very, very awesome\u00a0toy. And there was sheet music with it, so\u00a0I learned to play\u00a0\u2018Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star\u2019\u00a0and\u00a0\u2018Mary Had a Little Lamb.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tMustafa played on that\u00a0same\u00a0\u201cBarbie\u201d\u00a0keyboard,\u00a0but also fondly remembers a red toy guitar and later, a\u00a0\u201cSpider-Man\u201d\u00a0CD player, which he broke almost\u00a0immediately\u00a0\u2014\u00a0an event he still recalls with genuine heartbreak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\tNeither\u00a0of them\u00a0had any\u00a0formal training,\u00a0but music was\u00a0ever-present\u00a0in the car and around the house.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOur parents had\u00a0very\u00a0diverse taste,\u201d\u00a0Zamzam\u00a0says.\u00a0\u201cThat shaped everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThings shifted when\u00a0the family\u00a0moved to the Eastern Province, where many of their relatives\u00a0resided.\u00a0They had uncles who played guitar,\u00a0and\u00a0cousins who were classically\u00a0trained in piano, which prompted impromptu jam sessions at their grandmother\u2019s house when they got together.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThe siblings\u2019\u00a0age gap matters, musically.\u202fZamzam\u00a0grew\u00a0up\u00a0squarely millennial, shaped by analog CDs, Disney soundtracks, and lyric-driven songs. Mustafa, born in 2003, came of age as a digital native, discovering artists through solo scrolling on a device rather than spontaneously catching a song on\u00a0the\u00a0radio. Zamzam was fluent in all the top hits of the day. Mustafa curated his own\u00a0lists.\u00a0\u201cI liked Tyler, the Creator\u00a0\u2014\u00a0it felt like something I found on my own,\u201d\u00a0he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThose\u00a0differences show up most clearly in how they approach songwriting. Zamzam is fiercely lyric-first. Mustafa, who is simultaneously more chill and experimental, believes emotion can live suspended in sound alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHe once told me you could sing\u00a0\u2018Egg, egg, egg\u2019\u00a0over a great melody and people would love it,\u201d\u00a0Zamzam says, laughing.\u00a0\u201cI hated that argument.\u201d\u00a0Mustafa grins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tOver time, they\u00a0learned\u00a0neither approach was wrong\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just incomplete on its own. Their current process reflects that truce: Mustafa builds the sonic\u00a0world,\u00a0Zamzam shapes the words, and both revise relentlessly until it feels right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tThey began performing together live shortly after\u00a0COVID-19 lockdown, making their debut at Bohemia Art Cafe & Records in their hometown. Quarantining together simply made collaboration easier due to proximity\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and eventually, alignment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFor the first time, we both agreed (on the sound),\u201d\u00a0says\u00a0Zamzam.\u00a0\u201cThat rarely happens.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tTheir\u00a0most recent\u00a0single,\u00a0\u201cWestern Flower,\u201d\u00a0which ended up becoming an ode to\u00a0veteran US rocker Bruce\u00a0Springsteen,\u202ftook\u00a0nearly a\u00a0year to complete,\u00a0passing through multiple versions and revisions before settling into its current form. Entire melodies and lyrics were scrapped. Choruses they loved were abandoned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat song\u00a0needed\u00a0time,\u201d\u00a0Zamzam says.\u00a0\u201cI had to let it live in my head before it made sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tZamzam\u00a0says she\u00a0loves\u00a0performing\u00a0live,\u00a0but\u00a0finds\u00a0it\u00a0emotionally exposing\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u201clike reading your diary out loud.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile\u00a0Mustafa\u00a0focuses on\u00a0graduating\u00a0this year\u00a0from\u00a0his\u00a0university in Bahrain,\u202fZamzam has begun formal music study for the first time,\u00a0learning music theory, reading sheet music (she has evolved beyond the Barbie keyboard) and rebuilding her foundation intentionally.\u00a0\u201cI wanted to understand what I\u2019d been doing instinctively all these years,\u201d\u00a0she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tLike their songwriting, the duo\u2019s evolution is unhurried. But\u00a0they say we can\u00a0expect new songs in the summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\tSome things, they\u00a0both\u00a0agree,\u00a0\u201cjust need time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DHAHRAN: Zamzam and Mustafa\u00a0Koheji\u00a0are siblings first and bandmates second\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a family duo with a closeness all their…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"yoast_head":"\n
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