Earth takes the floor

BEIRUT - Wissam Saliby

March/April 2004

Khaled Sabsabi immigrated with his family to Australia in 1979. He has primarily worked with sound and music, with a noted interest in hip-hop. When he came to Lebanon in December 2003, he performed in the Beirut Theater, Ain al-Mreisseh, on the final night of “Shams Festival”. His performance was a mixture of video and live, somewhat noisy (by local standards), music, mastered and mixed through his computer. The “output” of his special form of artistic expression is video synchronized to audio, through the computer.

Even though many people in the audience did not appreciate what he showed that night, and few, if any, caught the meaning of the performance, which was about Earth as Sabsabi explained afterwards. As the following interview shows, Khaled Sabsabi was not dropped from nowhere by major record companies, nor will he be ever “owned” by them, through a contract, as he old me.

Sabsabi's practice has transformed to include sound and mixed media installations. His sound and music projects have been for film and theatre, and community oriented, including work on projects for youth suicide prevention, HIV and Hepatitis C, education and prevention, drug and alcohol education, projects for young people of non-English speaking backgrounds and as a community worker. He participated in Walking the Street in the Newtown Festival (Newtown, Sydney, 1998); “Arab-made” (Casula Powerhouse Arts Center, Sydney, 1998); Arabic Carnival Exhibition (Arabic Council, Bankstown, Sydney, 1998); received an AFI nomination for his sound work on the film Color Bars (1997); sound and music for Writing From The Hip (Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney, 1996) which was also awarded Best Play in the 1996 Contemporary Performance Awards.

The following interview was made at the end of a two-week workshop Khaled directed (producing music through the computer) in January 2004, just before he left to Australia.

Alternative: First, how did you get into the art scene and sound design?

Sabsabi: Basically, I started out 20 years ago as a hip-pop artist and I got attracted to hip pop music and sub-culture because it was an alternative to the main stream and represented a voice of isolation. And as a young Arab growing up in a western country (Australia), it gave something that I could relate to because of its powerful rhythm and its powerful words. Through the years, I’ve evolved to different sorts of arts and sound.

A: To the computer?

S: No. The computer was just another extension.

A: But 20 years ago, there were no computers. How did a migrant like you manage to do what you’ve done?

S: Basically, 20 years ago, when I was looping things (i.e. making music loops), I was using any bits of technology I could get my hands on such as tape loops, analog recordings, records…

A: Basic quality then?

S: Very basic. It was such a new sub-culture; everything was on trial and error basis. These days it takes you 2 seconds to loop a beat back in those days when I used to sit down and cut tapes physically with scissors, it used to take me three months to loop a beat. Then I would loop different things, play them all on different recorders, and then record them through a mixer all on to one recorder. But it’s a good base to start where I started from in order to get here.

A: When was the moment that you went from just having fun to giving others what you have learnt, to pass on your knowledge?

S: After breaking away with one of the only hip pop rap groups in Australia, I started playing from my garage. Neighborhood kids and my friends came over, and my garage would have 50 or 60 people listening to the music. One time, someone told the area community theater company about my work and about all these young people who were hanging out in this garage. They came and saw what I did, and told me they wanted me to remix some music for a show. That was in 87-88.

Then they said that what I was doing was community cultural development, because I was bringing different people through this medium, through hip pop sub-culture. “Would you like to do the same thing in different places, with different organizations and youth centers?” they asked. For me, the idea was nice. This was such a powerful tool that can reach many people. If you didn’t speak a second language, you are isolated and marginalized. A migrant has always been on the lower scale of society. They’re starting a new life so the last thing on the parents mind is the kids, so the kids do whatever they want. Since both parents are working, the kid is neglected, and you end up in a vicious circle of crime. At one stage, 70 per cent of the young people locked up in prisons were from non-English speaking backgrounds.

So, basically, I was using these tools, going into prisons and youth centers and all different institutions to empower young people so they can have their own voice, their own means of expression, to defy racism to defy discrimination. It’s a way to combat crime. Crime isn’t the only way to have fun, because most of the crime they do is for fun, because they’re bored. The music they listened to was the solution and it worked.

A: When was the last time you came to Lebanon?

S: I’m 38 years old, and it’s the first time in 28 years in Lebanon.

A: First impressions?

S: First impressions. Wow! Because the last impression I had of Lebanon was a war-torn country that everybody wanted to leave. As a kid, I had these images. But coming back after all these years, to me, it was like. Life goes on.

A: What do you think of the people? The places you visited?

S: For me, I saw many differences between classes here. I couldn’t see a real middle class. The young people here are neglected to the extreme, they’re not valued as a resource for the future and I think this is something that will turn back in time and ‘‘bite Lebanon in the ass’’, basically, because they’re not utilizing this untapped potential. Every person I speak to, every university graduate wants to leave this country. It’s a real pity. Outside, the work market is getting smaller and smaller. This so-called dream of leaving this country to get a job overseas is very unlikely to obtain, and it’s going to diminish to become extinct. By this time, I think that there’s going to be some serious issues the leaders of this country have to deal with. For me I believe that this little piece of land called Lebanon is a blessed place, I think many people undervalue it. I think it’s time people really decided if this land blessed. Have we worked hard enough to maintain not only the land but also its people?

A: What about you coming back and settling in here?

S: I would love to come back to Lebanon. I have so much to give, not only myself, but other migrants also who left and were educated abroad. I think we can work together with the people to take Lebanon and the Middle East to the next step on the development level.

A: So?

S: If I am coming back? It depends. Currently all doors are closed. If anyone has an idea, email me. By the way, people were telling me: “what the hell are you doing here? Are you stupid? Everyone’s trying to get out and you’re coming back!”

Alternative: Khaled Sabsabi’s email is info@peacefender.com. His website is www.peacefender.com

Interview conducted by Wissam Saliby