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Omar Al Fil

Keeping up with Lebanese Musician Liliane Chlela

When she’s not doing freelance graphic design work, Liliane Chlela, 27, can be seen around town playing solo sets of avant-garde electronica, moody post-rock with Hezbel Taleta, lively electro-acoustic drum n’ bass with The DnB Project, and more recently, experimenting with jazz guitarist Mihran Gurunian.

Beirut.com had a chat with Chlela on her recent activities, eclectic projects, and soon-to-be-released sophomore album.


(Photo via Facebook)

Beirut.com: How long have you been producing electronic music and how did you first get into it?

Chlela: I’ve been producing for about seven years now. I started by messing around with tapes, pedals, keyboards, and effectors.

Beirut.com: Which artists do you admire most, both internationally, and locally?

Chlela: Oh wow, the list is very long. A few highlights: Tim Hecker, Ben Frost, Martin Stig Andersen, Tarek Atoui and Osman Arabi.

Beirut.com: What influences your music the most?

Chlela: I have to play half of my female card here: impulsiveness and experiments.

Beirut.com: You’re one of the few, if only, female producers on the local scene. What’s it like to stand out like that?

Chlela: Being a female producer is neither an advantage nor a burden; highlighting the fact that I’m a woman would be even sillier than artists selling their Middle Eastern exoticism. I should not be highlighted as such because I am definitely not the only person producing this kind of music; the highlight should exclusively be the outcome.

Beirut.com: Why do you think there aren’t that many female producers?

Chlela: I still don’t get why not either. One could easily blame sexism and the system and all of that, but really, everything is accessible, everyone is exposed to a massive amount of information. Producing is a choice: if you’re curious enough to start from scratch, research, learn, experiment and share, then you’re good to go, regardless.

Beirut.com: You recently took part in the Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp in Dubai. What was that experience like for you?

Chlela: The RBMA Bass Camp was cool. Getting to listen to people from around the region and collaborating with them was a highlight, along with awesome lecturers [Just Blaze, Derrick May, Gareth Jones] and gigs.

Beirut.com: After the camp, you teamed up with fellow participant Mihran Gurunian for a live collaboration that took place on a balcony, and you’ve been working with him ever since on a joint project. What can we expect from this project?

Chlela: The most interesting part of this new collaboration is the fact that it could go to different places and take different directions in a matter of minutes. The exchange with Mihran is great. We leave space for each other’s sounds while clashing sound palettes. Expect more performances and collaborations on different projects.



Beirut.com: A lot of your projects involve improvisation. How do your jam sessions usually go, and how does it all come together?

Chlela: Each project’s process is different; but all in all, what happens live is what you get. We try to work our way around a phrase or a loop or a sound and it builds up, clashes or mutates into something else, we never know where it’s going and it’s awesome (for those of us who are not control freaks).

Beirut.com: When did you start working on your upcoming album, and what can listeners expect from that?

Chlela: I started working on that album earlier this summer. It is ambient (though this specific word is overrated, heh). The album roams around one concept; each track is a derivative/ reinterpretation of its precedent and explores a different theme. Hopefully it’ll be out in a few months.

Beirut.com: What has been your motivation to stay and remain active?

Chlela: Producing ‘music’. As long as I’m still learning, enjoying, collaborating and sharing. The potential is big in Beirut; so much more should happen.

Beirut.com: Who else in the local scene would you like to collaborate with some day?

Chlela: The list is long, so many pending projects. Top priority definitely goes to Osman Arabi and Radio KVM. I have known and admired both for quite a while now. Mr. Arabi’s tenacious approach to sound has always kept me wondering what on earth is going on in his head. Radio KVM’s spot-on meticulousness and curiosity in acquiring styles and techniques has always left me wondering what if.

Beirut.com: You recently remixed OkyDoky’s Queen of the Locusts for his debut album Boombox. What other local artists would you like to remix in the future?

Chlela: I have recently remixed Jad Atoui, so that’s crossed off the list. I’d love to remix Radio KVM, Charbel Haber, and Alif Ensemble.

Beirut.com: Do you have any announcements you’d like to make?

Chlela: Robots > humans.

Be sure to listen to Chlela’s work on Soundcloud and catch her next solo performance on December 29 at Yukunkun.