:: SAWT EL ATLAS ::
Biography
Photos
Discography
For more information check out the official homepage sawt-el-atlas.com
BIOGRAPHY
Sawt el Atlas : the oriental sound of the new millennium is here! If you love traditional oriental
music blending rai, reggae, funk and Latino beats, you mustn't miss Sawt El Atlas. And if you're not yet
into that kind of music, you will be soon! Fronted by the warm voices of singers Kamel and Mounir, the ten-piece
band are genuine party animals and have a gift for sweeping audiences off their feet. Sawt El Atlas' sophisticated
new album Donia draws increasingly deeply on their multicultural inspiration. As Sawt El Atlas like to say: "In Morocco,
they look on us as French people, and in France, as Moroccans. Although we have two cultures, we don't belong to
either country specifically." The original line-up of Sawt El Atlas consisted of three brothers from each of two
families, the Mirghanis (originally from Southern Morocco) and the El Habchis (from Casablanca). They were later
joined by four other musicians. Lead singers Kamel and Mounir and their brothers grew up in the suburbs of Blois
in the centre of France.
They were just 12 when they started to tour the country in the early nineties with the support of Blois' famous
mayor, Jack Lang, former culture minister and founder of the France's music festival.
Sawt El Atlas have played at many festivals in France, Holland and Germany (the Rennes Transmusicales, the La
Rochelle Francofolies, the Printemps de Bourges, the Arezzo Festival, the Tilburg Festival, the Roskilde
Festival, etc.), and they have supported a number of major artists on tour (Massilia Sound System, Khaled,
Cheb Mami, Keziah Jones, Tonton David, etc.).
1996, after more than 200 gigs, they released their first CD, entitled Généraliser (Generalising). It was a lively
album swept along by its Arabic-French lyrics, which were deliberately positive even when they attacked the
precarious nature of everyday social integration:
"Que tu sois chômeur, balayeur, ingénieur que tu sois un blanc, un black, ou un beur Sache qu'il n'y a pas de
différence, ni de préférence, ici on danse"
"Whether you're on the dole, a street sweeper or an engineer, Whether you're white, black, or Arab,
Remember there's no difference, no preference: here, we dance..." And when they hear clichés about
the council estates, Sawt El Atlas reply: "We're an answer, not the problem...".
1999, Sawt El Atlas signed to Sony's Small label and in October, they released a new, enthusiastic and firmly
mature album, mainly sung in Arabic, but with some French too. They began to record Donia in Paris, in the
studio of Sodi, the producer of Les Negresses Vertes, Femi Kuti and I Am, but it was completed in Cairo,
the crossroads of modern Arabic music.
Donia was mixed by Carmen Rizzo who has worked with Prince, Khaled and Zebda among others. The generous nature
of singer-songwriters Kamel and Mounir, aged 22 and 21 respectively, has combined with their brothers' talent
and the background of the other musicians to produce a perfect blend of oriental roots and modern groove. This
time, the album's lyrics focus on the world's most universal theme: love. Donia's twelve songs are a hymn to
love, respectively devoted to mothers, couples, people in general, life and God. All were written as original
pop songs: the radio-friendly first single Ne Me Jugez-Pas (Don't judge me), the oriental jungle of Ness
featuring Natacha Atlas, a long-time friend of the band, the flamenco leanings of Andalucia, the groove-reggae
of Datna and the eponymous single, Donia...
Sawt El Atlas have a final comment. "We want to export this unusual oriental music. The album is dedicated
to people who are short of exoticism and warmth. They may find themselves swept away when they listen to it..."
Sawt El Atlas means "Voices of the Atlas" and Donia "world"... Obviously an international invitation!
Frank Tenaille
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PHOTOS
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DISCOGRAPHY
| .... | Generaliser |
| 2000 | Donia |
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