Omar Souleyman In Conversation with Henry Rollins

Omar Souleyman, famous for his Shaabi street sound, which he has showcased across the Middle Eastern wedding scene, has recently carried his talents to new realms, bringing his unique style to the West with late night festival slots. The Syrian native from the northeastern region of Jazeera, presents his first studio album entitled Wenu Wenu, produced by Kieran Hebden (Four Tet). At a young age, Souleyman procured an appetite for music, growing up with Syrian folk music played on a long-necked lute called a bozouki and rebab, a single-stringed fiddle. Since then, Souleyman has modernized his native land’s traditional dabke dance music, a foot-stomping circle dance that remains popular throughout the Middle East. Souleyman describes Wenu Wenu as being “nearly live,” attributing his keffiyeh to Hebden, who was able to capture the singer and musical partner Sa’id, at their purest. Souleyman describes his dabke style as particularly flexible. “It works with everything,” he says. Often referred to as “Syrian Techno” and recorded primarily live in the studio, Wenu Wenu captures the passion and excitement of Souleyman’s sounds, featuring title track “Wenu Wenu,” “Warni Warni,” “Nahy,” and “Khattaba,” a much-covered Arab-world hit that aired on TV in 2006. Please join us as we welcome Omar Souleyman to the Clive Davis Theater for an in-depth conversation with Henry Rollins. Rollins boasts a unique style of his own, conquering the hard-core punk scene as a member of State Alert and Black Flag in the 80s, currently focusing on radio shows and speaking tours.