MIDDLE EAST PROFILES SERIES – INTERVIEW WITH LEBANON’S RAED EL KHAZEN

Freedom Beat teamed up with Arash Sobhani of the Iranian band Kiosk, and Iranwire.com on a series of documentary profiles of contemporary Middle Eastern music artists who engage in nonviolent resistance through the medium of music. Arash traveled with journalist Jahanshah Javid of Iranwire to Turkey, Egypt, and Lebanon in August of 2013 to meet musicians, interview them, share ideas, and to play music together.

Raed El Khazen: Weeping Cedars by Arash Sobhani

Beirut is probably one of the most charming cities I have visited. The sea, weather, hills, nightlife, and the people make you forget that you are in a city that has been in and out of wars constantly over the past 35 years.  The music scene here is very different than your typical Middle Eastern country.  Because of it’s social fabric, people here are more tolerant.  Due to this tolerance, Beirut has been home to many Middle Eastern artists and intellectuals who were not appreciated in their home country.

Another advantage Beirut has is that a large number of its population travels abroad quite often.  I was told that nearly 10 million Lebanese currently live outside of the country, while Lebanon’s current population is 4.5 million.  When I asked a local cab driver who owns all of the large beautiful houses that seem empty, he replied that a lot of the Lebanese living abroad will return with lots of money. The Lebanese expats not only bring back money, but many other things.  Western music is one of them.

Raed is a cool and charismatic guy.  He is a very refined jazz guitar player who studied music in New York.  Working in a small studio in the heart of the Alhamra neighborhood, he is a meticulous producer who knows many different genres of music quite well.  He also knows how to work with artists, and make them put out his or her best performance.

Since returning to Beirut after spending 14 years in the U.S., Raed has dedicated his time to finding young and upcoming musicians to produce in his studio.  Raed not only acts as their producer, he also takes on the role of a coach or guru, and develops them artistically.  Raed encourages the artists he works with to be free, to break barriers, and to avoid all that is fake.

He played me some of the material he had produced for different artists, and upon hearing the lyrics, I realized how focused he is on the content of their work.

Raed told me that the content of one’s music is what gives identity, and by extension, the identity of the group of people they represent.  He says this is especially true in a part of the world where free media doesn’t really exist.  Raed attempts to help these young talented musicians create this content, keep it real, and know their role in the society.

Executive Producers: Maziar Bahari, Daryn Cambridge, Tim O’Keefe
Produced by Jahanshah Javid
Directed by Tim O’Keefe, Arash Sobhani, Irene Su
Edited by Irene Su
Interviews by Jahanshah Javid, Arash Sobhani
Camera & Sound by Mohammad Talani, Jahanshah Javid
Freedom Beat logo animation by Sang Un Jeon
Freedom Beat Middle East Series animation by Beth Wexler
Music by Tim O’Keefe

Special thanks to Iranwire.com and The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict for their support & collaboration in the making of this series.