Interview: Sadam (Imarhan)
With artists like Tinariwen and Bombino leading the way, desert blues music from the Saharan region of West Africa has grown in international popularity over the last 20 years. And since 2019, the Tuareg band Imarhan has further expanded and enriched the genre. The quintet’s latest album, Aboogi, takes the hypnotic jamminess typical of desert blues and infuses it with some first-rate funk, as well as the grooviest elements of psychedelia.
In a much anticipated visit to Asheville, Imarhan will play The Grey Eagle on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Recently, bandleader Iyad Moussa Ben Abderahmane, aka Sadam, spoke with Asheville Stages about a variety of topics — and, due to the language barrier, did so via email and with help from a translator.
A.K. Benninghofen: If you had to choose a single track to introduce our readers to your music, which would it be and why?
Sadam: It would be “Imarhan,” the first track we composed. It’s all about who we are, how we sound. It’s part of our debut album of the same name. We love playing this song live — the audience goes crazy as soon as we start it, even when they’ve never heard it before.
AKB: Tell us about the name Imarhan. What does it mean and why did you choose it for the band?
S: It means “those who wish you well.” We always used this name for our crew of friends. Our original band name was Imarhan’n’ Tinezraf — friends in the desert — but we shortened it for making it easier to spread our name.
AKB I read somewhere that weddings are really the only live music venues in Tamanrasset. Is that true? Did you start out as a wedding band?
S: Yes, every band in Tamanrasset and in the Tuareg communities will start its career at a wedding. They are the best events to celebrate our culture, our music, our traditions. They are also the only places where you can play music in front of an audience, as we don’t have real live music venues in Tam. We are trying to make one at a place close to our studio we just built, but we are lacking of gear to make it a proper live music venue — though it’s definitely our goal.
AKB: Aboogi is the name of your most recent album, as well as the name of the studio you built in Tamanrasset. What does Aboogi mean? In what ways has the new studio shaped things for you as an artist? How have the people of Tamanrasset responded to having the studio there?
S: Aboogi is the name of the first houses the Tuareg people built when they started to settle down in Tam. They have this specific round shape that our studio has as well. The studio is very important for us. It helps us to improve as artists, without having the obligation to travel far and to spend time and money. It helps also young artists in Tam who don’t have the possibilities to travel. It offers both professional conditions and the desert we love and we miss when we travel.
It’s especially great to welcome artists from other places at home. At the start, the people of Tam were doubtful and we had to work on it on our own, but all of our friends responded to help building it. And today, it’s a place where young people of Tam meet, make the tea, play, and record music.
AKB: What was your first experience seeing live music outside of Algeria, and how did that affect you?
S: It was in Italy and in Belgium where we played our two very first shows outside of Algeria, and before our debut album. The show we played in Belgium was in a real festival and we loved to see how musicians from many other places could meet in one place only, and only for the love of music.
IF YOU GO
Who: Imarhan
When: Tuesday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m.
Where: The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., thegreyeagle.com
Tickets: $17
(Photo by Fehti Sahraoui)
