This September, we have the pleasure of having Tamer Malki and Rami Abousabe, the artists duo that make up Bedouin, on our cover. The American artists share a unique and timeless sound and vision capable of waking unique feelings, a sound that has been shaped over the years and is greatly influenced by their Middle Eastern culture and Western upbringing. 

Tamer and Rami broke into the music industry as musicians, sings, songwriters, and multi-instrumentalists and their productions have been released on renowned labels such as Crosstown Rebels, All Day I Dream, and Get Physical. Recently, the duo presented their own label Human By Default, thanks to which, they explained to us, “we have discovered an incredible path full of many new musicians and artists.”

Bedouin is currently immersed in their two weekly residencies, one at Pacha Ibiza under the name ‘A Wednesday Saga’, and the other at Scorpios Mykonos. This year, in addition, the duo has released an EP on their label and has told us that they are working on releasing their debut album. It has been a very prolific season for the Americans and at DJ Mag Spain, we have sat down to chat with them so they can tell us more about themselves, their current and future project, and their first hybrid live set for the renowned brand Cercle, and more.

Welcome to our DJ Mag Spain cover, Tamer and Rami! It is an absolute pleasure for us. This season is being crazy for Bedouin, how are you at the moment and what are your feelings about this summer?

Rami: Feeling quite happy at the moment :) This summer has been like a lollipop you get after going to the doctor.  

Tamer: It has been a crazy season indeed…in the best way possible. We’re very happy and grateful that life is back to normal and people can get together finally after a tremulous couple of years. 

Your residency at Pacha this summer, ‘A Wednesday Saga’, was meant to be last 2020, but  finally you have made it possible this year 2022. How long did it take you to prepare the program and how is it going?

Tamer: Our Pacha residency has been in the making since 2019 with plans for it to start in 2020… then the world shut down and no one knew the fate in store until February 2022 when Ibiza got the green light to go ahead and open again. 

Rami: The good thing about loving what you do is you spend all your time doing it.…as excited as we were to start in 2020…we were just as happy to have extra time to build higher and dream bigger with our music and performances.  

Before starting your residency at Pacha, you explained in an interview “Our goal is to evolve what we started with our residency at ‘Saga’ Ibiza in 2017. To make it bigger and better, thinking of it as 'Saga 2.0’. Now that you have been celebrating the residency for 3 months, do you feel like you’re achieving your goal?

Rami: The theatrical performers and all the incredible talent we recruited along the way for our nights have really come through and delivered some unforgettable performances. To see the crowd so happy at the end of each night…walking away singing and dancing and holding hands…it's really fulfilling for us.  After all that is the real goal here…to create a musical experience that makes people happy.

Tamer: Programming the whole season musically usually takes the most time as we prepare for the opening. It’s like a big puzzle…everything must work nicely and flow together every single week to ensure an exceptional experience for everyone. So the order and selection of artists are extremely important. 

Far from the island, you have another one residency at Scorpios Mykonos. How is it going this residency and how different is the vibe playing there?

Tamer: Mykonos has grown over the past few years to become a sought-after alternative destination for music with a beautiful backdrop of the Aegean Sea and we believe that Scorpios was one of the main catalysts for this evolution on the island. This year marks our 6th year performing at this beautiful venue and it has been the best one yet… 

Rami: It's great to be able to provide an open-air sunset event which of course is a very different experience from an indoor club event in the dark hours of the night.

Earlier this year 2022, you played an exclusive hybrid live set at Al-Khazna in Petra, Jordan, for Cercle. How did It all come about and what was your first reaction?

Both: Petra has been a dream and it took years to organize. We both have a strong connection to the magnificence and history of this place, specifically that it lies in the backyard of Tamer’s home country, Jordan and is connected to the Senai deserts close to Egypt where Rami’s is originally from.  

Performing one of our first ever live sets in that setting was surreal. We played music we wrote over the past 8 years…so you can imagine the feeling of seeing it all come together. It was a tremendous achievement for us. Also, working with the talented and resourceful Cercle team and the Jordanian Tourism Board and locals to make this special event happen was an absolute pleasure. 

Regarding Burning Man —a very special and significant event for you, the one where you began carving your sound—, now there are just 2 weeks left until BM 2022 edition. How does Burning Man 2022 look like for you?

Rami: We are unfortunately unable to attend this year however, after 8 years of Burning Man we find we are living it every day.  After a while, everything we learn from Burning Man stops representing an event and becomes a culture or lifestyle.  Until one day you realize…every day is Burning Man.

How have you seen the event grow over the years?

Both: Well, it seems to have popped off from the very beginning.  However, you could say that it has grown in the sense where more people are learning about the event and attending for the first time…but for us the building still only fits a finite amount of people :)

Rami: I can say the event has grown in the way that the interactions between the performers, lighting, and us has enhanced and will probably continue to enhance after each night.

This year is looking amazing for you, you’ve also released an EP called ‘The Bedouin Reworks of DakhaBrakha via Human By Default, your label. What can you tell me about it?

Both: We love the work of DakhaBrakha and have been following them for a long time. We made those reworks throughout the past 4 years. Having the opportunity to officially collaborate with the band and release them on our label Human By Default was an honor for us given that the release date of this EP, coincidently happened to be on the first day Russia attacked Ukraine. Also, all proceeds of this release are being donated for Ukraine aid. 

What’s the health of your label? What’s next in your studio work?

Both: Working and establishing our label Human By Default has been an amazing journey of discovering new artists and new music. The label is at a place now where we have a collective of super talented artists making music from the future. There’s a lot of music coming up in the pipeline that we cannot wait to share with the world. 

In musical terms, if you could travel to another era which one would be and why?

Both: Possibly the 70s and 80s…a lot of musical innovation and brilliance took place in that era that shaped where the world is now musically. 

What last made you happy and why?

Both: Hmm…we can go many places here, but let's stick with having truffle pasta and listening to the new Beyonce album ;) 

To close, as we said this year is absolutely amazing for you but is there any new project in the making? What’s next for Bedouin this 2022? Let me know!

Both: Next up for us will be the release of our debut album. More to come soon about this :)