Feature: Palestinian musicians mix traditional, electric music to revive folklore

by Fatima Aruri

RAMALLAH, March 26 (Xinhua) -- At a home-studio in the suburbs of the West Bank City of Ramallah, a young Palestinian Music producer worked on a new project to mix local with electric Music, in an attempt to revive the Palestinian folklore.

Saruna Mushasha, 22, is one of a handful of female DJs and Music producers in Palestine. She got her education in Music and sound engineering in the United States.

She recently returned to Palestine with the hope of opening her own Music production house with a special focus on female artists.

As a member of a seven-people team, she was given an archive of local Music and chants recorded from weddings and various occasions throughout Palestine by a local cultural center.

The team decided to mix the Music with modern electric Music.

The project was titled "ElectroSteen" derived from the two terms, electric and the Arabic name for Palestine.

"Basically, ElectroSteen is a project that involves a bunch of Palestinian producers and DJs. We had access to vocal and sound archives and Musical archives from the popular art centre," she said.

The archives include Music produced domestically by ordinary people during personal occasions in the 1980s and the 1990s from different villages in Palestine. "So, we have different instruments, vocals, and chants," Mushasha said.

The Music project is expected to yield an album with songs and Music tracks, mixing the folklore with contemporary electric Music in use of the advanced modern equipment and sound system software.

She said with an excitement that "we had access to this huge encyclopedia of Music and sound."

"We take sample parts that we liked and blended them with more contemporary electric Music," she added.

The group said that it expected to put their new Music production on stage with live performances, a step that may attract more young people around the world to present Palestinian folklore in a modern way.

"It's like celebrating Palestinian heritage in a very modern way and bringing it back to the forefront of our culture," said Mushasha.

The young DJ said the project "gives us an opportunity to express ourselves in a way that isn't traditional," and a chance to "explore other genres of Music and other artists."