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Artists, musicians, producers, podcast hosts and content creators across the region will be engaging virtually with each other and their fans in a month-long musical symposium.
The highly-successful and popular Sound+Fiction, supported by the US Embassy in Bahrain and conceptualised by musical platform Museland, is set to return in a virtual format from November 1 to 30.
“Everything Museland does – and everything we will be presenting at Sound + Fiction – is about originality,” said Ali Al Saeed, founder and creative director of Museland.
“It’s an integral part of our philosophy. We believe it is vital to give artists the platform to share their own music, for them to grow, develop and, more importantly, for the audiences to appreciate that music more.”
This year, Ali and his team, including technical director and project manager Sumit Sharma as well as Hasan Hujairi, programme curator, have added podcasts and other online content to the subjects that will be discussed.
Confirmed participants for this year include Majaz, WYWY, Doyoureallylikeit? Kuwaisiana, Tarik Omar and Kayan. In addition to live-streamed musical performances, there will be podcasts, discussion panels and talks from industry stalwarts.
Ali added: “Some of the themes and topics we’re going to focus on include the latest changes and trends in music, the impact and importance of community building in music, and encouraging innovative, out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to making music.
“As this year revolves around content creation, we also have a production team highlighting young creative talents including videographers, editors and content creators.”
Last year’s three-day conference was a huge success amongst musicians, not just for the performances but also the organic impromptu talks and music that emerged between the sessions.
“The live performances were definitely a highlight last year. We had a line-up of new, exciting artists performing original, exciting and challenging music, from electronic fusion to experimental noise,” Ali said.
“But on a personal level, I enjoyed the panel discussions and side talks between the participants, artists and members of the public. That was an enriching, rewarding experience.
“Recreating this has been one of the challenging aspects this year.
“Sound + Fiction’s main objective is creating a sense of community and collaboration so we have a couple of initiatives that will reinforce this concept this year – mainly revolving around creating collaborative work between participants.”
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen more and more musicians release original music as their live gigs have been cancelled. Content creators have also pivoted towards creating more serial content, including podcasts and live discussions.
Museland has also launched its own podcast series, sitting down with popular local artists like Mustafa Halwachi and Abdulla Faisal to discuss their journeys and outlook on the regional scene.
The symposium will further highlight some of these stories and the lessons learned from them.
Ali said: “It’s been a hard time for many artists, as they lost a source of income, but the upside of it is that more original music has come out these past few months than the past few years!
“Artists – at least for now – don’t have to worry about catering to the demands of the commercially focused venues or audiences seeking familiarity. It’s time to push the envelope further.”
For more details, follow @muselandrec on Instagram.
