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WORDS RACHEL EDWARDS - PHOTOGRAPHY ABEIKU ARTHUR
'Home is Changing' is the latest album from Saudi-Ecuadorian artist Mishaal Tamer and is a self professed 'journal of a Saudi kid'. Determined to change outdated views on Saudi Arabia, the 33-track project unfolds across five thematic chapters - The Deep, The Heart, The Heartbreak, The Dream, and The Return - each offering a glimpse into Mishaal's musical and emotional journey through adolescence. Shot in Taif, Saudi Arabia, the album’s cover art shows lush greenery and rivers - a far cry from the sandy deserts we are accustomed to seeing and a deliberate move by Tamer who seeks to challenge stereotypes associated with the country.
Having toured with One Republic and with a rapidly growing fan base, things are moving fast for the 25 year old. We caught up with Tamer on his last visit to London and spoke mental health, vulnerability and, of course, the importance of change.
R.E: Hi Mishaal! What's your favourite thing to do when you visit London?
M.T: (Laughs) I have this address memorised - 179 Shaftesbury Avenue. It’s in Piccadilly and it's essentially this very nerdy gaming/ manga/ graphic tees store. It’s got all this anime memorabilia and video game stuff - I love it because honestly underneath the artist persona and the rock star persona there's very much a nerd!
R.E: So if you could wake up tomorrow and you're an anime character who would you choose to be?
M.T: If it was up to me I'd probably choose Goku. I have a song that I made back in 2018 on my laptop before I had a microphone - I made this song on my Xbox microphone and it's called Kid Goku.
R.E: Goku has already made it into your music!
M.T: Yeah, this was in the early phases of ‘Chicken Gang’, which is the name of my fandom. At this point TikTok didn't exist and my Instagram name was something like ‘user123’, so no one could find my account. The fanbase just existed on Discord, which is a gaming site, but all the kids used to talk to each other. It was on there that somebody made fan art of Kid Goku for my song.
R.E: It feels like there's a huge movement of young musicians making music in Saudi. How was it growing up at a time when music was banned?
M.T: Yes, music and entertainment in general was taboo, especially when you had religious police roaming around, but the reality is you can't stop music. You can't stop art.
Even back in Jeddah, the city that I grew up in, there was a huge metal scene when I was growing up. These guys would play huge concerts underground in Saudi. Of course it was illegal, but they would make it work. Saudi is pretty rock n roll when you look at it - the people are super open-minded. I think of these guys when people ask me which artists I look up to. The guys who genuinely inspired me the most as an artist are people from home - anonymous, unknown names that just did it for the passion of the art. There was nothing interfering - it was not about money or fame.
R.E: It’s amazing, it really gets rid of the ego-driven motive of fame.
M.T: 100%, and it also ties in with my beliefs. It's a huge thing that I talk about. It doesn't matter where you're from or what you believe in, we're all the same, we're all human beings and we should learn to love each other.
I had a viral TikTok recently where I’m saying 'we are not oppressed, we are proud'. That's a big thing for us young Saudis because a lot of people think we're oppressed. A lot of young girls in Saudi right now are leading the charge in the workforce. You can find a lot more women now than men in higher positions. We grew up on the internet - 70% of our population is under 30 years old, and 60% under 25. We're not our parents.
R.E: You seem to have such a good grip on who you are and what you stand for. How do you stay true to yourself and avoid soaking in all the external stuff around you that’s telling you to market yourself in a certain way, or telling you to fit into a trend? Is it ingrained or is it a practice?
M.T: I think it’s just honesty. For example Baba Fein came out three weeks ago. You know when I made it? Written, recorded, produced in 2020, essentially right before COVID. When I was making this music, it wasn't for anybody to hear, it was for me. And it got me through a lot. That's why art as a whole is so important to me.
R.E: Were your parents supportive when you said you wanted to pursue a career in music?
M.T: At first, no. Well, my family were always champions of art in general, but for the whole of the Arab region it was extremely difficult to have a job in the creative field, both socially and financially. I broke my arm when I was nine, and I started writing and producing when I was 10.
R.E: Do you see it as a sort of a blessing that you broke your arm?
M.T: It was a blessing for sure. The guitar was prescribed physiotherapy for me and of course it was a dream to be a musician, but it was an impossible dream both in my mind and my parents' minds because this was before all the changes. And now home is changing - now it's not only possible but encouraged - this is the new face of the country in a sense.
R.E: Yes, it explains the name of your album ‘Home is Changing’. I know that within this you speak about your own issues with mental health. Has Saudi's view towards men's mental health changed? Is it a conversation that is open?
M.T: Absolutely. There's actually someone who reached out to me - her name is Razan and she's been working on a program for the last year where she goes to different cities in Saudi and talks to different people about mental health. We grew up on the internet so we know about this stuff and we have a lot of therapy offices popping up. Razan, for example, isn’t doing this for gain, it’s a passion project. We have free healthcare and we have free education. If you're a student trying to get a scholarship to study abroad and the university doesn't grant you it, the Kingdom will get you a scholarship - they will pay for it and if you're a good student you'll get even a salary bonus on top of it. People have their prime ministers but we have a King and he's a real King that is supporting people. If you talk to any one of our youth, there is a genuine love for the country and for the royal family because Saudi is safe and growing.
R.E: Would you say it’s not so much a movement of resistance as it is of solidarity now?
M.T: Yes, I think a lot of people have misconceptions about this. It makes me sad like that you still have people today asking if it’s safe to visit. This is ridiculous. People ask me if they will get arrested if they go and dance next to a woman. Are you kidding me? We had one of the biggest music festivals in the world recently. This was a reality at a certain point in time but that time is long gone. Segregation between men and women is long gone. The religious police, it's long gone. All these conservative things that were there are gone. It's an old story.
R.E: What obstacles do you face as an artist?
M.T: It doesn't matter where you're from, it doesn't matter what people think of you - a lot of times, particularly in our case, it could be totally wrong. However, speaking for myself, the biggest part of that obstacle is dealing with self-doubt but as an artist, regardless of where you're from, you must not let that self-doubt win. You have to realise that you are special. No one person is more special than the other, Habibi. We're all the same.
R.E: Yeah, nobody's special and everyone's special at the same time.
M.T: Yes, but that means why can't you do it?
The thing that started my whole career was on my Instagram, with my 'username123' or whatever it was. I just posted 10 second clips of music. I’d put the phone on the table and play little pieces of music that I’d written. It felt good to put it out there and those were the pieces of music that got sampled by people . Art will spread. And today, a few years later, they have over 2 billion streams.
R.E: Thinking of ‘Home is Changing’ - what is one belief you used to hold that has changed over time?
M.T: I used to think the thing that I couldn't tell anyone, that was so specific to me and that was the hardest to talk about was the thing that I couldn't share. I'm now realising that this very thing that you think no one will understand might be the thing that everybody understands. We’re all in this together and you're not alone. No matter what you’re going through in life we’re in the same boat - there are only so many chemicals in our head. The things I thought no one would relate to are the things people relate to in my music from all over the world. If God has a sense of humour it has to be irony.
R.E: It's true, vulnerability leads to connection! What is home for you as a colour?
M.T: Green
R.E: Home as a person?
M.T: My future wife?
R.E: Home as a noise?
M.T: The beach
R.E: Home as a smell?
M.T: You know dates have a specific smell? Home for me is the smell of dates. And my family name literally means 'date fruit'.
R.E: Home as a food?
M.T: Dates!
R.E: Home as a season?
M.T: Summer
R.E: It's been so inspiring to talk to you. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
M.T: Yes - the most success we've had is from music that's yet to be released. Whether it was in London or Taiwan or now Mexico, this was essentially an eye-opening experience for me. When I'm singing these songs on stage, this s me truly expressing myself. This was always the real me and only now is it coming to light. That's why 'Baba Fein' was released so recently despite having been made such a long time ago, because I'm not scared of it anymore. It's my reality, like a journal from a Saudi kid. I think the reason people are connecting to it is because it's not propaganda, there's no agenda, it's just pure expression. This is almost like a journal from a Saudi kid.
R.E: Lastly, what is your favourite F word?
M.T: Food!
