Osiris (June 2010)

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The Kingdom of Bahrain is perhaps not a country associated with progressive rock. But one band has defied all the odds and released some progressive rock albums. Their name is Osiris and they have just released a live album. I got in touch with Mohamed Alsadeqi for the Osiris story.

-------------------------
Osiris
comes from Bahrain, a country in the Persian Gulf.  When
was Osiris formed and which bands were you influenced by ?

You must realize that Bahrain was
always an open society with many westernized ideas. There were many
bands since the sixties who played western music and chart hits. Our
first band started purely by accident. I was 12 years old at the time
and my brother Nabil was just nine, while our older sister was
thirteen. Our parents encouraged our love of music and got us private
tutoring; myself on the guitar, my sister on the keyboards and Nabil
on the drums. There must have been talent there and before we new it
we were jamming together. We were then joined by a cousin who also
played guitar and bass. We were spotted by some people who asked us
to perform shows and things progressed. The band was called "Witch"
and we played most chart hits. Our early influences were of course
the Beatles, but by the early 70's we were fascinated and became
great listeners of bands such as Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Yes,
Genesis, ELP, Camel, Santana and many other bands of the late sixties
and seventies. We even played some of their tracks in our shows. in
1974 we all went our separate ways to pursue our educations abroad.
But we continued with our passion and love for music. Osiris was
formed in 1980 after completing my engineering studies in the USA and
my brother Nabil likewise from UK. It was my dream always to form a
band that played our own brand of music and expressed our ideas. So I
got together with my brother Nabil and went on our journey to find
members who would share in our vision and thus formed Osiris. 

To start with; please
give me your (long or brief) thoughts and lowdowns on.........

Osiris
from 1981

On
Osiris 1981. The great thing was the music was raw and ideas were
just popping up as we jammed. It was great fun and people in Bahrain
were fascinated by us especially after we did our first concert
towards the end of 1980. We did our first recording in 1981 in an 8
track studio which was the only one available. We had very little
budget for the recording as we had to finance it ourselves, so we did
the recording and the production all in 3 days using basic equipment.
To be honest we were not happy with the quality but had no choice.
Nevertheless, the single from the album called "Fantasy"
became an instant hit and was played regularly on the radios which
was very nice. 

Myths
& Legends from 1984

For
"Myths and Legends" we were in a transitional process as
two members had left the band to pursue studies abroad and The new
members had just joined and yet to jell with the rest. We were happy
with the compositions but again limited budget meant the quality was
not to our satisfaction.

It was around this time that we
decided to compose a concept piece based on the pearl diving heritage
of Bahrain which has all but disappeared now. We rehearsed with a
traditional rhythm band accompanying the music, flowing in and out
throughout the composition. This was performed live in 1985 and we
received a standing ovation as it was a totally new concept at the
time. We decided to record the second show in the hope of releasing
it but never did and did not perform the same show again, although we
did play a medley from the compositions. 

Reflections
from 1990

The
thing with Osiris was that some members were always leaving for
personal reasons. and because of that, it was a while before we
released our next cd "Reflections". This was done in our
own studios using an 8 track fostex reel recording unit. It also
featured Mohammed Shafii, one of the original members, who had
returned from studies abroad as well as our younger brother Sabah on
vocals on several track. 

Beyond
Control Live from 1991

Although
we continued to perform until 1993, we did not release another
recording and, again due to member changes, we stopped performing for
several years. This was our low point until Musea got in touch with
us and we signed with them. They re-released our previous CDs with
bonus tracks and it was around that time that we heard one of old
live recordings on cassette. We thought it was pretty good and sent
it as it was to Musea who liked it and released it. This was the
"Beyond Control" cd. 

Visions
From the Past from 2007

We
had already started composing "Visions from the Passed"
towards the end of the 90s and new members joined around that time.
This was a very exciting period with new ideas flowing and new
members. This cd was again a concept one based on the loss of the
innocence of old Bahrain and how the material world has taken over.
Although it was a sequel to the "Tales of the Divers" idea,
it was different with different ideas and classical overtones
included. This was also recorded in our own studios. and released in
2008. 

Your
brand new album is called Tales Of The Divers – Live and it is a
recording with material not found on the studio albums. It is also a
tribute to former bassist Khalid Al Mutawa which sadly passed away
recently. Please tell us more about this album.  

It
was some months ago that by chance we came across the live recording
of "Tales of the Divers". The bass guitarist on that
recording who was a very close friend to all of us as well, Khalid
Almotawa, had recently passed away, so we decided to release it not
only in his memory, but also because we thought it was a unique
composition and never heard in its entirety before. It was not easy
doing the post production because the tapes had deteriorated and
there was a lot of hissing as well as the fact that so many
instruments were recorded on 8 tracks only. Compromises were made but
we are happy with the final product considering the quality of what
we had. This cd has now just been released. 

Besides
of this live album, what is the latest update on Osiris ?

Right
now we are recording our next CD "Take a closer look" which
will hopefully be released in 2011. This is a straightforward
progressive rock cd and we think a number of the tracks are
interesting. We also have a new singer in the band who we think is
amazing. We hope people will like it. We are also planning to record
a live show in October of this year for a DVD release maybe with a
documentary on Osiris included as well. 

How
was the writing and creative processes in your band ? 

Usually,
members throw in ideas during rehearsal and everyone chips in with
their views and we expand or shelf compositions. With Visions from
the past and Tales of the Divers it was slightly different as ideas
came from one or two individuals and other band members chipped in.
We compose differently now than the early years of Osiris. On Osiris
1 in 1980 for instance, I had already composed several tracks even
before the band got started. Generally I write just about all the
Lyrics but compositions are band efforts. 

How
would you describe your music and which bands would you compare your
music with ?

We
are purely a progressive rock band. I don't think we sound like other
bands even though we are influenced by most progressive bands as well
as  rock, jazz, classical etc. I think we have our own sound.
But people have told us that we have a bit of many great bands in
there such as Kansas, Camel, Genesis and others without sounding like
them. Fair enough. That is a great compliment. 

How
has the life in Osiris been so far away from the main prog rock and
music markets like USA and Europe ? Is there any prog or rock scene
in Bahrain and how has your relationship to the governments been ?

Music
is not what it used to be in Bahrain. Nowadays, glamorous Arabic
music has taken over especially with MTV Arabia and similar things on
the air/tv where what you see is now more important than what you
hear. This is true all over the world. People have time only to
listen to what they are fed which is generally crap. I guess because
we have had few opportunities to perform outside of Bahrain has not
helped Osiris gain outside attention especially in countries in the
States or Europe. This was mainly because of lack of organizers for
such things in Bahrain. Unfortunately, Osiris never had managers
either. We have a decent relationship with our government though we
have no professional support from them whatsoever. We are in constant
touch with the music scene and have a personal library of thousands
albums/cds. These include all styles of music, progressive, rock,
jazz, classical, blues, country, traditional, etc, although our great
love is still progressive music. 

How
is the availability of your albums and what is your experiences with
the music industry ?

Our music is available by order from
most music sites such as amazon.com or others as far as we know. The
music industry is not what it used to be even considering the pop
scene. But so long as there are serious dedicated musicians in this
world good music will live on and that means Progressive Music. 

Anything you want to add to this
interview ?  

The current Osiris line-up is:
Mohamed
Alsadeqi   lead guitar and vocals
Nabil Alsadeqi    
Drums
Abdul Razzak Arian    Keyboards
Khalid
Shamlan    Keyboards, piano, backup vocals
Ahmed
Qasimi   Bas guitar, backup vocals
Syed Ahmed Rawanbach 
Main Vocals 

A big thank you to Mohamed Alsadeqi for this excellent interview.  

Osiris PA profile can be found here and their homepage is here

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toroddfuglesteg Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Retired Joined: March 04 2008 Location: Retirement Home Status: Offline Points: 3658	Topic: Osiris (June 2010) Posted: June 06 2010 at 03:15
	The Kingdom of Bahrain is perhaps not a country associated with progressive rock. But one band has defied all the odds and released some progressive rock albums. Their name is Osiris and they have just released a live album. I got in touch with Mohamed Alsadeqi for the Osiris story. ------------------------- Osiris comes from Bahrain, a country in the Persian Gulf. When was Osiris formed and which bands were you influenced by ? You must realize that Bahrain was always an open society with many westernized ideas. There were many bands since the sixties who played western music and chart hits. Our first band started purely by accident. I was 12 years old at the time and my brother Nabil was just nine, while our older sister was thirteen. Our parents encouraged our love of music and got us private tutoring; myself on the guitar, my sister on the keyboards and Nabil on the drums. There must have been talent there and before we new it we were jamming together. We were then joined by a cousin who also played guitar and bass. We were spotted by some people who asked us to perform shows and things progressed. The band was called "Witch" and we played most chart hits. Our early influences were of course the Beatles, but by the early 70's we were fascinated and became great listeners of bands such as Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Yes, Genesis, ELP, Camel, Santana and many other bands of the late sixties and seventies. We even played some of their tracks in our shows. in 1974 we all went our separate ways to pursue our educations abroad. But we continued with our passion and love for music. Osiris was formed in 1980 after completing my engineering studies in the USA and my brother Nabil likewise from UK. It was my dream always to form a band that played our own brand of music and expressed our ideas. So I got together with my brother Nabil and went on our journey to find members who would share in our vision and thus formed Osiris. To start with; please give me your (long or brief) thoughts and lowdowns on......... Osiris from 1981 On Osiris 1981. The great thing was the music was raw and ideas were just popping up as we jammed. It was great fun and people in Bahrain were fascinated by us especially after we did our first concert towards the end of 1980. We did our first recording in 1981 in an 8 track studio which was the only one available. We had very little budget for the recording as we had to finance it ourselves, so we did the recording and the production all in 3 days using basic equipment. To be honest we were not happy with the quality but had no choice. Nevertheless, the single from the album called "Fantasy" became an instant hit and was played regularly on the radios which was very nice. Myths & Legends from 1984 For "Myths and Legends" we were in a transitional process as two members had left the band to pursue studies abroad and The new members had just joined and yet to jell with the rest. We were happy with the compositions but again limited budget meant the quality was not to our satisfaction. It was around this time that we decided to compose a concept piece based on the pearl diving heritage of Bahrain which has all but disappeared now. We rehearsed with a traditional rhythm band accompanying the music, flowing in and out throughout the composition. This was performed live in 1985 and we received a standing ovation as it was a totally new concept at the time. We decided to record the second show in the hope of releasing it but never did and did not perform the same show again, although we did play a medley from the compositions. Reflections from 1990 The thing with Osiris was that some members were always leaving for personal reasons. and because of that, it was a while before we released our next cd "Reflections". This was done in our own studios using an 8 track fostex reel recording unit. It also featured Mohammed Shafii, one of the original members, who had returned from studies abroad as well as our younger brother Sabah on vocals on several track. Beyond Control Live from 1991 Although we continued to perform until 1993, we did not release another recording and, again due to member changes, we stopped performing for several years. This was our low point until Musea got in touch with us and we signed with them. They re-released our previous CDs with bonus tracks and it was around that time that we heard one of old live recordings on cassette. We thought it was pretty good and sent it as it was to Musea who liked it and released it. This was the "Beyond Control" cd. Visions From the Past from 2007 We had already started composing "Visions from the Passed" towards the end of the 90s and new members joined around that time. This was a very exciting period with new ideas flowing and new members. This cd was again a concept one based on the loss of the innocence of old Bahrain and how the material world has taken over. Although it was a sequel to the "Tales of the Divers" idea, it was different with different ideas and classical overtones included. This was also recorded in our own studios. and released in 2008. Your brand new album is called Tales Of The Divers – Live and it is a recording with material not found on the studio albums. It is also a tribute to former bassist Khalid Al Mutawa which sadly passed away recently. Please tell us more about this album. It was some months ago that by chance we came across the live recording of "Tales of the Divers". The bass guitarist on that recording who was a very close friend to all of us as well, Khalid Almotawa, had recently passed away, so we decided to release it not only in his memory, but also because we thought it was a unique composition and never heard in its entirety before. It was not easy doing the post production because the tapes had deteriorated and there was a lot of hissing as well as the fact that so many instruments were recorded on 8 tracks only. Compromises were made but we are happy with the final product considering the quality of what we had. This cd has now just been released. Besides of this live album, what is the latest update on Osiris ? Right now we are recording our next CD "Take a closer look" which will hopefully be released in 2011. This is a straightforward progressive rock cd and we think a number of the tracks are interesting. We also have a new singer in the band who we think is amazing. We hope people will like it. We are also planning to record a live show in October of this year for a DVD release maybe with a documentary on Osiris included as well. How was the writing and creative processes in your band ? Usually, members throw in ideas during rehearsal and everyone chips in with their views and we expand or shelf compositions. With Visions from the past and Tales of the Divers it was slightly different as ideas came from one or two individuals and other band members chipped in. We compose differently now than the early years of Osiris. On Osiris 1 in 1980 for instance, I had already composed several tracks even before the band got started. Generally I write just about all the Lyrics but compositions are band efforts. How would you describe your music and which bands would you compare your music with ? We are purely a progressive rock band. I don't think we sound like other bands even though we are influenced by most progressive bands as well as rock, jazz, classical etc. I think we have our own sound. But people have told us that we have a bit of many great bands in there such as Kansas, Camel, Genesis and others without sounding like them. Fair enough. That is a great compliment. How has the life in Osiris been so far away from the main prog rock and music markets like USA and Europe ? Is there any prog or rock scene in Bahrain and how has your relationship to the governments been ? Music is not what it used to be in Bahrain. Nowadays, glamorous Arabic music has taken over especially with MTV Arabia and similar things on the air/tv where what you see is now more important than what you hear. This is true all over the world. People have time only to listen to what they are fed which is generally crap. I guess because we have had few opportunities to perform outside of Bahrain has not helped Osiris gain outside attention especially in countries in the States or Europe. This was mainly because of lack of organizers for such things in Bahrain. Unfortunately, Osiris never had managers either. We have a decent relationship with our government though we have no professional support from them whatsoever. We are in constant touch with the music scene and have a personal library of thousands albums/cds. These include all styles of music, progressive, rock, jazz, classical, blues, country, traditional, etc, although our great love is still progressive music. How is the availability of your albums and what is your experiences with the music industry ? Our music is available by order from most music sites such as amazon.com or others as far as we know. The music industry is not what it used to be even considering the pop scene. But so long as there are serious dedicated musicians in this world good music will live on and that means Progressive Music. Anything you want to add to this interview ? The current Osiris line-up is: Mohamed Alsadeqi lead guitar and vocals Nabil Alsadeqi Drums Abdul Razzak Arian Keyboards Khalid Shamlan Keyboards, piano, backup vocals Ahmed Qasimi Bas guitar, backup vocals Syed Ahmed Rawanbach Main Vocals A big thank you to Mohamed Alsadeqi for this excellent interview. Osiris PA profile can be found here and their homepage is here

memowakeman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 19 2005 Location: Mexico City Status: Offline Points: 13032	Posted: June 06 2010 at 14:24
	Very nice interview. Loved the complete and insteresting answers. They are a great band, from a country whose musical scene is not really known around the world. Edited by memowakeman - June 06 2010 at 14:27
	Follow me on twitter @memowakeman

kenethlevine Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Prog-Folk Team Joined: December 06 2006 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 8951	Posted: June 06 2010 at 18:20
	Thank you so much for the excellent interview. I've been a fan for a while and am about to receive Tales of the Divers. Glad to see they are now in a period of major activity