Music Sin Fronteras

ArabLab makes Middle East-Mexican fusion magic at the CCAR 

Saturday night Lakeside music fans were treated to what I think is best described as a Middle-East experimental fusion jam band, ArabLab, which created a magical evening that transported attendees to the Middle East without leaving Mexico, musically or physically.

ArabLab is the brainchild of Samah Abdulhamid, originally from Syria, from a family  that did not encourage music, although her mother sang, non-professionally. Samah told me she sang as far back as she can remember..  She grew up multilingual and multitalented, going through a number of careers, including two years working in a Syrian refugee camp, and teaching language and working as a therapist. 

She founded ArabLab in Mexico in 2019 as a project to take music with Middle Eastern influences, which she grew up with, and fuse it with Mexican popular music forms such as experimental hip hop, funk, psychedelic, and alt rock to create a unique music and sound scape.  Now based in Guadalajara, the band has released 2 singles and a EP, La Balanza.  

The band consist of Samah Abdulhamid on  vocals, David Lopez Luna on guitar, Ulises Lopez Luna on electric cello, Axkana Zamora on electric and double  bass, Rodrigo Rico on drums. Each of them is a superb professional musician; together they produce a sound like no other, recreating the mystery and wailing sounds of the middle East with the familiarity of popular music forms, giving the audience a unique experience. 

I call them a jam band because, like the Grateful Dead and other jam bands, the drums set a steady beat that goes on and on and on, hypnotizing  the audience in songs lasting up to 10 minutes. But ArabLab fuses it with guitar distortion, bass solos, and the ethereal sound of an electric cello.  

The mix of cello, bass, guitar and drums, and Samah’s voice are the perfect combination  for 12 songs in the night’s set list. Most stayed with the 7/8 and 9/8 Time Signatures common to Middle Eastern music, but played on a western drum kit  so they resonated with the audience as hypnotic, mysterious beats but familiar sounds.  Both the bass player and  the guitarist introduced distortion, sometimes a familiar sound from alt rock, and sometimes more like experimental jazz. But unlike much o the distortion bands use, it slid into the songs, rather than stuck out – it was part of the blends.

Unfortunately, the sound system and the mix of the CCAR was not up to the task, failing to deliver clarity in the lower and middle ranges, where Samah vocals sent most of their time, and downplaying the drumming which was much more present on stage than on the videos.

However, the electric cello was well mic’ed and mixed and it was fascinating – this was the first time I had ever heard one. Ulises Lopez Luna sat almost like a statue at one end of the stage and produced sounds that were both hauntingly beautiful and sometimes, emotionally painful. The interplay between his cello and David Lopez Luna’s guitar distortion was pure art, and a contrast in styles. David went wild, swinging his hair, crouching down at the pedal board, dancing to his riffs, while Ulises remained still, stoic and the source of surreal sound.

ArabLab has been together on this configuration for almost 4 years and is now working on new songs. They have some videos up on YouTube (and on my YouTube Channel) and a presence on Spotify. They are unique musically in their blend, differing from other Middle Eastern fusion bands like Amanda Abizaid, in that their instrumentation is totally western, while their music is Middle Eastern. The blend works. Their studio recordings on Spotify capture their emotion in her voice and the driving force of the percussion and bass.  I look forward to seeing them live again with a good mix and sound system and fully experience the magic that they brought to the CCAR.