Name: Mishaal Tamer
Nationality: Saudi-Ecuadorian
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current event: Mishaal Tamer's debut album Home Is Changing is arriving October 18th 2024 via Arabian Knights.  

If you enjoyed this Mishaal Tamer interview and would like to know more about his music, visit him on Instagram, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I sometimes like playing scenes in my head when I’m listening. Sometimes I listen with my eyes open and sometimes closed, but when my eyes are closed that’s when I’m seeing scenes in my head.

When I open my eyes, I like to relating the music to whatever I’m looking at, sometimes if I’m people watching and they’re walking past I’ll match their footsteps to the beat.

Entering/creating new worlds through music has always exerted a strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

Usually just listening to someone expressing themselves, or simply expressing myself, I think the world comes from that.

If you’re honest and real with yourself and dig in deep, then you can create a true world that someone can fall into and connect with in a real way.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Since then I’ve been writing, and I’m still writing every day just trying to improve constantly. During that time I’d listen to a variety of different artists, and I think I was lucky to be exposed to all that.

Now today we have access to everything at the tip of our fingers with Spotify and streaming, and we’re not separated by genre like we used to be.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) – and why you're content with them.

To me the projects I’m most proud of are the ones where I overcame something, for example, overcoming the fear of putting it out which usually happens when the song is very personal.

To give an example, I’d say ‘Runaway’, which was the first song that was put out, that was the first step, so that’s the thing I’m most proud of.



What is your current studio or workspace like? What instruments, tools, equipment, and space do you need to make music?

I like playing my own instruments, so it’s nice having my own guitar, drums, bass, piano - just a decent set of recording gear and I’m all set.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the creative process for your current release, please.

This album wasn’t even supposed to be an album, I was just expressing how I felt every day over a matter of years. Then I looked back at all the work, and I saw there was actually a story there to be told. That’s what this album is, it’s telling that story in the purest and realest way that I can.

That’s why it’s very long, it’s all interconnected and each song relates to another. It’s very open to interpretation because there’s lots of room for it.

Lots of lore, if you will.

What role and importance do rituals have for you, both as an artist and a listener?

I actually should have a better routine, because I am very much a hermit. I don’t know if you consider hiding away to make my music a ritual. I think just letting go and being in the moment and not letting anything interfere with the art and pure expression. Not overthinking or trying to do anything, I think trying too hard can be sometimes detrimental. Less trying, more being.

We can’t help who we are, so if we just are, and allow ourselves to be, then we give the world something unique. There’s only one of you and there’s only one of me!

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these?

This will be something you’ll have to look for in the album and you can draw your own conclusions. But I really wouldn’t mind if the listener separates me from the work, and I mean that.

I want you to take HOME IS CHANGING and use it as a reflection of yourself. Forget about me, it’s about you. The album is yours now!

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility [...] to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

I agree with SOPHIE, I love sound experimentation and sound design.

Do you feel that your music or your work as an artist needs to have a societal purpose or a responsibility to anyone but yourself?

It’s just not part of me. I think we’re all human beings and it doesn’t matter what you believe or where you’re from or any of these agendas getting in the way of what really matters.

For me, what really matters is the understanding that we’re all a lot more alike than we all realise. We’re all human beings, we’re all the same, we have the same feelings one way or another, we’re all in the same boat, right? We should learn to love each other.

With my work, that’s essentially what I’m getting at. It’s like “here I am, this is me and this is no filter, nothing being hidden”. Can we still love each other if we were honest? Can we still love each other if we stood naked facing each other?

Vulnerability is scary and it’s hard. It’s not east at all. But maybe that thing that you’re keeping to yourself that you think no one understands might be the very thing that others understand and that they are keeping to themselves in their own way.

Once a piece is done and released, do you find it important that listeners understand it in a specific way? How do you deal with “misunderstandings?”

To me there’s no such thing as a misunderstanding. The music is for you, and you understand it however you like.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I personally find them to be very musical, I like the sounds of nature and you’ll hear they are used in HOME IS CHANGING.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I think it’s very difficult to escape actual sound being all around us all the time. It’s almost impossible to find a truly silent room, you just start paying attention to the details like how your eyes get adjusted to the dark. I think that’s a beautiful thing.

But in music making, knowing when to use silence takes taste. Just like a chef, you need taste to make something good.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I disagree, I think making music and making a great cup of coffee is not all that different. You can find magic in both.

The art of making a song is not very different to the art of making a great sandwich, all that matters is if you’re doing it artistically or if you’re living artistically. That’s what makes you an artist and that’s what makes art.

What is a music related question that you would like to ask yourself – and what's your answer to it?

Will the music being created today be remembered forever or kept forever at this age where everybody can release music on the internet? Can everybody’s art live on forever now that we all have access to create this stuff and have it heard by virtually everyone?

The answer is I hope so!