Anuryzm is a locally-grown band that has released their debut album, Worm’s Eye View with another album due for release in 2014. Caitlyn Davey chatted with lead singer, Bibby Nadeem about life as a musician in the capital.
It’s not often you hear about bands from Abu Dhabi, but Anuryzm is one of them and they are gaining momentum in both the local and international music scenes. They performed in Lebanon at the Byblos festival recently and their debut album, Worm’s Eye View, received critical acclaim. Now the metal community is eagerly anticipating their second studio album.
How did Anuryzm come together?
John (guitarist and main composer) and I used to play together in a band in the mid ’90s. As is often the case, life had different plans for everyone. John ended up relocating to Lebanon (where he put Anuryzm together in 2003), Turkey, Canada and then finally to Abu Dhabi. I myself had also moved back to Abu Dhabi from California. John had been working on getting a band together all this time, but after a series of setbacks his efforts only served to improve his skillset – he wasn’t able to secure a permanent line up.
It was only until we re-united and worked on refining the songs and trademark Anuryzm sound that everything made sense, I was the missing piece of the puzzle. Things had come full circle and so we recorded the debut album Worm’s Eye View with Martin Lopez on session drums and released it in October 2011.
Since then we have put together a killer live band and have been touring in support of Worm’s Eye View.
What inspires you?
As a vocalist and the front man for Anuryzm I am influenced musically by classic rock and metal of the ’80s and ’90s, then science fiction and ’90s Japanese animation. I am also very motivated by athletes, in particular martial artists and I try to incorporate the same methodology of perseverance in our band activities.
How do you find Abu Dhabi’s music scene compares to the rest of the world?
This is actually a very hard question to answer because we have seen a lot more large-scale acts come through town – legendary and commercial – but conversely, real, honest grassroots events such as WOMAD (which in my opinion was the single most important musical event that has ever happened in Abu Dhabi) is no longer occurring. As a result it is hard to say if we are coming or going, improving or regressing.
I also think that there is a huge misconception that artists or bands are what ‘define’ or ‘make’ a scene when in actuality it is the people or fans who should work hard to create their scene.
Do you feel supported here in Abu Dhabi?
I don’t really know… good question! We have some cool fans here in the UAE who are genuine and enjoy what we do; but since day one, international reception has been overwhelming and we receive a lot of requests from all over the world asking about merchandise, tours, festival appearances or just wanting to chat – including the entire GCC by the way – so naturally we have to cater more towards those markets.
What are some of the challenges you face as a band?
Probably a lack of options pertaining to rehearsal spaces, recording studios, post-production… that sort of thing. We’ve been luckier than most since we do most things in-house or with established facilities overseas but I feel bad for younger artists who may not have the finances, facilities or resources needed to experiment with their sound.
Where do you think your music is best received?
Probably South America followed closely by Europe and North America.
Can you walk us through the creative process when you are writing?
John will come up with some compositions which he and I will analyse based on esoteric meaning, I’ll apply a concept to it, we run with it and it will begin to take shape. John is the creative mastermind behind our art.
What can we expect from the next album?
Our next album has been demo-ed in its entirety and we are recording right now with an expected release date of early 2014. Its more proggy and darker than Worm’s Eye View and is more linear in song progression. A very appropriate second record for sure! I know the fans will really dig it and we have some quite surprising guests on it as well.
Where can people go to see you perform?
We will start playing shows again in 2014 in support of the new record. It’s a little early to confirm anything but we’ll definitely do a UAE show and some festival appearances abroad next summer.
To find out more about the band visit www.anuryzm.com.
