Musician & artist Fekri (Ramy Essam) Rami

Rock album: ALWAN/COLORS

| Yksivuotinen

I will work on my new album, ALWAN/COLORS. I will compose, write lyrics, arrange and record my parts, and I will start working on the recordings with Finnish colleagues remotely. The project includes working on music videos of the songs remotely. The 10 songs of the album represent different colors, which will show in music, artwork and music videos. I am a political rock artist singing about human rights. Because of my song “Balaha” that was released in 2018, my Egyptian team was arrested and I was officially wanted by the Egyptian authorities. Because of this, I have not been able to release new music since. This album will be my first release after the threats. This album will not have direct political content, to avoid any harm for my family and friends in Egypt since it is a delicate situation. The lyrics are about love and longing - about relationships, home and exile. The feelings are represented in different colors, different points of view. The lyrics, in Egyptian Arabic, will be written by Egyptian poets Galal El-Behairy, Amr Hamid, Anno Kachina and myself. During the 3 months, I will work on the lyrics, compose, arrange and record my parts in my home studio. The producer is Juppu Mauranen, who I will work remotely with. Finnish musicians will record saxophone, accordeon, drums and guitars, and we will start working remotely as well. I will work on the music videos remotely with Egyptian visual artist Ganzeer, living in the US, who also has been in Artists At Risk residency in Helsinki. The concept of the videos is based on colours and the lyrics. The audience of the album are Arabic speaking people around the world, as well as everybody else: the language is Egyptian Arabic, but the lyrics will be translated and subtitled in English. The theme of the album, love and longing, is universal and current for many living away from their home. The album will be released in 2020 through my own label, Rev House Productions, which is registered in the US.