Amid piles of VHS video cassettes and a makeshift home-recording studio, Walid Itayim pauses between uploads of rare yet disparate music clips on YouTube to explain his idea of music. "I'm definitely not following current music trends with my music, which is mostly based on the 1970s era more than anything else" says the close-to-fifty-year-old musician. "I haven't tried to incorporate any of the 'new' influences into what I compose and sing." Granted, Walid has been playing in rock bands on the Lebanese scene for decades, but this is the first time he put his CD – non-mainstream as it is – out on the market. Eric Clapton's guitar playing has undoubtedly been an inspiration to Walid, so have elements of Frank Zappa, Wishbone Ash and Deep Purple, along with the earlier albums of Whitesnake.
As we sit and talk about the evolution of his talent, a bit of 1980s Sting plays in the background, representing, ironically, the last artist to bear an influence on Walid's compositions. Still, his music has evolved almost into a distinct genre of its own, albeit with bluesy rock overtones. "It's not the kind of music you have commercial success with, and it's not realistic to think of fame in Lebanon" he says with down-to-earth seriousness. After having written songs for 30 years at home, technology has progressed enough to allow Walid to record something out of his lair that's near-studio quality. "I wanted to release my music in the world and make sure it's out there forever, which for me is a form of immortalising the music."
Influenced by the Beatles craze, Walid grew up with dreams of playing in a pop/rock band. By the 1980s and without any formal music lessons, he had improved his guitar-playing and style enough to go for gigs in different clubs around Beirut. Some of the 1980s rock aficionados recall his days in Force, a popular Lebanese rock band at the time featuring musicians Abboud Saadi and Emile Boustani who along with Walid are still considered big names on the Lebanese rock scene. A couple of years ago a stint on Ziad Rahbani's album Salma reasserted his creative streak, and now he's working on his own personal brand of music between pastimes such as rummaging through old video footage and collecting vintage records. "I scour the Sunday markets and attics of defunct record shops for rare vinyl records, and I've found a few gems in Lebanon," he says proudly.
Despite the hobbies, Walid manages to spend a few hours of the day recording music and coming up with ideas use in new songs. The lyrics are inspired by real-life situations, some dating back a couple of decades, others a couple of months. "The song Theodore is about a young guy who loses his dad and becomes a drug dealer," says Walid, even if the tune doesn't spell out the protagonist's profession so distinctly. Other compositions are influenced by heartache and war – regular themes in the country's music, although the English interpretation renders them somehow more touching and accessible.
Another pause in our interview, and Walid uploads rare footage to YouTube featuring English singer-songwriter Paul Rodgers, after a quick search to confirm that this particular clip had not made it to the Internet yet. "It's a great way to preserve the music of the past few decades that didn't make it to the digital or virtual dimension yet," he explains. Interestingly, an 80s video clip of Syrian diva Mayada El Hennawi had met with the same good fortune just hours earlier. "After listening to what Ziad Rahbani had done with his own music and that of Fairouz, I developed a liking for Arabic music," referring particularly to Ziad's Houdou' Nisbeh and Ana Mish Kafer as well as Fairouz' Kifak Inta. Perhaps less known than Ziad but very important to Walid has been the input of Munir Khauli who was the first to create rock with Arabic lyrics. "Munir plays many of the instruments, arrangements and keyboard parts in my songs. We've been playing together and writing music since 1976 and ended up as natural partners in producing my latest collection." Munir still plays with Walid in current gigs such as the Beirut Jazz Festival among others.
Who would have thought that echoes of Zappa and Clapton could mix seamlessly with guests appearing on Walid's latest album, such as Ziad Rahbani, pianist Arthur Satyan, saxophonist Jeremy Chapman and Munir's musings. Variety, it seems, is the spice of life, at least in musical terms as far as Walid is concerned. He pops in a CD of Miles Davis, even if he has a penchant for more fusion-like jazz such as Al di Meola and John McLaughlin. "I'm fond of R&B too" he declares, when asked to list his favorite listening music. Names like Chaka Khan and Michael Jackson make it into the list of favorites, the latter boasting "roots from the Motown era after all".
Ultimately, beyond the East-meets-West innovations and the jazzy streak of Ziad Rahbani, there's a sense that good music of every genre takes Walid's fancy, particularly if it's from preceding decades. And it all conspires to create something that would appeal to almost anyone who grew up in the 70s or who takes a liking to 'retro' blues rock. Strangely satisfying is the music that doesn't come out of the need to make money or seek fame.
Walid's album can be obtained at the Virgin Megastore and CD-Theque in Beirut
To hear his music visit www.myspace.com/waliditayim
Itayim’s Five Cents…
Favorite time of the day?
Late evening…
Favorite musician?
Frank Zappa
Most precious thing?
Creativity
Hopes for the future?
Continue to record and perform original music
Source of inspiration?
Life
What is happiness?
A cheeseburger and fries
Best thing about the Arab world?
The language
Worst genre of music?
What’s played in clubs nowadays, trance, techno, etc..
