Ibrahim, you were immersed in the world of classical music from a very young age and you later went on to win just about every price out there. Nonetheless, you decided to leave that world behind and explore new horizons. What prompted that radical decision?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "I started to play the trumpet at age seven and studied classical music until 2003. At that moment, something inside me changed. I had already been flirting with other musical genres for some years; I recorded with Amadou & Mariam and played with Marcel Khalife (Lebanese composer, singer and oud-player, red.) and I'd started to get fascinated by traditional Arab music as well. I never really stopped playing classical music all together though; I still play an occasional concert and I continue to compose new pieces.
Does your classical education benefit you in any way in the music you compose these days?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "Absolutely, the last few years of my career in classical music were primarily focused on playing international competitions. There, you compete with the top musicians in the world, so your technical level has to be of a very high standard. Because I won most of them, it strengthened my confidence and gave me the freedom to start experimenting with other things."
Your father (Nassim Maalouf, red.) revolutionized the trumpet. Could you explain in simple terms what he invented exactly?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "My father added a fourth valve - a classic trumpet has three - that allows the player to lower each note by a quarter-tone. If you would compare it to a piano, it would mean that between every key on the instrument a small extra key would be added. This invention opened the door to incredible possibilities, because it allows you to play arable scales on the trumpet, something that was impossible in the past. Personally I think the invention was pure genius, but what my father really revolutionized in the world of the trumpet is the unique playing style he developed; a style not based on the jazz or Latin way of playing, but on traditional Arab chant."
Is this type of trumpet already widely used these days?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "My father invented the instrument about forty years ago and we're still looking for a manufacturer today! There were a few companies that tried to commercialize it, but those attempts all failed. There simply isn't a huge commercial market for this type of trumpet yet, but I teach the Arab trumpet myself and I'm in the process of establishing an academy dedicated to it as well. My father always dreamed of Arab brass bands. We're not quite there yet, but I'm hopeful things will pick up in the future. In the Arab world, the trumpet is often deemed a somewhat sad instrument because it's mostly used at burial ceremonies, and when my father started to play, he often got comments like: "You're not seriously going to try to build a career playing that instrument?" He persevered, though, and people like Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong have already proven the versatility of the instrument. Where the trumpet is concerned, everything is still in its infancy in the Arab world and I hope my father's invention can play an important role in that development."
The music industry and the press love to catalogue music or label it a certain way. If I were to ask you what kind of music you play, what would your answer be?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "Well, the first thing I usually answer when asked that question is: "Why does everything have to have a name?" Every artist makes his own unique kind of music and branding and labeling it is really something for retailers and manufacturers. I don't play Arab electro-jazz-rock-pop-funk, I'm Ibrahim Maalouf and I play Ibrahim Maalouf's music. Of course if you go into a music shop, my music will be classified under a certain genre. I think my records are most often to be found in the jazz section and that's where I'm also most comfortable, because "world music" doesn't really carry much weight if you ask me. My main source of inspiration is Arab music, but style-wise it's much closer to electro, hip hop or jazz. Trying to label everything, one often tends to get lost, so I prefer not to do it at all."
When did you decide to spread the songs on 'Diachronism' over two separate discs?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "That only happened at the very end of the project, really. I compose my music in a very intuitive way, I don't reflect on things and I don't work according to a preconceived concept; I just do whatever springs to mind first. Whenever I'm creating a new piece of music, I don't want to feel forced into anything. When I finished recording the tracks for 'Diachronism', I noticed a striking resemblance in one group of songs and similarities in another group as well, so I decided to divide the two groups up, and that's how they eventually ended up on two separate discs."
How much of what you do on stage is improvised?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "Well, for starters, what we do on stage has very little to do with the albums I put out. I put a lot of time and energy in my albums; ‘Diachronism' took me three and a half years to finish and 'Diasporas' even four. Playing a concert is like a gathering with befriended musicians and we just choose a repertoire to play for the evening. Of course I always try to include two or three tracks from my albums, so my audience can recognize at least part of what I'm playing on stage. To answer your question, I would say almost half of what I do on stage is improvised."
One of the things you still wanted to accomplish, musically speaking, was to compose a soundtrack for a movie. Have you realized that dream yet?
Ibrahim Maalouf: "No, not yet, but it's certainly become more concrete, because in the slipstream of the success of the 'Diachronism' album in France, I've gotten numerous offers. I already did a few soundtracks for short films, but now I'd really like to put my hands on a feature length film. 'Diachronism' was recorded in the studio of Armand Amar (composer of several soundtracks for films by Costa Gavras and Rachid Bouchareb among others, red.), which is normally used to record soundtracks. I will definitely work with Armand again and I know that my sound and the way I express myself with my instrument are instinctively linked with the world of cinema, so I'm sure that I will be exploring more of that domain in the near future."