DJ duo reinterprets Middle Eastern sounds of childhood for global audience

AMMAN — Growing up with one foot in the US and one foot in his native Egypt, Rami Abousabe “kind of hated Arabic music”. He recalls telling his mom to turn off her music so they could “listen to Daft Punk or whatever”.

“Over time, we started to realise how sophisticated the original Bedouin instruments are... these guys knew what they were doing,” Abousabe told The Jordan Times. “It became obvious that we needed to learn from it.”

Abousabe met Tamer Malki — an Amman-raised transplant living in Boston — in Mexico around 2008 through mutual friends at one of the earliest versions of the now famous BPM Festival. 

The two “clicked”, and formed the duo known today as Bedouin in honour of the land historically occupied by Bedouin communities that stretches between their respective homelands of Egypt and Jordan.

Over the course of their career together, they have played at renowned events such as Burning Man — which they have played every year since 2012, Coachella and Tomorrowland, to name a few. Last May, they released their debut album, “Temple of Dreams”, and currently have a weekly-night residency in Ibiza that was awarded “Best Night in Ibiza” by the DJ Awards. 

More than a decade after first connecting, their artistic partnership has resulted in a musical collision of familiar Middle Eastern sounds, honed technical ability and the world of deejayed trance aesthetics.

“The desert has its own vibe and its own character, and just growing up around the desert experiencing the same level of serenity and healing and endlessness, I feel our music kind of naturally, organically takes this on,” Malki said.

For Malki — who describes their sound as dramatic, emotional and energetic — “We’re playing for big crowds that are there to be moved, physically and mentally.”

Last year, the duo had a once-in-a-lifetime experience completely devoid of the live audience element. With support from the Jordan Ministry of Tourism, UNESCO and Cercle (a Parisian live-streaming company), Bedouin played a live set in front of the iconic Treasury building at Jordan’s Petra, one of the most historically significant sites of the region, which was closed to the public for the occasion.

“We didn’t know what to expect, but everybody supported us and we are eternally grateful for that, especially [from] the people of Jordan, the actual locals, the real Bedouins,” Malki said.