Sunday, August 22, 2021

Chat Up With Saudi Singer/Songwriter: Ghada | Captivating Voice

 

Ghada // Pic by @fawazwb

It didn't take a lot for me to be captivated by Ghada's voice, I stumbled on her voice back in 2019 and I loved the emotions she brings out in her voice. I would say I am really looking forward to see her perform LIVE one day. Her voice and her vibe are so captivating that I was automatically drawn to her art and regarded her craft with so much respect. 

Had a quick Q/A with her for re-volt, check it out below and go show love:-


RE-VOLT: When we go through your Soundcloud page, we see that you started dropping music on the internet around 6 years ago. It started out with covers. What was the spark that led you to pursue and get into singing at the first place? Tell me your story. 

Ghada: I started posting online covers 9 years ago actually, and I started with an anonymous identity and didn’t expect people to actually like them, but my online friends and followers were extremely supportive that it actually shocked me and motivated me to be more active and do the covers they like. 

My story with music and singing started when I was very young, around the age of 7. I had this passion for music that I didn’t fully understand, It began with just me being interested in sounds around me, arts, music that I hear on the radio, tv talent shows, and throughout my childhood I would just find myself randomly memorizing songs and lyrics and sometimes writing my own lyrics to just have fun with them.

 Then I was finally introduced to music that I was not familiar with which I liked instantly. I fell in love with these new sounds and language which I didn’t speak but learned mainly through music.. I started practicing what I would listen to and memorizing the lyrics the way they are without any understanding of meanings but as time went by and I practiced more I managed to start composing my own songs and dig deep into the music world and here we are now! 

RE-VOLT: You have a beautiful voice, a beautiful way of writing. You write mostly in English, but Ive seen some clips in Arabic. Tell me your songwriting process, what inspires you. What do you write about? 

Ghada:Yes, I do write mostly in English and in the last couple of years I became more into Arabic songwriting. My songwriting process and my inspiration all begin with my feelings. I’m generally a very emotional person, I find myself feeling things very deeply and getting into very detailed descriptions of how I feel which reflects on my lyrics and my music. So I mainly depend on my emotions when I write and it actually comes naturally, I try to describe the way I feel through my lyrics and melodies and I rarely plan to write a song. Its always a rush of emotions and ideas then me running to the piano before it goes away. 


RE-VOLT: As a singer/songwriter in Saudi. What was some of the challenges you had to go through/still going though, and how do you see the evolution of the country when it comes to supporting/being more open for art/music now-a-days? 

Ghada: I am honestly very lucky to have witnessed this huge shift in the music scene and arts generally. I have faced difficulties in the beginnings of my journey in terms of society’s acceptance, lack of music opportunities and events, and even when I started sharing my plan to pursue music my family weren’t very encouraging at first but then eventually as time went by and they saw how passionate I was and how determined I was, naturally they became the biggest supporters in my life and ever since then they have been the ones encouraging me whenever I’m fearful or in doubt of any project or idea. 


RE-VOLT: Who are some of the artists you vibe with in Saudi Arabia? / The Arab Region? 

Ghada:There are so many great artists in the region and Saudi Arabia specifically. But first Artist that comes to my mind, is Abdulamlik Zubailah I have worked with him closely in different projects like Skeleton Crowds, Statues of Sinking Men, Shaghal and he’s one of those artists who always inspire me to create just by seeing his determination and work flow. In fact, he was the one who actually motivated me to perform live for the first time as a guest performer on one of his albums’ launch event. 

Ghada // Pic by @fawazwb


RE-VOLT: Tell us about your original work, "if i let you in" is one of my fav records. What's the main challenge in releasing your original work? 

Ghada:If I let you in was a very experimental track compared to what I usually do, I did It for fun and to dive into a different type of music that I usually would like to listen to only but not usually create. There weren’t many challenges with this track in terms of technicality and release as much as it was just something new that I was hesitant to release but ended up liking the responses and how fun the process of creating was to me. 

RE-VOLT: How many instruments do you play? 

Ghada: I only play piano but would love to learn other instruments one day like the guitar and drums! 

RE-VOLT: What does the family think about your art? 

Ghada: My family are very supportive of my music, they’ve witnessed my growth and have been there in every stage. And they’re always the ones lifting me up.

RE-VOLT: From what Ive seen online, you are an incredible live performer, what does live performance mean to you? and what is your fav two songs to sing live on stage?

Ghada: Performing live is the part that I love the most in music. brining my songs to life and playing them to the audience has a different kind of satisfaction and joy and definitely the best part of being a singer. 

Recently my favourite songs to perform would be an Arabic song called Nesmat 9aif (نسمه صيف) , that I performed twice this month and the audience’s reaction has completely blown my mind. The other song would be Oh God, a somewhat spiritual song and a very personal song to me that helps me through some bad times. 


RE-VOLT: What can we expect from Ghada for the remainder of 2021? What are your dreams? 

Ghada:I’m working on an Arabic EP consisting of 4 to 5 songs that hopefully would be released in 2021 and definitely more live performances to come! 

My dreams are countless, but my biggest goal this year is to connect more to my music, feel it, enjoy the process and definitely deliver music that resonates with people.

RE-VOLT: If you had the chance to open for any artist in the world / Dead or Alive. Who would it be and why? 

Ghada: Im a huge fan of Imagine Dragons and have been following their music for years. So opening for them would for sure be a dream come true. 

RE-VOLT: If you could sum up your journey so far in one word. What would it be? 

Ghada:Extraordinary 

RE-VOLT: and lastly, tell us something not a lot of people know about Ghada. 

Ghada:I always forget my own lyrics during performances.


Follow Ghada on IG + Soundcloud 

Photos for Ghada taken by: fawazwb


Ghada // Pic by @fawazwb




ShareThis