Meet Habibi

We love some psychedelic, 60’s influenced girl group harmonies, and I’m sure you do too! With a little bit of garage rock, and some Middle Eastern melodies mixed in, Brooklyn’s Habibi is a band you need to know.

Fresh off their recent release, The World Ain’t Round, It’s Square, we talk to this cool crew about their creative process, a Burgerama memory, and the balance between modernity and tradition in music. 

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Would You Rather

your favorite restaurant is modified to have massage chairs that are on at all times, or there is a clown in there doing clown things at all times? Please explain why.

Everyone who knows me knows that my dream is that every time I sit down, I get a massage and if the clowns are doing the massaging, I’m fine with that. Though if not, clowns should not be anywhere but in scary movies.

Some questions with Habibi

How did Habibi come to be?

I met Rahill about ten years ago and we jived on music and having similar interests in Iranian psych, garage and girl groups and being from Detroit, we immediately had a connection and started hanging out and jamming. Once we had five songs, we got Karen and Erin, the original bass player and drummer, and bada bing, bada boom. Habibi.

What was the creative process like working on your upcoming album 'Anywhere But Here’?

It was dreamy! We had most of it written and ideas of where we wanted to take the songs but the studio at XL was beyond my wildest dreams and working with Alex Epton, who produced it, was an all-around unforgettable experience. We had a bevy of instruments to play with and certain friends of ours came in to also contribute ney, tombak, and 12 string. We definitely felt the magic and over the course of 5 months, it naturally metamorphosed.

Was there a concert or song that inspired you to want to make music?

It’s really hard to pinpoint just one concert. I remember seeing David Bowie when I was 14 or so and that made a lasting impression but there were so many shows... I was addicted to shows! Picking just one song is an even harder task. I wanted to play guitar ever since I can remember and started when I was 9. I definitely was into the white album and led zep but I remember being particularly inspired listening to my Breeders tapes. Cannonball was such a cool song and these were women that played/wrote music.

What was your most memorable performance, and why?

One that sticks with me was at a Burgerama a long time ago. We decided very last minute to play it and so our time slot was kinda early. I didn’t think anyone would be there and we went out on stage and it was just this sea of girls that knew every word. It was so surprising and I felt like Sally Field winning the Oscar... you like me? U really like me! Haha

Are you a dog person or a cat person? Neither?

I love em both.  I flip out over every animal. If I had to have one right now, I would have a cat because I’m gone so much and I like that cats are pretty independent but I would love to have goats and chickens and bunnies and a whole cast of farm characters if I could. I guess I’m living in the wrong city! 

What was the best interaction you had with a fan?

A girl said I was her favorite guitar player on our last tour. That means a lot. I love to see all the girls diggin it and though a lot of the shows are 21 and over when we do see kids and they know the words or are jumping up and down, it makes my heart burst! But it also makes us smile when a big security guard at a show says, “Listen, this isn’t my kinda stuff usually but I love your songs. Where can I listen?”

What is the last book you read?

I have something to confess. I am very bad and I don’t read anything except murder mysteries. I have all of Agatha Christie’s books and it’s been a lifelong pattern since watching Murder She Wrote every night with my grandma. That said, I just read Woman in the Window by AJ Finn. Very Rear Window-esque where a woman that is stuck in her house sees a murder across the street. As I’m stuck in my house right now, I keep spying on my neighbors to see if any murders are taking place but I have had no such luck at the moment.

Do you have a favorite story from the road?

That I can repeat? Hmm. There are so many hilarious things that happen when you’re bouncing around to a different city every night. No tour is ever boring. Sometimes you’re like.. I love this town, I’m moving to Wichita! And other times, you’re looking at each other side-eyed thinking.. are we gonna die here? On our last tour, we decided to get an end-of-tour drink with the other band, Rudy de Anda and his band. We were in Vancouver at the Fox Cabaret and we went into a side room with a small bar. We discovered a little disco party made up entirely of cowboys (head to toe western suits and hats) dancing in a circle and doing peculiar hat dances. We started dancing and then new people came into the room dressed as human dominoes. The dominoes started dancing but keeping a good distance away from the cowboys. Then some women dressed as Baby Yoda walked in. Anyway, we felt like we were in another dimension. I was thinking ... what space station did we land in tonight?! Turns out people were dressed in support of their favorite rugby teams and the jury is still out on the Baby Yoda. In conclusion, shit gets weird on the road.

How do you balance modern and traditional ideas in music?

I think it helps if you listen to a wide variety of music. A lot of my Turkish psych heroes took their traditional rhythms and melodies and blended it with rock and roll that they were listening to from the U.K. or States. So much great music comes from a blending of culture and old/new ideas. For us, the song comes first and then if it suits the song, we have Yahya come in and play the tombak with us or if the lyrics are more of a poetic nature, Rah sings the song in Farsi where poetry is an integral part of Iranian heritage.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

we love everyone and miss them. Be healthy and safe. Make music, write books and learn to be top chefs and as soon as we all can, we’re gonna be coming and playing the new tunes in a town near you.