Meet Saadi

From Looker, to Teen, to Janka Nabay And The Bubu Gang Boshra AlSaadi has had a hand in a plethora of fantastic musical projects. All of this is evident in the innovative and eclectic work put out under their solo project Saadi. Saadi puts a heavy emphasis on percussive rhythms matched with their beautifully swelling vocals. Get to know Boshra in our latest interview as we chat about their 2020 release SAADI and some other fun stuff.

A self-portrait by, Saadi

Would You Rather

your sense of smell or sense of hearing be a hundred times stronger? Why?

New York City stinks in the summer and I'm a musician, so let's go with hearing. That means I would have better hearing than a moth, which apparently has the best hearing in the world. Subsequent superpowers would include echolocation, predicting eruptions, eavesdropping, and mixing hot traxx.

Some questions with Saadi

With your work under Saadi being a solo endeavor how important is collaboration to you?

Collaboration is important no matter what. The artists I most admire have this curatorial ability in choosing their collaborators. When there is trust and a shared aesthetic the results can be really magical. Sometimes a different aesthetic can bring something new to the fore too. For this record, I asked Matt Chiaravalle to help me make sonic sense out of the parts I'd assembled over the years, including some live tracking we did together as well as old tracks I had made in transformed spaces and musical shacks. He was someone I worked with when I was 20 years old, who really got my voice and the clarity I wanted in my mixes. Every musician on the record brought their special quality to the song. The mastering engineer, Heba Kadry, also brought her dynamic aesthetic to the table. Collaboration is critical; no woman is an island!

What has brought you the most joy in 2020?

2020 has been fraught, to say the least. The "Great Pause" has really leveled the world, testing the foundations of our strongest relationships. I've found connecting with loved ones during this time of duress to be a source of strength, and yes, joy, which is relative after all. This is also a time for reinvention, and I've spent the last six months returning to the books and revisiting college to study biology (remotely, as it turns out). My last degree was in the fine arts, and this hemisphere shift in my brain has been so rewarding, especially since touring and performing are not an option. So, while this has been a hell of a year, there have been some silver linings that wouldn't have existed otherwise.

What is the best book you’ve most recently read?

I just read My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottesa Moshfegh, which is set in pre-911 New York City and chronicles a privileged young woman's attempt to sleep an entire year away-by any means necessary- in an effort to totally transform herself. It was a strange and nostalgic read in light of what we are collectively experiencing right now, and how this year feels like something to forget for so many people; how it has cast a harsh and revealing light on how we function, who gets what, how information gets relayed, and how many blinders so many of us are wearing.

How do you feel about the reception of your self titled 2020 album 'SAADI' so far?

Promoting and releasing my album has felt a bit...let's say trivial in 2020. Still, I have been pleasantly surprised by the responses I've gotten for sure, in spite of no touring or marketing behind the album. I released it right after COVID hit and just before Black Lives Matter finally became part of the mainstream discourse. I put it out myself and made the videos myself, all D.I.Y like my early days in New York City, maybe as a result of pausing and feeling compelled to release this thing I had made instead of feeling helpless in quarantine. The personal messages I've received about it from listeners have been really moving.

What was the driving creative force behind your self titled 2020 album 'SAADI'?

It was always something I did while playing, touring and recording with other bands, almost like a journal. It ran parallel to a lot of wonderful mayhem in my life, including playing with Janka Nabay and the Bubu Gang (may he rest in eternal peace) and the band TEEN (my soul sisters). I started it before social media hit fever pitch, ended it after the 2016 election, and released it during a pandemic. While I don't think I'm a fool (most of the time), I did unconsciously cast myself as the Fool in the Tarot when assembling these songs. There aren't any songs about romantic love on this album, it's more existential and observational, trying to find truth, meaning, and joy under an ever-increasing barrage of information (real and fake) and the ever-beckoning finger of narcissism. The expression of love at the end of the record is one of gratitude towards all the people you ever loved and who ever loved you.

What kind of music was playing in your home when you were growing up? Has it shaped the music you are making today?

My family is Syrian, and we listened to a lot of Arabic musicians like Fairuz, Om Kalthoum and Farid Al-Attrashe around the house. I'm also an American MTV kid and know the lyrics to every song on MTV and VH1 until I moved to New York when I was 17.

With the creation of your album 'SAADI' being spread over a decade how do you as an artist know when the album is complete?

This really is a first LP in the sense that I got to cherry pick from everything I ever wrote (and still ended up with just 9 songs). I knew it was done when I felt proud of every song and had nothing left to add, and the arc of the record felt like a chronicle.

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

Soapboxes are for handwashing! Don't forget to wash your hands!!! Stay out of my droplet zone, bra! Buy from the little guy! Take your probiotics! Eat the rich, not the message! Recycle! If you're feeling sad, watch Mr. Rogers. And last but not least, have some GD gratitude.