tarek anTabi is a veteran house music DJ and connoisseur that has performed around the globe alongside artists such as Behrouz, David August and Kerri Chandler. He is firmly placed among the pioneering electronic music vanguard driving the Saudi scene forward, making waves since emerging in 1999. This week, he joins us to discuss his career path from the early days, recent projects and much more. Moreover, he’s also supplied an exclusive new set. Hit that play button and check out the Q&A below!
WWD: Thanks for joining us tarek anTabi! Where in the world are you right now?
Currently, I am in my hometown, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
WWD: What has been on your agenda this week so far?
Mainly, on the agenda for this week, was putting together an exclusive (& hopefully delicious) set for you guys @ When We Dip 😊
My week typically looks like this: Sundays to Thursdays @ the office until 8 PM followed by an hour of squash, tennis or gym from Sundays to Wednesdays. Thursday nights are reserved for date nights with wifey.
Usually on Fridays or Saturdays and sometimes both I go through my pending bag of the week. I download about 500 tracks (give or take) every week then hear them all in a span of about 2 hours or so. On average I keep about 6 tracks per week. On a good week, I may keep around 12-15 tracks. On a horrible week, I’ll keep zero. Finding quality music for me is key. I try to hit up the pool as well to do some laps on either Friday or Saturday and sometimes both (if I’m lucky and the weather is good).
The rest of the weekend gets dedicated to relaxing, family time, chilling with friends, socializing / meeting new people, grabbing a cigar, downing a burger, nibbling on some spicy tuna hand rolls or going for an intense early morning drive. Of course, pre-covid I’d fit gigs in here and there but these days, I’m just looking forward to playing again live in front of a crowd of proper “house heads.”
WWD: Can you tell us about how you first got involved in music and DJing?
I was always into music from a very young age. Since I did not play any instruments, my love for music eventually turned into djing. I first got into Djing back in 1996. I was at boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts and had a weekly radio show at my high school’s radio station. Back then everything was analog unlike now and all the promos (mainly vinyl) were sent to the radio station. I would dabble on the 1s & 2s while on air, playing an instrumental track on one deck while playing an acapella on the other (mainly hip hop). This is pretty much where it all began.
I bought my first pair of technics 1200s in September 1999 & recorded my first mixtape in November 1999. Yes, it was so ancient, it was on an actual tape. In May 2000 I put out two more mixtapes (this time they were on CDs) and sold them locally at two record stores Boston Beat and the Sound Factory (sadly neither of them exist today).
WWD: What projects have you been working on recently?
club:AM plus tarek anTabi edits are always in the works, anTabi broThers (collaboration w/my brother Tamer), Suddenly (collaboration w/Baloo),FreQways live events in connection w/MDLBEAST, my “no pigeonholing here” sets, my annual “A:M turns…” sets & last but not least, my occasional back2back sets w/rouge😉
WWD: How did your love for electronic music develop?
It was mainly from clubbing… summers of ‘98 & ’99 whether in Europe (Paris/Cannes/St.Tropez/Monte Carlo) or around the middle east (Beirut/Amman) all the clubs I frequently visited would be playing house music.
WWD: When did you start performing as an artist to a live audience?
As early as my Junior year at Deerfield Academy [DA] (DJing for parties DA threw for us students)
WWD: How would you define your sound?
I can’t “pigeonhole” my sound and this is mainly where “no pigeonholing here” comes from. You can catch me playing all sorts of tracks from different genres (house/techno/deep house/minimal/tech house) merging them together all into a set or a night out if I’m gigging… I really miss gigging☹
WWD: The Saudi electronic music scene is on a rapid rise right now. How have things been developing over the last few years?
Things have really changed. The country has really opened up (in a good way).
When I first moved back to Riyadh, KSA in May 2006 from Boston, US I was really frustrated.
Let me explain, I had a few DJ residencies in Boston & NY with occasional appearances in Miami and we had nothing like that here in Riyadh. In order to feed my addiction (DJing) I had to either travel abroad in order to gig or I had to throw underground parties here, which, unfortunately at the time were considered illegal. Now, we have events like MDLBEAST’s SOUNDSTORM (featuring a huge lineup filled with international & domestic DJs / artists), which is like Miami’s WMC / MMC all crammed (in a great way) over 3 days/nights. More than 500,000 attended an event that lasted less than 72 hours!
WWD: Your part of the original guard of the Saudi dance music scene, how does it feel to welcome new talent in a whole new landscape?
WONDERFUL/SURREAL/GREAT/FANTASTIC/AMAZING
WWD:Who are the standout Saudi artists for you right now?
So many to list… but off the top of my head, I would have to say Baloo, KLED, Gehlen, Varoo and of course, Tamer.
WWD: Do you have any particular goals for 2021?
Not catching Covid
WWD: What else can we expect from tarek anTabi over the next few months?
I typically ditch music for the entire month of Ramadan. Probably soon after Ramadan, you can expect a “no pigeonholing here” set, an “A:M turns VIII” set as well as some tarek anTabi edits here and there.
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