Search

Israeli sisters channel Yemenite chants, hip-hop beats and electronica to make new world music.

I’m obsessed with A-WA (pronounced Ay-Wah), a sister act from Israel whose fierce style and music have taken fans from Europe to the Middle East to America by storm.

Tair, Liron and Tagel Haim grew up in a family of six siblings in Shaharut, a village in southern Israel, close to the Egyptian border. Their music is an amalgam of ethnic and progressive, folk and rock, jazz and R&B, hip-hop and reggae, and everything in between. Recorded in English, Hebrew, and Yemenite the sisters got their start just by uploading videos to Youtube. Via Facebook, they introduced themselves to Tomer Yosef, lead vocalist for the Israeli-American electronica-world fusion band Balkan Beat Box. It led to a collaboration that encouraged the sisters to form a band of their own and their debut album, Habib Galbi (also produced by Yosef). The 12-song set is inspired by the ancient oral history of Yemenite women's chanting, laden with funky grooves and a slick electronic production. We chatted with the sisters about their beginnings, upbringing and more.

Hometown: A small desert village in southern Israel called Shaharut. It's a beautiful place in the mountains with a fresh wind and shiny stars at night. In fact, it's the "Habib Galbi" video set.

Homebase: Tel-Aviv, a great young city with amazing art and music scenes. Very different from our village, but we love its urban vibe.

As sisters, what made you want to form a band together?

Five years ago we found ourselves creating new music at our parents' house, just like we used to do in our childhood. Enjoying every minute of it, we realized how much girl power and harmony we have as a group, so we decided to form this band and moved to the big city to find a producer and cultivate our mutual dream.

Did you grow up in a musical household? How did you discover music?

Both of our parents love music and they have exposed us to a lot of great music from progressive rock to gypsy, Greek, classical Hebrew and Yemenite music. So naturally we grew up singing, dancing and entertaining on a daily basis and we loved to put on small concerts for our family and friends. Over the years we studied music and had vocal lessons, piano lessons, dance classes and arts. Our grandparents, who immigrated to Israel from Yemen, inspired us the most with their amazing Yemenite culture. We strongly fell in love with the beautiful melodies and soulful chants, the exotic dialect, the addictive rhythms, tribal dance steps and the poetic lyrics.

Do you remember the first song you ever wrote? What was it about?

Yeah, we remember it pretty well and we might even have the recording of it, from back then when we were kids in the good old '90s. It was a sweet love song between a rabbit and a cape hare.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Yemenite singers such as Aharon Amram and Bracha Cohen, Beach Boys and Ella Fitzgerald.

How do you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before?

Yemenite folk blend with hip-hop and electro.

Why are you called A-WA?

It's coming from the Arabic slang for 'Yes.' It's usually used as a cheer-up call in celebrations or as away of saying 'let's do it!' It has the taste of our sound and it reflects our true spirit.

How does living in Israel influence your music and fashion?

Living in Israel, in the Middle East, is culturally beautiful. Since it's a country of immigrants there's this natural blend that you can find in the streets, in the fashion, in the music, architecture and food. There are many things we incorporate into our music — remnants of ancient Yemenite folk songs are mixed with updated production and electronic beats, and we also wear traditional 'jalabiyya' dresses fused with our own twist on modern street fashion.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

We would love to work with great producers such as Pharrell Williams, Mark Ronson, and unique performers such as Stromae. We would also love to collaborate with Tony Gatlif and with cool designers, photographers and dancing groups.

What do you do for fun?

We love spending time in nature, camping, drawing, sewing, reading books, designing and decorating our apartments, jamming together and spending time in the studio, playing sport games, being around family, friends and pets.

What's the craziest thing that’s happened in concert to you so far?

In our last US tour, at one of the festivals, a drunk dude dove into the stage and passed out after the first song of our concert. Someone had to carry him before we could keep playing the next song. It was shocking but also very funny. The show was fun and people were dancing freely. It was a crazy and liberating experience.

Why is your album called Habib Galbi? What does it mean?

"Habib Galbi" was the first demo we recorded for the album and the one to set the tone for the other songs to follow, so naturally it became the right name for the whole album. It means "love of my heart".

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#Sisterhood  #WeAreFromTheDesert  #JustAnA_WAGirl

32 53 26
Close

Press esc to close.
Close
Press esc to close.
Close

Connecting to your webcam.

You may be prompted by your browser for permission.