Beirut’s Latest Album Was Designed for a Swedish Circus

Did Berlin had any effect on music?

I have been in Germany for eight years, and before that I lived in Paris. I have a passion with the architecture and culture of renaissance and knowledge, and my lot of music has also come. This stuff was the height of human achievement.

I live in Eastern Berlin, where there was a stassi headquarters, so around here it is all platebow, which are old, flat, Russian-style buildings that were pre-produced, often in Soviet Russia. They used to send these rock and concrete modular classes to places in their satellite states like Germany, and Eastern Berliners liked them because they were new. So at least they had things like heating and flowing water. But they are ugly beyond confidence, and it is a great feeling that you cannot create beauty in that way. You cannot build human life in that way. We are not eraer set modules that just pieces together. It is a long way to say, yes, living in Eastern Berlin makes me feel a lot about beauty, and how, how, when we lose biological-numb, we are completely losing beauty and transit. When I was writing this album, I actually suffered from Renaissance, architecture, music, art, painting, and I was going to the galleries and then in Stockholm in Berlin and, essentially, it has completely changed me. I found myself listening to a lot of songs. I found myself going to these places in churches and listening to the church organ, and the Renaissance music took me to a lot of lute.

On the theme of Europe’s beauty – you have some European shows coming in London, Brussels and Utract in the Netherlands. Are there other cities that you want to take this new album, or any of your music?

I mean, I can’t visit anymore. I cannot handle its stress. To not mention the flight. But I want, more than anything, that I can easily get to play shows in some places: Mexico, Brazil. Normally South America, but of course Brazil, because I have canceled some time, partly due to fear of flight. And then perhaps Türkiye, because playing in Istanbul is really one of my favorite.

I will probably continue to write myself between Norway and Berlin, but I want to really worse in Asian Steps. I have always been super passive with Persia, with Iran, with Uzbekistan, and with such places. I am obsessed with his architecture and Silk Road, all the ways of Mongolia – Mongolian music I find it very attractive. It seems that something is slow and meditative, I think about the music coming from these places. And I think it’s really attractive, and I want to know what it makes that feeling. So I am listening to a lot of Mongolians, singing in all ways, Ottoman Court Music, you know? This is really interesting items, but I don’t know if I can overcome it, especially since I am not really too much flying.

I think it depends on … you are clearly a road tripper. How do you feel about traveling by boat?

I will be fine with the boat. I am actually thinking about stopping Queen Mary to go to America again someday. I have not gone home since 2019, and I am happy with a slow journey. It makes me very happy.