I don't relate to what is seen as 'Arab culture.' I relate to what I explore myself, what is around me.
My family played a part in bringing communism to Lebanon.
I love Khaliji music; it's very inspiring.
I studied psychology at university.
My father is an engineer, and my mother raised the three children.
When it comes to the lyrics, I write about my own perception of things and use characters for that.
I am interested in exploring encounters where worlds meet and not where they separate.
We all have femininity in us.
For me, a taxi is like a public space because so many people get in that space.
I've always fought any form of censorship.
Women are a minority the same way gay people are.
If you have a drummer who alternates between fast and slow drumming, it can negatively affect the music.
The Arabic music I listen to is extremely edgy. Ironic, sarcastic, sensual, erotic.
Faith is a very intimate process that involves being sincere and truthful to a spiritual presence.
Every time I go to Beirut, I see people and the quality of life going slowly from bad to worse, and from worse to even worse.
You do not start by working on society; you start by yourself to be a freer person and a more independent person.
Change means resistance, and resistance means transformation and igniting energies.
When I go to Beirut, I don't drive. It's traumatizing to drive there.
I have a sense of mission in a way. I've always worked on being free, as a woman and as an artist.
I have learned to create from a hybridized point of view. It's an asset - something rather liberating.
Music liberated me.
I'm bored, normally, when I travel.
There should be no borders, race, colours, or ethnical considerations when it comes to music and creativity.
Because of the Lebanese civil war, I had a scattered childhood. I had to build my own connections to each country we moved to.
All of the Arabic women I grew up listening to or watching had a very strong character.
With Soapkills, we were lucky. We started at a time of transition where things were not ready, nothing was available.
I sing 'Beirut' for what the city is for me, but I am also singing as an exile.
I sing in Arabic as a statement. It's art, and it's a challenge.
I'm inspired by many artists whose language I don't understand.
I was raised by strong women, and the role models I had in music and cinema were strong, too - liberated and provocative.
