Episode 29: Shirine
Welcome to Wonderful Radio! Taking us on a beautiful musical journey this Wednesday is Shirine Saad. Shirine is a multimedia storyteller, programmer and DJ focusing on culture and social change. While listening to her mix, you can get to know more about Shirine and her work in our written interview below. Enjoy this Episode of Wonderful!
www.shirinesaad.com
1. How did you get into DJ-ing and promotions ?
I studied arts journalism and was always involved in nightlife, music and culture. Even as a teenager in Beirut and Montreal I worked at festivals and organized concerts and block parties, and played records at radio stations and cafés. Traveling for work, I was always seeking out underground cultures and legacy spaces to connect with each place’s musical scenes. Detroit, New Orleans, Kingston, San Juan, were major influences in my path, as were other cities I visited, like Beijing, Helsinki and Beirut - where I am part of the Beirut Groove Collective. I was always finding connections between resistance movements and musical energies. Playing music became the natural next step for me, to share the music I was discovering and bring people together. Then I chose to bring together my arts journalism with cultural programming. I launched the Rockaway Beach Reggae Jam and Gyal Tings Soundsystem, and had events at Soho House, Miss Lily’s and many other venues. I am now the Interim Programming Director at music venue National Sawdust.
2. I know you are a writer and DJ. I read you studied journalism at Colombia University and have quiet the resume in both worlds. How do you tie these two things together in your work?
The connection is so strong. It’s about empowering and amplifying the narratives of resistance. Celebrating the voices of truth. Replacing fear with joy, angst with pride, isolation with community. We are reframing the narratives of history and clubs have always been safe spaces for alternative movements.
3. I see you are currently working on a book about Jamaican artists. How is it coming? What more can you tell us?
I first visited Jamaica years ago to write an article about the new generation of musicians, and fell in love with the island and its culture. It has truly changed my life. This book will feature Jamaica’s leading artists, writers, chefs, DJs, musicians, and producers, but also tell the story of an island where art has always been a force of positive change. Jamaica’s culture informs everything I do today.
4. You have an online festival celebrating female artists. Can you tell us more about Hiya Live?
Hiya Live started years ago as a research project, and evolved into a podcast last spring. Then we wanted to have a festival to bring all these radical voices together. My partner Natalie Shooter and I programmed 21 artists, poets and DJs who had engaged with the uprisings from Armenia to Iran, through music, community and resistance. Their sounds are radical, beautiful, honest, echoing the upheavals of the region and a common impulse for total liberation.