Name: Aar Maanta
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, composer, producer
Nationality: Somali-British
Current release: Aar Maanta's Ubadkaa Mudnaanta Leh is out now. He is also one of the artists performing at the UK’s longest running Arab Arts Festival, Liverpool Arab Arts Festival (LAAF). Other artists include Maya Youssef, Ahmed Mukhtar, The Ayoub Sisters, as well as Nxdia.

[Read our Maya Youssef interview]
[Read our Nxdia interview]

If you enjoyed this Aar Maanta interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.  



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

It depends on what kind of music I'm listening to. If I'm listening to a reggae track, I will see palm trees and a beautiful beach. But if I'm listening to an Arabic Oud then I'll see desert and oasis. It all depends on the environment and genre.

If I'm listening to a revolutionary Bob Marley track then I'll probably laying and swaying with have my eyes closed, freeing my limbs from the shackles of this world.

What were your very first steps in music like - and how do you rate gains made through experience versus the naiveté of those first steps?

I used to be easily influenced by the popular sound of the day and I used to try to create similar music to what I hear most.

With experience I learned to be true to myself and create what my soul is trying to communicate and what I'm personally experiencing.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music meant to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Music was an opportunity to escape reality, to dream and to let my imagination run for better days and find comfort.

Now music is an opportunity to express my feelings and share my views including protest songs.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools and how have they shaped your perspective on music?

The most important instruments have been the keyboard and oud. The keyboard has given me the opportunity to perform music but also create it digitally through midi.

The oud being a very old and less popular instrument in the West has given me the opportunity to play a unique instrument.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

Sometimes I get a melody in my head, sometimes I get lyrics.

In most cases I come across a situation I want to express my views about. So I write a poet and structure it as a song before recording it.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I consider myself to be a producer first, so I'm always listening to the quality of my production and if there is anything I can do to improve, even after the record has been released.

My personal sound is a combination of all the music I've listened to and all the musicians who inspired me throughout my life.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

The sound of the wind and rain as well as the waves of the ocean are some of nature's sounds that I'm fond of. Having spent my early childhood in towns and small cities in the Horn of Africa, I felt closer to nature and its sounds.

Going to bed while heavy rain hits our timber roof was soothing and a sound I'm still fond of.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I've always liked when dance tracks start minimally without the drums, sometimes with just vocals and keys or when instruments cut somewhere in the song. Having to guess when the drums will hit and at what beat is my favourite part of listening to music.

I also enjoy when the song's dynamics change or how some songs build up as instruments or sounds are introduced a bit by bit.

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriads ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

When it comes to writing my songs I follow a strict time tradition of writing Somalis songs in allegory and alliteration. However in my music compositions production I am very democratic in giving my band members the opportunity to express themselves and contribute whatever musical influences they have.

Most of my band members are not Somali so they have varied influences from jazz to punk rock, a reflection of their backgrounds and our home city of London.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

My band and I normally start our performance with a song called 'Maslaxa Noo Shidee' or 'Lit The Stage For Us' in Somali. It's an energetic track in the Somali traditional style of Kabeebey, it starts with the rhythm section and gradually builds up with the whole band.

We normally have a long intro where we introduce the instruments individually before I come on stage and start singing. It gives us the opportunity not only to warm up the crowd, but also to do a line check particularly during festival seasons where sound checks are limited.

Sometimes, science and art converge in unexpected ways. Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

One of my band members, Thibaut Remy who plays the guitar in my band, is a physics teacher and a sound engineer. He is the most experimental member of my band who introduces new ideas of changing the dynamics of the song using many different guitar pads.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I think our creative ideas are a reflection of our feelings. We're not just communicating through lyrics we are also projecting our feelings through our compositions musically.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I think when writing or performing music you are likely to be expressing deeper feelings and emotions than when doing mundane things like making a coffee - unless you're a gifted barista who also likes to express himself or herself through their creation.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

There's something about Robert Miles' piano dance track ''Children'' that makes me want to daydream.



I remember when I first heard that song. Since we can't travel in time, music is the only thing that we can listen to that can take us back to when or wherever we want to be.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Thanks to technology with the arrival of AI, I can't imagine what more development there could be in music. Imagine producing a Somali album FT. Bob Marley and Michael Jackson on guest vocals.

That is now possible and it's something we don't have to imagine.