User:Abelyss

Abdelhay El Haddad was born in Larache, a small seaside town in northern Morocco, in May 1967. He was interested in music from a very early age. He started showing this interest in his primary school extra activities and as a member of the scouts. In 1980 he joined the National School of music in Larache where he received his first formal music lessons. The lessons in the School of music were too prescribed for him and he preferred continuing learning his music with like minded musicians in various gatherings be they weddings, celebrations, gigs in youth community centres, in hometown festivals or other popular events. Abdelhay was very much influenced by the 70’s phenomenon of music bands like Lemchaheb, Nas Al Ghiwan and Jil Jilala. These bands sang about the social and political illnesses of the Maroccan society and the Arab political reality at large. This influence led him to believe that the song and the music should mirror the daily reality of the general public. It should be a means of raising peoples’ awareness of their reality and drawing them to understand it better. People become human, free and ready to fight for justice when they are fully aware of how power structures are responsible for their everyday reality. This contrasts with the commercially available music that is very much supported and financed by business men who are not in anyway or another interested in art and culture in general. This stand developed further in the late 80’s when world events knew self determination and liberation from unjust and undemocratic regimes. We experienced the fall of the Soviet Union, the Berlin Wall, the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The Palestinian crisis knew some “diplomatic negotiations” in the Madrid and Oslo agreements that did not lead to a permanent solution. These latest Palestinian developments contributed to the production of art that was truly reflective of these events. Palestinian poetry and music became loaded with images and expressions of resistance against the Israeli occupation. It is against this background that Abdelhay embraced the plight of the Palestinian and the Lebanese people on an Arab level and the Moroccan social and political reality on a national level as a cause close to his heart. His music became an expression of these causes. His main musical instrument that he uses to compose his music is Luth (Ooud, in Arabic), an instrument that is deeply rooted in the Muslim and Arab cultures in the Middle East and Andalusia in Spain during the Muslims’ 800 year of reign in Spain. Abdelhay is currently residing in Menresa, Spain, where he is still composing his music and contributing occasionally with his music for film productions and playing Oud recitals in various cities in Spain and wherever his music takes him.