Out Of Nations at Quasimodo / Friday, 26.01.2018

Out Of Nations takes off in cold Berlin with warm grooves from Cairo to Bogotá and beyond, featuring special guests from Bern, Moscow, and Cairo.

What is Out Of Nations? It’s a dream for a future world where people take each other as humans before they see each other as members of a certain nation. Founded through travels and friendships formed between NYC, Cairo, Beirut & Berlin, the band members connected on a musical level before realizing that each one of them carries a different passport.

Live, the band invites audiences on a journey through electro-acoustic blends of Middle Eastern and Latin moods — an alternative-world soundtrack to match the visual wonderland they create on stage. They breathe new life into familiar genres by playing original, danceable “World Music” rooted in pop, funk & jazz.

The January 26th concert at Berlin’s legendary Quasimodo club coincides with the release of “Sellem 2.1 Remix (ft. Fayrouz Karawya)” and is dedicated to celebrating common humanity and fighting stereotypes and discrimination based on nationality that are globally on the rise. The live show will feature Fayrouz Karawya from Cairo as well as special guests from Moscow and Bern. The concert will also highlight the work of some of Berlin’s finest international production artists beyond the musicians on stage, including set and light designers as well as costume, styling and makeup artists.

Together, the team carries passports from Germany, Egypt, the United States of America, Lebanon, Belgium, Greece, Austria, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. The evening will also feature an opening solo set from award-winning composer John Kameel Farah’s “Maximalist” piano music, synthesizer sounds produced live, and organ sounds mixed with Middle Eastern harmony and rhythm.

Out Of Nations’ first released single was a twist on Egyptian classic “Sellem Alay,” briefly titled “Sellem,” that garnered thousands of plays and created a buzz across social media. Followup single “Fiebre” received rave reviews in the Huffington Post and by Worldbeat Canada, and their third single “Quest” was featured on BBC & PRI co-produced radio program The World.

Out Of Nations’ take on “World Music” challenges norms that musicians performing music from non-Western parts of the world emphasize the difference of their home countries through traditional, exotic dress and performance. The band instead performs in sleek futuristic garments, reflecting a post-racial, post-national future world.