Formerly known as Throwing Shade, Nabihah Iqbal released her debut full-length album “Weighing of the Heart” via Ninja Tune in December 2017. Her first release was on Kassem Mosse’s Ominira imprint in 2013. Following on from that, she put out two EPs on No Pain In Pop, a dance 12″ on Happy Skull, and Ninja Tune released her ‘House Of Silk’ EP in 2016.
Born in London in the late ‘80s, she attended music school from a young age, learning the piano, flute and guitar. Her listening habits started with Michael Jackson and Oasis. In her early teens, she got into punk and metal. At around 16, her tastes broadened out, encountering the likes of Radiohead, Sigur Ros, Explosions In The Sky alongside older bands too, like The Cure, Joy Division and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
Nabihah studied a joint honours BA in History and Ethnomusicology at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and it was during her time as an undergraduate that her musical horizons widened further. She took classes in various music styles including Gamelan and the Turkish classical tradition. Her main performance instrument was the Sitar. After SOAS she moved to Cambridge to study a postgraduate MPhil focused on South African history. She then moved back to London, where she did a law conversion degree and simultaneously started getting more involved in throwing parties and making music.
Nabihah has been focusing fully on her music career since October 2013 and now in December 2017, she prepares to release her debut album “Weighing of the Heart”. Taking her sound in a different direction from the music she was making as ‘Throwing Shade’, Nabihah puts more focus on live instruments, charting the waters where dance music and pop meet. Recorded in her studio space, Nabihah approached the recording sessions with an open mind, playing all of the parts on the album herself. The album was mixed by Studio 13’s Stephen Sedgwick and mastered by John Davis at Metropolis. Aside from her music production, Nabihah has also been presenting a bi-weekly show on NTS Radio since early 2013, where she explores music from different parts of the world. Other projects include presenting a four-part documentary series ‘Relocate’, for i-D Magazine and Volkswagen, a collaboration with Chinese artist Zhang Ding, a commission by the Tate to compose music for the Turner Prize and a collaboration with Wolfgang Tillmans as part of his recent Tate Modern exhibition. She has performed live at both the Tate Modern and Tate Britain, as well as the Institute of Contemporary Arts and she also took part in a group performance as part of the Barbican’s Basquiat retrospective.
Supported by Musicboard Berlin.
Kometenmelodien: Nabihah Iqbal & EVVOL
Thursday, 22nd November 2018 | Doors 19:30 CET | Starts 20:30 CET
Kantine am Berghain | Am Wriezener Bahnhof | 10243 Berlin
Event @ Facebook | Tickets @ Eventbrite | Tickets @ KOKA36
Photo © Shahir Iqbal