Born and raised in Ventura, California, Zaid is a 19 year old who grew up surfing and producing experimental music. With an Arabic background, he began incorporating his culture and style within his music and has completed over 12 tracks in the past recent months. He released his first single on March 22nd under his new brand called “Diverzaty. The idea of bringing together a group of diverse artists to produce ethnic music that still fits within the plethora of American electronic culture. The brand will have beautiful pieces of Artwork, clothing, etc. that are made by local artists around California. Half the proceeds are going to a fund that will help people in desperate times in other parts of the world.
Zaid released his single titled “Arabian Bass” and it begins with an immediate upbeat introduction that showcases the element of electronic at instance. Zaid presents his Arabian culture through the vocals. The middle Eastern aesthetic and accent is thick in the vocal resonance of that short lyrical delivery. He shows off his individuality and personal artistry by adding his personal spin to electronic music. The transporting song keeps the same rhythmic pace throughout while still projecting multi-faceted transitions to keep us entertained and unpredicted. “Arabian Bass" is a unique rendition of the typical genre of electronic music that we’re familiarized with. Zaid pays homage to his background and who he is as a person while fusing together trendy qualities from the root of the genre! This masterful song is a reflection of the artist intellect Zaid is equipped with.
Listen to “Arabian Bass” here and catch up with Zaid in our interview below!
Hi Zaid, welcome to BuzzMusic! Can you tell our readers a little about yourself and what make you get into music?
My name is Zaid Bawab, and go by the artist name ZAID. I am 19 years old and grew up surfing in Ventura, California. I got into music when I started taking piano lessons at age 10. I found it very boring and I wanted to make my own fun music for my own ears and my pure enjoyment. The only music I ever listened too was electronic music, at the age of 16 my bestfriend has Ableton Live. We hung out and we were both obsessed with it. Everyday all we did was work on music, day and night.
What’s one notable improvement you’ve made since your early releases compared to your releases now?
I rebranded this year with the unique sound of my first release Arabian Bass. "Fazza" my new release that just released April 5th, is the second release and portrays my same sound. I would say the notable improvement, was finding my sound.
How does one create a story through electronic music without any lyrics and vocals?
For me I create my story through the sounds I create. My parents and grandparents came from Jordan in the Middle East. I brought my heritage/culture into my music which makes me much more passionate about making music. My music is to push the boundaries of Middle Eastern music, and bring those sounds/instruments into House Music.
Tell us about your single “Arabian Bass”! What is your personal favorite element about the entire song?
My favorite element of Arabian Bass would have to be experimenting with the "Tumbi". It was a very unique instrument to implement. I wanted my first release to be relatively simple, and just an all around fun song. It was also the first track I made with this sound, and I have 15 of these same type of songs, so I decided to release Arabian Bass, just to set the bar for my sound.
Do you find any challenges in curating your songs? If so which and why? And if not, how do you challenge yourself?
I would say the challenge was sticking to the sound. I wanted to take this track in several different directions in the beginning, but once I found my sound, the rest all connected, and the track came out just how I pictured it/heard in my head.
What’s next for you?
Next I have launched a website called "Diverzaty". It will raise money for isolated areas around the world that don't have many resources and are isolated. The idea is to make affordable clothing and unique art work from local artists in Santa Barbara, California. I will be releasing a track every other Friday for the next few months. I have just began school at ICON Collective, Los Angeles.
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