Correspondences from the Seaside Oasis; an E-mail Conversation with Lebanese artist Osman Arabi

An Interview by Sage.

Osman Arabi is the brainchild behind such projects as the Autumn Wind Productions and Cthulhic Dawn Productions-backed 20.SV and Seeker.  While these are undoubtedly his most well-known and highly-regarded means of artistic output, other lesser known projects have also seen the light of day including Shamanic Death Trance (Disease Foundry Records), Kafan (Full Moon Productions), and Xardas which also had a one-off release on Cthulhic Dawn.  In addition, he has released solo material under his own name through the short-lived FracturedSpacesRecords, and most recently, a new project with Daniel Jansson (Deadwood, Keplers Odd) entitled The Ritual Inclusion of Code on Small Doses. 

In addition, one of the more interesting parts of Osman’s being is his geographic location in regards to the rest of the dark ambient and industrial underground.  Being born out of Lebanon and still residing there today, he has a unique perspective from a Middle Eastern standpoint on not only music, but culture as a whole and the world in general, and while Lebanon currently isn’t in a state of upheaval like many of its neighbors, especially Syria to the North and East, the realities of every day life still contain an element of danger that those of us in the Western world do not live with.  This undoubtedly influences his sound and makes him one of the more legitimate, and thus underrated artists of the current generation of industrial and dark ambient artists.

Part I:  [THE RITUAL INCLUSION OF CODE]

Heathen Harvest: Hello Osman.  Firstly, thank you for accepting this interview and congratulations on the release of “Beta Wave Nemisis” on Small Doses earlier this year.  To start the interview, can you tell us how this project, The Ritual Inclusion of Code came into being?

Osman Arabi:  Hello Sage. Thanks, it’s always a pleasure giving an interview to Heathen Harvest, which explains why I rarely give the opportunity to anyone else.

Daniel’s projects (Blodulv and Deadwood) are among my favourites and have known them from the very beginning. When I got signed to Fractured Spaces, Simon (the owner) asked me to master the CD release of a new project called Kepplers Odd which Daniel happened to be part of. The album blew me away, it was unique and working on it was such a great experience and to my benefit the guys were so happy with my work, so this led to further communications between me and Daniel. We discovered that we share a similar taste, come from the same musical background, understand sound from a similar perspective and have a mutual admiration for each other’s work among many other things so it felt like a natural step for us to collaborate on invoking an audio beast. And here it is, The Ritual Inclusion of Code manifesting itself in a physical form.

HH:  How did Daniel Jansson and yourself come to work together for this project?

OA:  Daniel is a highly skilled, talented and organized human being; working with him is always a smooth Hegelian dialectic process.  We started with an image of sound our ideas upon it. The process began with Daniel sending me a folder with a huge amount of sounds that he did, I assembled them and added my own to the mix. Once we agreed on the basic foundation of the structure, we kept exchanging new and enhanced versions of the track until we reached a result that satisfied us both.

HH:  You had mentioned, while you were seeking a label to release this album back in early 2009, that you had both been working ‘secretly’ for some time on this project.  Why was the collaboration kept so quiet?

OA:  It wasn’t intentional… I guess we were just busy concentrating on the craft of sound and concept rather than wasting our time telling people about it.

HH:  I touched on my personal thoughts on the meaning of the name in my review of Beta Wave Nemisis, but can you clear up for us where the name actually came from?

OA:  Daniel came up with it. He had it in mind for a while, though our understanding of the name is more of an abstract deviant image of its original meaning. The imagery the album invokes in the listener’s mind is the origin of the name and this is why you got so close to deciphering the meaning behind it (will go further about this with my answer about the artwork).

HH:  Likewise, where did the title of your debut album “Beta Wave Nemisis” come from?

OA:  The approach to choosing the title was the same as the project naming. After repeated listens to the album, Daniel thought that “Beta Wave Nemisis” would sum up the sounds recorded perfectly and I couldn’t agree more. As you have noticed, among others, it makes perfect sense (again, will go further about this with my answer about the artwork).

HH:  You made sure to note that “Nemesis” was purposely spelled “Nemisis” in your announcement of this project.  What is the idea behind the spelling?

OA:  I wanted to have another element of questioning and error and an extra reference to the entire concept, thus having coherence in audio, visual and written form.

HH:  Largely fractal-influenced art was used for this release.  What point were you trying to get across with this?

OA:  A religious person, knowing and believing in a certain supreme being, will always find a way to communicate with It and demand or ask for certain outcomes. He/she expects something from It. Based on this simple idea the human being in question will relate almost any change in his/her life to this God/deity/entity and any results given to his/her demands will be immediately linked to this external power.

If an atheist tries to link patterns or even notice a certain pattern in life, his/her mind will drift into new territories and would start contemplating over a different set of theories and ideas in order to see a meaning behind it all or just wish to prove himself/herself wrong or right.

There’s an ever ending process of analysis and answer seeking that each mind would do on its own, be it willingly or unwillingly. That’s why I believe that even the nihilist is not different from any religious person. A nihilist after all is someone who came to a certain conclusion, an answer to his questions (according to him/her) that can grant him/her the “peace of mind” to accept reality from a certain perspective based on a process of pattern noticing and daily data analysis. And this is what fascinates me, we are all trapped in one dimension, interacting within it and among ourselves yet none of us perceive it the same way and we find this to be of “an acceptable nature” which constitutes our reality.

So if I offer you the opportunity to encounter – in a specific isolated space – a sound, an image, a name and a title that your senses cannot find an immediate link between them, your mind will automatically try to analyse and process the data given to reach a conclusion or find the missing link. Some matters require a minimal brain activity and others require a certain endurance and perseverance. But the mind won’t rest before finding an answer, unless the person dismisses the entire thing and give up, even though he/she would categorize it as a “mystery”, for lack of a better word to describe his/her failure at understanding the link.

We shared with Seldon the vision, the final recording and keywords and left it to him to do the link and interpretation. So if you combine the fact that the 3 of us are living in 3 different countries from 3 different continents and speak different languages and we have a different detailed interpretation of the project’s name, the title and the audio file you end up having a sample of our own realities and unconscious mind projected through abstract mediums and forms.

Reading your review was exactly the kind of thing we wanted to see and read from the listener, this effort of linking all these elements together to get the whole. Once the listener is able to do this, he/she will have a better understanding of TRIOC and how this beast functions.  The occult communicates through sigils, symbols and numbers, ancient religions with imageries, icons and verses, rituals communicate through practices and gathering of “energies”, technology communicates through systems and codes and the human mind processes it all and interacts with it in endless ways… this is how we perceive the role of TRIOC, a combination of them all.

HH:  What kind of gear did you use in the creation of your part of Beta Wave Nemisis?  Were field recordings utilized, and if so, where were they recorded?

OA:  I used my guitar and computer generated sounds.

Part II:  [SOLO EFFORT]

HH:  Despite all of the project names you record under, you have only put out one actual physical album under your own name to this date.  Burning Sigils was released on FracturedSpacesRecords in 2008.  Why is it that you haven’t put much focus behind projects done under your own name?

OA:  It wasn’t a conscious effort really. The past few years were like a vivid dream. I had a lot of things to face and handle, my mental situation was deteriorating and live activities were highly distracting for me. There was a feeling of void and agitation in me that kept me unbalanced, so I decided to leave the country and work abroad for some time and see what happens. Still, I managed to self-release a tape titled 001 under my personal name and had an improvised live piece recorded for Radio Lebanon which was released on CD as part of a compilation. There are also various tracks under my own name that appeared and will appear on different digital compilations.

HH:  In August of this year, you put together a much darker album under your solo name on the netlabel Kalpamantra entitled “Beast Mutation Rituals”.  Why did you make the decision to go digital with this release and why did you choose Kalpamantra?

OA:  It’s becoming frustrating working with record labels. None of my previously released albums where freshly recorded when they came out. Either they were re-releases of old works or new works that had to wait in line for years to be released. So I wanted to have a change and put out for once a recently recorded album directly to the public and it’s only through digital format one can do so these days, unless one got the means and time to self-release his/her work in a physical form.

I’ve known Kalpamantra from the very beginning and contributed few tracks of mine to one of its early compilations. . It’s a rarity finding dedicated individuals in the ritual/dark ambient realm with sharp ears and open mind to push things forward. So, with time, I’ve got to know Steven (the founder) more and he always reminded me that he’d like to put an album of mine out on his label, so when I had the new album ready it felt natural to mail it his way.

HH:  Does the ambiance within Beast Mutation Rituals take on the implied theme of animorphism, or is there another theme at work within the recording?  You’ve mentioned previously that it has to do with the beast within, rather than becoming one externally.

OA:  Indeed, it’s about dealing with the beast within.

HH:  The album has three parts in one track:  Beast Awakening, Acceptance, and Manifestation.  Thus ultimately you feel that one has to succumb to the beast within his or herself?

OA:  I wouldn’t say succumb but rather to be at one with it. It’s another personal album and it describes the process that I had to go through during the last few years. I was afraid of my inner beast for a very long time thinking that I wasn’t strong enough to handle its manifestation and that I will end up in an endless vortex of self-destruction. Eventually, the situation became unbearable and I just had to deal with it.

HH:  What do you feel is the result of someone continuing to deny the presence of the beast within? 

OA:  The result would be a dysfunctional human being devoured by his/her own inner beast.

HH:  Do you feel that this is something born within everyone, or only within a certain percentage of individuals?

OA:  I don’t know about that, but what I am sure of is that a great number of people do not even know that such a topic exists in the first place.

HH:  Will we see any further releases under Osman Arabi in the future outside of the digital realm?

OA:  That’s what I am aiming for, though nothing is planned for now.

Part III:  [20.SV / SEEKER]

HH:  As of 2008, both Seeker and 20.SV have seemed to effectively stop production.  Outside of the issues with Autumn Wind Productions, were there any other reasons behind this?

OA:  Not at all, as mentioned earlier there was so much going on in my life the past few years on many levels. We were working on TRIOC and I had also to work on the release of Shamanic Death Trance, find a source of income, deal with my own inner beast, take care of my personal life, do live performances and some mastering work and release the 001 tape among other things.

HH:  Roughly two and a half years ago, you were interviewed on the original Heathen Harvest.  At that time you had mentioned that you still had 6 unreleased 20.SV albums.  Are there currently plans to release any of these?

OA:  Yes.

HH:  Likewise, are you shopping around the idea for the 20.SV 3-box to other labels, or is that release effectively dead?  You had also announced early last year that Cthulhic Dawn would be releasing a 20.SV boxset spanning all 10 20.SV recordings, is this still happening?

OA:  Yes, CDP will put the entire 20.SV discography out. For some reason I’m not sending the materials, I have no answer for this, but it will happen eventually.

HH:  In 2006 you had some documented trouble with the authorities in your country that led to you not being able to receive packages in the mail.  Are you still not able to receive mail, and have you faced any more problems from the Lebanese authorities since that time?

OA:  I’m not taking any risk with the mail thing anymore to avoid any future problems. So far I haven’t had any problems with the authorities, which is good and I hope it remains this way.

HH:  Define exactly what a ‘Seeker’ is to you.  Likewise, can you tell us what is behind the name 20.sv?

OA:  A seeker is someone who independently seeks what lies beyond the world our eyes see and willingly destroys all preconceived perceptions.

As far as 20.SV is concerned, that’s a very complicated subject for me to explain as the project’s concept and sound work in a very unorthodox manner and are beyond my conscious control. In short, it is a manifestation of Chaos, and by Chaos I do not mean the mundane earthly meaning of the word synonym to disorder.

Part IV:  [XARDAS / KAFAN / SHAMANIC DEATH TRANCE / STALAGGH]

HH:  Where in you does the project Kafan lie? What makes it a separate entity from the others?   

OA:  Kafan is an extension to my hatred and rage in their rawest forms.

HH:  Why has this project been laid to rest after its only release, 2006′s “Injecting Evil in thy Veins” album on Full Moon Productions?  Will there ever be a future release from this project?

OA:  Unlike what most people think, Kafan never had a rest. I recorded and destroyed 6 albums already and I’m still working on having a satisfying final outcome.

HH:  Likewise, Xardas saw only one release early in your career in 2005. a tape entitled “Chapter I” on Cthulhic Dawn.  Has this project inevitably met its end as well?

OA:  Some projects deal with a certain conscious decision to record – relatively speaking – and others don’t. “Chapter I” was an automatic recording done during a magical time, so when I get privileged again another record will surface.

HH:  You’ve mentioned that Shamanic Death Trance is completely based around one guitar and a variety of pedals.  Why have you chosen to utilize this technique for this project? 

OA:  Because I’m a guitarist with a clear and precise sound wave in my mind that I cannot achieve at the time being without effect pedals. I prefer making sounds with my guitar rather than a computer, but sometimes the end result requires more than a guitar to achieve.

Actually, on a side note, all my recent performances were based exclusively on guitar driven sound waves.

HH:  Shamanic Death Trance is one of two projects that is the most closest to you.  Why have you released so little involving it?

OA:  Lack of resources… but this will change soon.

HH:  You had also mentioned that at that time you hadn’t picked up a guitar in about 6 months.  Due to the fact that Shamanic Death Trance saw only one very limited release, can we assume that you’re still not playing it today?

OA:  I was stuck with a cheap distortion pedal and a mediocre guitar and an amp with an awful sound for a decade so I haven’t been able to get the sound that I’ve wanted and ended up, like always, hating my instrument and despising it. Things changed few years ago when I bought the pedals I needed… I’ve been on good terms with my guitar, relatively speaking, since then.

HH:  There was some minimal controversy surrounding your involvement with the project Stalaggh some time ago.  On your blog, you posted a response to this controversy to put the issue to bed.  Since posting that article, have you heard anything from Stalaggh or New Era Productions concerning your thoughts?

OA:  Yes, they got in touch and apologized for the lack of communication, misunderstandings and other matters, which was an admirable move from their side.

HH:  Are there any notes here that you wish to use to conclude any number of the projects listed above?

OA:  All is in place.

Part V:  RITUAL SIDE

HH:  During our talks you’ve mentioned that you’re not necessarily a shaman, but influenced more from chaos magic.  Can you try to put your personal beliefs into words for us?

OA:  I do not have a specific or constant set of beliefs as I’m in perpetual transcendental state, but I can reveal that a great deal of shamanic practices constitute the bigger part of my belief system or it just coincided to be that way.

I was exposed to various religions and occult texts at a very early age and have never agreed with anything in its entirety. For some reason I was always on the look for answers to my visions and dreams, which play a major role in my life. Every time I read about what I experienced I end up with a book about some cult, religion, belief, order or theory. Eventually, I ended up reading about Chaos Magic and was struck, once again, by how I always find something out there explaining what I am experiencing or how am I approaching things all while toying around with the idea of randomness. That was when things started making a bit more sense to me. However, I wouldn’t say I’m influenced by Chaos Magic, it just happened that I was doing what a Chaos Magician does… finding my own will to lead me in my journey in this life.
HH:  Do you use any specific rituals when preparing for your live events?  How about when preparing to write music in the studio?  Can you describe them?  

OA:  The live performance is the ritual. I act as the drummer who gets the shaman into a mind trance and the shaman at the same time. It’s like having a map for a specific place where the sound should be the guide for me and the seekers (audience) to reach it.

As far as the recording process is concerned, it happens suddenly after a long period of derangement of the senses and sleep deprivation or a strict fasting/isolation period. Usually I’d feel a certain presence, something unusual in me or extreme hyper-activity or just hear the whole thing in my head, and this is when I feel the need to record. I can hardly choose the moment of recording.,I just know when it is the time to do so and it just happens without being consciously aware of the process.
HH:  Do you have a community of friends in Lebanon that you take part in rituals with or are you pretty secluded?

OA:  I do not practice rituals in the traditional sense. My rituals are personal and self-made that are designed for none but my own. I’m very secretive about this and almost none of those who know me in person have the slightest idea about this aspect of my life. I use a mask once I mingle with humans and often succeed in deceiving them which explains the contradictive opinions about me as a person to the point where sometimes I lose myself for a period of time.
HH:  Does animism have any place in your personal sphere?

OA:  It does with a certain twist. I’m very intuitive about this subject rather than intellectual.
HH:  Can you describe the darkest point in your life as a human, and how that affected your rituals?

OA:  The following answer was typed on December the 2^nd, 2011:

I’ve been thinking about this question for the past two weeks honestly and it made me reflect over certain periods of my life and question my current state. The only answer that I came up with is that I have never seen the light to point that out. That’s why most of my rituals are still focused on sharpening my will power, invoking chaotic deities, building shields and celebrating storm comings. I always find myself in a perpetual state of spiritual war with the world and in a desperate longing for the Void.

The following answer was typed on December 11^th, 2011:

I went out yesterday for a drink late at night. I felt extremely hyper active and unable to control my thoughts or stay focused and thought that maybe few drinks would calm me down so I can go back home and finish this interview in “peace”. I started with a drink and endless amounts of shots followed when a girl that I’ve been going out with lately showed up and took me to another bar. I wasn’t aware what was going on, but I just sat there silent, thinking about this very question all while trying to figure out why I am going out with this girl in the first place and why I’m sitting with her right now. This very thinking quickly led to an awkward situation with that person and I ended up making a little scene and shouted at the girl for some stupid thing she did. But it didn’t end here… we left the place in separate ways and found myself walking randomly in the empty desolate streets of the city at 2:00 AM, freezing to death. Half an hour later I stopped and found myself by the sea and started wondering what would make me go out late at night several times a week for a long walk when there is no electricity. What is there for me in those empty cold filthy streets where no soul roams that comforts me in a disturbing way. This is when my usual ritual of self-image destruction begins. I’d start calling every girl that I have known in my life and do my best at destroying the “glorifying” image she has of me.

Yesterday I realized that I do actually enjoy in destroying my ego at times and crush any good image anyone would have about me to the point of complete self-humiliation. I’ve been called a kid, an emotional wreck, an abomination, a stalker, a pervert and most of the times these people would go at length in doing some certain psychoanalysis on me as if I’m some poor soul that is badly damaged and need help. It always made me laugh deep down at how people would react towards unexpected and humiliating behaviour from someone they regard as “special” or “unique”. And I noticed that I always did this among many other strange things disregarding how my current state in life would be. Back in 2006 I’d have dropped you a long list of disastrous things happening in my life… but again, previous years were no better or growing up during the civil war, neither the years that followed.

I never maintained a job and would quit after a month or two to focus on my sound craft. I’m flat broke most of the time, living in an ancient city that is literally buried by time and dust in an underdeveloped country. I’m sure if I keep going at this it would sound really dramatic, but the funny part is nothing of this has any significant impact on my state of mind as much as the fact that I haven’t managed to record anything since summer. I got a fine reputable job few months ago with a real good monthly salary, I’m doing whatever I want and got the usual life difficulties out of the way, yet I confessed to myself yesterday that even with all the good things going on in my life now, it’s still blacker than the darkest of nights and the present time is the darkest one of all making the past such a joyful journey.

I keep having this tendency to make things even worse for myself at my weakest moments as if I’m trying to see how bad things can go. The older I get the darker things look and the more I face my fears and conquer them the more I realize how hallow in this world we all are.

HH:  Regarding the obviously spiritual theme of Burning Sigils, can you explain the specifics of what you had in mind for the theme of that record?

OA:  It is basically my own journey into my past all while reflecting at the present during that time. Whenever a sigil manifests itself in reality its creator should burn it. It is an album with a magically charged sound of all my desires, dreams and wills that found their ways into the earthly realms.

HH:  You had mentioned that the police had told you when you got into some trouble back in 2006 for receiving a package including copies of one of your albums, they had said that if you get into any more trouble, they will simply remove you from your home and put you in jail without a trial.  You’ve been playing out live increasingly since then.  Have you had any problems with the police getting involved in any of your local shows?

OA:  Everything has been going fine so far.

HH:  Have you played outside of Lebanon yet?

OA:  No.

HH:  Do you realize that someone has used your track “Snakes, Lizards and Shamans” as the music for their trailer for a mod of the video game Portal 2 on youtube?

OA:  Yes. The guy was nice enough to e-mail me and ask if it would be ok to use the track.

Part VI:  [PERSONAL LIFE]

HH:  What are your immediate thoughts on the “Arab Spring” and its achievements as well as its consequences?

OA:  Terrible!!! The act itself might sound noble in a utopian world. This could be one of the first symptoms of a globalized culture. There’s a lack of essence, like the hipster phenomena. People got fed up with a certain regime and their present situation and desperately need a change. Sounds great so far, but the question is: How? And what’s there as a substitute?

I do not intend to be sarcastic, but there are serious questions to be posed. Either it’s a naïve natural reaction from people who’ve been oppressed for decades or an act of sabotage by leading countries to further weaken the countries in the area. Both scenarios are catastrophic.

What kind of a “revolution” is it with no ideology or a plan or even a sense of unity?

Iraqis desperately needed an escape from Saddam, what happened next? The American interference brought them blacker days.

There’s so much history and a lot of hidden hatred and diverse religious fanaticism spread across the Arab world mixed with a great level of ignorance, illiteracy, poverty and weakness. Imagine what would happen if you let these people loose all of a sudden with no sense of direction or any personal liberation from all the chains of religions.

Islamists are now in control of Tunisia and it seems it’s going to be the case with Libya and Egypt. The way I see it, things are not heading toward anything positive. As long as individualism is non-existent, no successful “revolution” will ever occur.

HH:  Your Prime Minister Najib Mikati has been accused (from the Western world) of being too accommodating to Hezbollah.  What are your thoughts behind his actions as Prime minister concerning this?  Do you think that he’s successfully helping keep the peace between Lebanon’s different factions by being supportive of them?

OA:  I guess he’s been trying to keep the country morphinized. There’s no peace, everything is in hibernation more or less and no faction is happy about the situation. And, a serious clash with Hezbollah can lead the country into an inner-war at the present time.

HH:  What are your thoughts on his relative silence regarding Syria and their president Bashar al-Asaad?  Do you feel he’s doing his job admirably or otherwise?

OA:  Syria has a great power over Lebanon in so many ways, so basically Bashar Al Asaad is the one who gives his thoughts about the Labanese situation and not vice versa.

HH:  What is your personal opinion on the safety of the typical Lebanese citizen in today’s world?  Are many people open on their thoughts or do they have to be relatively subdued in their conversations?

OA:  The question reminded me of an old joke my father once told me in the late 80’s about an American citizen debating democracy with a Russian one. The American was bragging about the freedom of speech in his country and how he can stand in front of the white house and insult the American president without facing any problems. The Russian replied: “Same here! I can stand in front of the Kremlin and insult the American president without any problems and most probably I’ll get free vodka for that too!” And that’s pretty much the situation here. The country is divided into several areas of certain religious homogeneity so you’re free to say anything in your area as long as it doesn’t upset the majority in it. There are few small grey areas where there’s no sense of belonging and more of “cultural” cross point where you can freely express yourself, relatively speaking, all while hoping no fanatic citizen cross your path. Overall, people are open with their thoughts, especially after the Syrian army withdrawal in 2005; you just have to check where you’re standing.

HH:  It has been said that the pope may be visiting Lebanon next year in an attempt to preserve the Christians’ existence in the country and the East.  Do you feel he’ll be welcomed by the general public, and what are your thoughts on his visit?

OA:  Sure he’ll be welcomed. It’s going to be one hell of a religious frenzy! I think people will faint in front of him just like the women who used to faint at a Michael Jackson show.

I’ll be beating my head into a wall for hours. It’s another drug injection of a high dosage for all the religious junkies in the area to keep them high and alive.

HH:  What do you feel is the single greatest challenge facing Lebanon today?

OA:  Even Obama cannot answer this question! This whole area needs to be nuked.

HH:  Recently a military incursion occured in Qaa on the Syrian-Lebanese border, infringing on Lebanon’s sovereignty, though the only people killed were Syrian.  Hezbollah is staying silent rather than strengthening the border with the Lebanese army.  Has this been big news there or is it somewhat of a normal occurence?

OA:  Hezbollah got the majority in the parliament and is on excellent terms with Syria, so the whole thing was like flash news in the states about someone in Florida gone crazy and shot his dog in public.

HH:  Lastly, do you consider yourself a Lebanese patriot, or would you be happy to relocate and move on elsewhere?

OA:  No I never regarded myself as a Lebanese patriot and I’d move out whenever the opportunity arises.

HH:  Thank you for the interview Osman!

OA:  My pleasure, Sage.