If you want to start 2015 off rocking and rolling, you’re in good hands. On January 3 at The Music Room, seven regional rock bands are set to take the stage from 8pm onwards during an event dubbed The Big Rock ‘n Roll Festival. So what can people expect to hear? A mix of originals and popular covers including hard rock, pop-rock, melodic rock, acoustic and of course, a little bit of rockabilliy.
The latter comes courtesy of Eddie Misk & The Hot Rod Rockers — a trio consisting of Misk on lead guitar and vocals, Janelle Bernardo on drums, and Lakshmi Ramirez on double bass — who have been performing together for the past five years.
“We entered rockabilly in the UAE music scene starting in 2010 — first of all, the style of music that we play, it’s music from the ’50s, the very early stage of rock ‘n roll. It was done by Elvis Presley at the time,” Misk told tabloid!.
Ahead of his Saturday night performance, he told us what we can expect, exactly, from a rockabilly show, and why the genre was his perfect calling.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your band?
A: The rockabilly music, the basic, is a trio: guitar, drums and a double bass. The double bass has a special technique of playing, it’s a very particular thing, so if you don’t have it, it doesn’t become rockabilly. You can add a saxophone, you can add a trumpet, you can add a piano — but a rockabilly band, actually, is a trio.
Q: What will people experience at your performance on Saturday night?
A: In UAE, to bring back such music, it’s not an easy task, because the majority are heading towards the R&B, the rap music, the new style or wave of music happening in the last couple of years. Rockabilly is the swing kind of music, so anything that swings, that has rhythm — you can’t stand still. You have to move. So people start to like it, regardless of their style of music.
Q: What made you get into the genre yourself?
A: I was born in a music industry family. My father, he’s the founder of the Lebanese jazz club back in the 50s, and so I was raised and brought up into the music scene. Of course, back then, I listened to a lot of music. I heard rock ‘n roll and I got into the Elvis era style. I feel I can perform much more confidently with rockabilly music.
Q: What covers can people expect to hear from you?
A: There’s Elvis – Mystery Train, and there’s Brian Setzer – Drive Like Lightning, and Gene and Eddie. People who love rockabilliy will definitely know the songs we’ll be covering. In general, people always love it. But as far as I can see from my experience over the past five years, many people don’t know the songs, honestly. It’s mostly known in Europe and Asia and the States, because it’s music that came from the States, more than our region here.
