Bahrain's Shaikh Hassan Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, or "Shake" to his friends, is a rock 'n' roller who is following his bliss with his indie-rock band, Manakin
It took a couple minutes longer than expected to locate Shaikh Hassan Bin Rashid Al Khalifa, as I was looking for his trademark large mop of wild, curly hair. It was in the corner of a hotel restaurant in an understated white shirt, jacket and jeans that I found him trying to get in a few forkfuls of spaghetti bolognaise in between media interviews.
The rocker hair was replaced by a tamer ponytail.
"Hi I'm Hassan," he greeted casually - clearing up any confusion about how he should be addressed. He continued, saying his friends call him "Shake".
"When I'm not rockin' and rollin', writing music or performing, I take care of my family's 35-year-old retail business, and the head office is over here," Shake went on to explain his Dubai visit.
Commenting on how he manages to juggle the family business and still focus on his music, he said it had been tough to take over the reins in 2002 when his father passed away. "I went from doing music to being thrown into a corporate environment. It took me two years to be able to go back."
The corporate environment did, however, teach him a lot about time management and about being professional, he said.
More recently Shake and his UK-based band, Manakin - formerly known as Brothermandude - have been writing and composing songs in Spain. Shake heads the band and is joined by ex-Neneh Cherry band guitarist Charlie Casey, bassist Russell Milton and drummer Ian Markin.
"Once a month for about a week, we go to our manager's house in Spain - he has a studio in the basement - and we all record music, skits and fun things."
Good reviews
He said the band's newly released album, In the Desert, has already received good reviews and download numbers. It is set to be realeased in the Middle East in early January.
The music video for the track Gun was recently shot in Vancouver, Canada. "I'm not the biggest fan of the video, but it was a great experience working with the director. Hopefully it'll be up on MTV soon. Everybody who sees it, loves it. I'm just my biggest critic."
Shake said an Arabic flavour was added to the album in the last track, The Day, but it was unintentional. "It was the first time I wrote in Arabic and I would never have done it, but I was three hours late to practice and I walked in and my drummer gave me this angry look and asked, 'Can you sing in Arabic?'"
After Shake was bullied into singing in Arabic, the group found the end result amazing. "If I was there on time I wouldn't have done it, but I was three hours late, so I tried it. I didn't know we were recording, and afterward we said 'wow'.
"You hear about bands like the Doors doing things like that in the '60s, and it was just great to do something like that and have a story to tell."
Being a member of the ruling family and a rocker doesn't necessarily mean he hangs out in the fashionable celebrity circles, Shake said, although the band has toured with Arrested Development, Fun Lovin' Criminals and Star Sailor, among others. "The higher up you get, you realise the cooler the people are."
Commenting on his dual status, Shake said he was comfortable with who he is. "Growing up, people say 'Shaikh Hassan'. But when I went to the States, I was just Hassan and I loved that. At the end of the day I am Shaikh Hassan and you need to find a way to deal with that. I'm more secure about it now."
Tackling success
He is also under pressure about what he can and cannot say in his lyrics. "There have been occasions where a manager would say, 'Do you really want to say that?' And I've been like, 'Yeah'. It's just a song and it could be interpreted any way."
Shaikh Hassan, with a brother who is a racing driver and sister who studies at Yale, said he owed a lot to his parents who allowed him to pursue his interests. "I was really into horse riding and [show] jumping when I was growing up, which started a lot of things because it was different."
He also fondly remembers his grandmother who provided a creative environment for her 15 grandchildren after their Friday lunches where they would play tennis, go swimming, ride bikes and compete.
Shake is already successful by many people's standards, but he himself finds it hard to define success. "To some, I've already made it. People back home find out what I'm doing and say I'm getting to follow my passion. I've definitely turned a corner. I've got two albums out and I've got the third coming out."
The next step? To set the global stage alight with a consistent fan base where the band is consistently writing good songs. "For me, being able to go to a festival and really give people a good show is success."
