From an early age, I have always been fascinated by the presence of sound in a space. At fourteen (2009), I began collecting sounds through voice notes, archiving memories through sound alone. It was also around this time that I began experimenting with digital music production, combining music and field recordings to keep record of what I would later title as sonic diaries.
Professionally, I launched a career in music as a recording and performing artist after signing with local indie label, Wall of Sound, in 2020. Up until then, I continued to create music throughout my years studying architecture and uploaded pieces on SoundCloud under the moniker fulana¹. My work focussed on creating songs touching on topics such as romantic relationships and mental health from a deeply personal perspective.
In 2023, influenced by witnessing the genocide of the people of Gaza in real-time, I shifted my intention to decentralization—I began looking into death as a collective human experience. Growing up in an Islamic community that spiritually romanticized death, I felt a need to explore its biological reality and the ways the body returned to earth. For a little under two years, I studied belief systems, burial rituals, and the science of decomposition. The research gave birth to ground²,a music project that addressed the personification of death. It’s first chapter was released independently in late 2024 in collaboration with the producer duo Input/Output.
With a widened view on sound exploration through research and creation beyond the singer/songwriter framework, I went on to represent the future of Saudi musicians as a selected artist in residence at the Osaka World Expo’s Saudi Pavilion. With freedom to create anything, my love for documenting memories through filed recording was renewed, resulting in a collaborative piece with Japanese musician, Kohei³.
My experience is Osaka further encouraged me to pursue a mentorship with British composer and producer, Hannah Peel4. The four month long program focused on storytelling through sound, combining field recordings with simplified compositions and sampling techniques. The mentorship deepened my engagement with the natural world. This approach later created opportunity to work on multiple collaborations with individuals of different disciplines such as researchers, filmmakers, and podcasters.
Shifting from a performing and recording musician to a sonic artists focussing on naturalism and the magic behind individual creatures’ umwelts⁵ came with no hesitation, almost instinctively. It came with a growing concern for the direct impact that consumerism and the commercialization of war have on our environments, as well as the ever-increasing levels of disconnect between ourselves and the natural world.
Captured by James Doherty