TAQWACORE WEBZINE

It’s hard to believe that The Taqwacores feature film Sundance Film Festival debut was back in January. So much has happened since the adventures in the Taqx punk house in the snowy valley of Park City. It was in the house that I first met the illustrious Omar Fadel. Poised and soft spoken, it was surprising that someone with such eloquence was responsible for the music to such a raucous movie like The Taqwacores. Don’t believe my personality buildup of Omar? Check out the video I caught of him on Main Street at Sundance and try to say otherwise.

Finally, the movie is out. Last month the movie had it’s NYC debut and on November 12th the movie will be released in Los Angeles and Irvine for the big screen west coast screening. And it’s not just the movie that came out – the soundtrack for the movie also was released. Available on iTunes, The Taqwacores Original Motion Picture Soundtrack has our favorite bands like The Kominas, Noble Drew, Diacritical, Al-Thawra as well as Sagg and The Fanaa Fish. But it’s The Taqwacores Original Motion Picture Score (also on iTunes) that not only created shaped the sound space to the film but is also the brainchild of Omar Fadel. Here’s what he had to say.

In a punk book turned to movie, punk music plays a crucial role. In some ways, the music in itself is a different character. You created the score for the movie – how did you go about preparing to work on this movie? Did you read the book first? Or did you get a draft of the movie and just jump right in?

I was involved from day one.  Eyad called me up after he finished reading the book and told me about this amazing story of Muslim punks.  I read the book and was blown away…  Aside from reading the book and watching the film over and over, the majority of my preparation was trying to think of cool sounds that would work with the film.  From the very beginning Eyad and I  knew that the score couldn’t sound traditional and had to use a non traditional palette of sounds and instruments.

So both The Taqwacores score AND the Taqwacores soundtrack are for sale on iTunes. Why did the production team decide to release them both?

The were several reasons why we decided on two releases rather than on one combined score/soundtrack.  One reason was that we felt that some buyers would want one or the other but necessarily both score & soundtrack.  And the other reason is that we wanted the listener to be able to listen to the score in it’s entirety without it being broken up by the soundtrack songs.  The same idea goes for the soundtrack.

Have you always listened to punk music or was this your first foray?

Yes, I have always listened to punk, but never really played or wrote any.  Operation Ivy’s self titled album and The Clash’s London Calling are in my top 20 favorite albums list.

The moshpit scene is one of the most crucial crux point in the movie – how did you choose the song that you did for it?

I believe Eyad had stumbled on the Bad Brains song early in the editing process.  I never watched a rough cut of the film without that song. One thing that did change is that Eyad originally wanted the Bad Brains song to continue throughout the whole mosh pit scene.  At a screening of the film with Eyad, Justin & Zach (Snap Sound, the did sound design and mixed the film), Josh (the editor) and myself, we decided that we needed to help point out what was happening to Jehangir and the how the emotion of the mosh pit changes after the fight begins with Bilal’s Boulder.  So I wrote a piece of music that was mixed in with the Bad Brains song, and when the fight begins, the Bad Brains song gets lower and the score gets louder.  It ended up being very effective, in great part to the amazing mix that Snap Sound did.

What was your experience like working on this film?

This film was very different then most other films I work on.  Normally when a film is being edited, the editor will place temp music into the film.  Temp music is a pre-existing piece of music (from another film or album) that is essentially a place holder for where the actual score will go.  After the editing is complete, the composer replaces the temp music with what becomes the real score.  Using temp music is a very common practice and in many ways it is a double edged sword.  The good part of it is that the temp music helps establish what the director is looking for.  The bad part is that a lot of times the director becomes attached to the temp and replacing it without blatantly ripping it off can be difficult.

For The Taqwacores, there was no temp music used at all.  Neither Eyad nor myself had any idea of what the score should sound like and in the beginning it was very much trial and error until we figured out what would work.

What was your favorite scene to score for?

Jehangir’s khuttba.  From the very beginning in the book, and then in the film, it was always my favorite.  Trying to capture both the emotion of Jehangir as he gives the khutbba as well as the inner turmoil of Umar was a very fulfilling process.

When we were in Sundance, it was your first time meeting a lot of the musicians on the soundtrack, such as The Kominas and Sagg. What was that experience like?

The night I arrived in Park City, I went out to a party and drank up a storm.  Maybe it was the altitude, who knows, but I ended up taking a little nap in the living room of the apartment where all of the bands were staying.  I remember waking up in the middle of night to a raging party.  It was like a scene in the movie.  Very surreal.

What do you think is the draw and the magic to this so-called scene?

I think there is a whole generation of young muslims who are looking for an alternative to the rigid interpretation of the Quran that has become the norm in Shia and Sunni Islam.

Do you consider yourself Taqwacore?

Well, if you consider Taqwacore to be a rejection of standard modern Muslim dogma, then yes.  Without a doubt.  Taqwacore has always existed.  We just didn’t have a name for it or a community to rally around.

Be sure to check out Omar’s website – he’s released two albums (Hotpress for Leopold and Tuktuks to Tanta) and I”m sure whatever is next on his plate, it will be worth following. And of course, go to iTunes to purchase your copy of The Taqwacores Score and Soundtrack.

Nav Mann, Imran Malik, Taz Ahmed, Bobby Naderi, Ian Tran, Omar Fadel, Volkan Eryaman and Dominic Rains on Main St. at Sundance.

As for the rest of you – I’ll see you on the red carpet in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

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Tanzila “Taz” Ahmed is an activist and writer living in Oakland. She is the founder of South Asian American Voting Youth (SAAVY), an aspiring novelist and a long-time blogger for the popular South Asian blog Sepia Mutiny.