Badiaa

“Some people say music is the language of the soul.

Music is a different world. Musicians realise that there is another world, separate from the earthly one in which we live. It’s a world where you can communicate with another language, the language of sensation.

By studying music we learn ways that enable us to speak more. Music provides us with more than mere words and letters. Truth lies behind words. And music arouses a beautiful feeling – as if you are holding pearls in your hands.

You must first feel this sensation and this language if you want to pass it on to people who are not musicians. You must feel it so they feel it with you.

I’ve been influenced by many musicians, female musicians. I was influenced not just by their styles, but also by their personalities. They are women whose music has affected me, and I feel their music – such as Um Kalthoum. She has a special presence, not only on stage. You listen to history and to many other things when you listen to her voice.

Fairouz too. She is different from Um Kalthoum. But she is also a world in her own right.

I also like Bjork. For me, Bjork is in a parallel world to everything else that exists in the world of music. What she expresses comes from another world that has different rules.

I also like Zap Mama. They are all about returning to an African style. I have a special preference for African music. We have a tendency to sing oriental music and we forget that we, in Tunisia, belong to the African continent. It is something that we can feel in Tunisian rhythms.

I don’t like fear. I believe that fear is spread about in the world today. But I personally feel secure. I feel that many things are changing. There is a special movement in the world, particularly among the young people of the Arab world. But we don’t hear much about them.

I believe that every free spirited person is at heart a revolutionary. And I want to express this feeling. I want my spirit to remain alive. The free spirit refuses oppression. Fear kills the spirit. My message is: Keep your spirit alive.”

Next Music Station airs at the following times GMT each week: Tuesday: 2000; Wednesday: 1200; Thursday: 0100; Friday: 0600; Saturday: 2000; Sunday: 1200; Monday: 0100; Tuesday: 0600. Click here for more on the series.