Omar Akram Interview The Final On Vinyl Podcast

I had a pleasant conversation with Omar Akram to discuss his most recent release, Moments of Beauty, and his diverse background.

Keith "MuzikMan" Hannaleck

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Transcript

Speaker 0:02

Hello everybody, this is Keith MuzikMan Hannaleck with the Final on Vinyl Podcast, and I am with Omar Akram. And he recently put out an album called Moments of Beauty in July of last year now. Here we are, second day of 2024. I had the pleasure of covering his music again and want to welcome you to the podcast, Omar. Thank you. Good to be here. Well, your your album was uh wonderful, as I expected it would be. And and one of the first things that caught my eye, no pun intended, is the beautiful eye on the cover and uh all of the artwork added to it. I thought that was very unique.

Speaker 1 0:47

Thank you. Thank you. Yes, that's that's you know, honestly, that's been uh uh a bit of a surprise, the amount of attention that that the cover has gotten. And uh that's the beautiful work of Glenn Wexler, who is an amazing artist who's done some major iconic uh covers for you know Van Halen. He's worked with Pina Turner. I mean, he's done actually at the Los Angeles County Museum, they had an exhibit of his covers, believe it or not. So this guy is as a world-renowned artist, but he just happens to be a friend of mine that I've worked with, and he's done uh this would be a third cover that he's done for me. And uh we go way back to my album Secret Journey back in 2006. He uh we started working together, so yeah, the cover has gotten a lot of attention, which has been wonderful. Uh interesting story. When the album actually came out, like literally the day that it came out, I was invited to an event, and um uh uh I run into people, and the first thing they said is like, oh, your album, we love the cover, we love the cover, and I was like, usually people mention the music first and all of that, but the cover has gotten a lot of attention. So I'm really happy because what the cover has done is gotten people curious enough to click on that on the album and was able to listen. So uh I'm I'm glad you noticed it too.

Speaker 2:36

Oh you hit the nail on the head, as they say. I mean, back in the day when we had LPs as the standard format, uh, which is actually outselling CDs now again, um, that's the thing that you wanted. That was your advertisement to pull somebody's eyes in, than to get curious about it and actually listen to the music. So I think that's the way to go, you know.

Speaker 1 3:01

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 3:02

Yes. So as far as your career goes and and your background, uh how long have you been a musician and um what were some of the influences you had growing up?

Speaker 1 3:18

Um, well, as far as music, I have to tell you that I've been doing this for a long time since I, you know, my my interest in music goes way back since I was a child. Like most musicians, I I assume. Um I was a hyper child. Um we were uh living in Prague, Czech Republic back then. And um I became you know, every time my parents played music, I would I would calm down. So they figured, you know what, let's uh let's get him uh a piano or a musical instrument to, you know, maybe that's gonna help them. And sure enough, it really helped me as a child. You know, I did better in school when I was taking my music classes, and um, you know, as I grew up, you know, then then you know my father was a diplomat. Uh I was actually born in New York City, my dad worked for United Nations, and um, both of my parents come from Afghanistan first. So in first generation, I was born in New York, in Queens, New York. My dad worked for United Nations, like I said. So we traveled to different countries, and so we were in Prague when I was six or seven, then we traveled. My dad actually had to work at the embassy in Cuba and Havana. So I wor I lived there for a couple of years. So music was always a part of you know um my growing up. And um when we came back to the States, we came to the East Coast outside of Washington, DC. Uh, I went to a music conservatory, um, and sort of continued music. And when I came to LA in 1993 is when I really started to pursue it professionally, you know, started playing in different bands and things like that. And I got signed in 2002 to a recording contract uh with a label called Real Music, which was distributed by Warner Brothers. And uh so that's kind of when everything started, where uh the first album jumped to number 14 on the uh Billboard charts, and so it just kind of happened from there. And I guess in 2013 is uh with my album, Echoes of Love, is when I got nominated for a Grammy Award, and uh I won a Grammy Award in 2013 for best new age album. So it just uh I guess it keeps going. Great.

Speaker 5:55

It sounds like uh you were fortunate enough to move around like that with uh your f your family, uh be able to absorb all the different cultures and art, all these different places you went to.

Speaker 1 6:08

Absolutely, you know, you you you just made a great point, yes. And I I think that's been uh a real essential part of not only me as a person uh growing up, but to absorb all those different cultures, obviously, it it really helps with uh my music and you know the kind of music that I make as you know is instrumental music. So um, you know, you can pull from different cultures and and and add those elements into the music. So if you go back and listen uh to my music, you can see you know a lot of those threads coming into the music. If I I just uh you know, when I mention Cuba, for instance, you can hear the Latin, the the the guitars and you know, all of those elements uh into the music. So yeah, it's been a big part of me, and I speak several languages, I speak four languages because of that. And it uh really opens up your world, obviously. You know, you're um you just become uh much more open to uh different cultures and different countries, which which I love, and I encourage everyone to do that, obviously.

Speaker 7:31

It's like having uh you know a camera and you have a wider lens and you look at things differently than people that are just stuck in the same place their entire lives and aren't exposed to anything different.

Speaker 1 7:44

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 7:46

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 7:47

I think that's uh you know, it's important for us to be to discover uh different countries. I mean, it's difficult when you live in this kind in America, you know, because we've got everything. You know, we we have different cultures, we have different, you know, uh people here, but honestly, uh actually leaving the country and and and going someplace and being experienced to experience different cultures is is amazing, you know. Um, and I always encourage people to do that because at the end of the day, you realize sometimes, you know, a lot of the times you realize how fortunate we are, well we are, you know, that's the first thing. Second is uh there's some beautiful cultures out there, and it's it's it's always great to experience it and just uh being able to uh channel that through whatever work uh you're doing, especially if you're an artist, you know. So I yeah, I definitely agree with you, Keith.

Speaker 8:51

Well, when I was in the Navy years ago, I did some traveling and had a much greater appreciation for what I had in America and could see a lot of things that I was never exposed to before, so it helped me find more gratitude for being an American citizen and being in this country, you know. So um yes. Thinking about your music and your process, um do you use a lot of the latest technologies and you know, you play the piano and you integrate all these different technologies into your music like many folks do today?

Speaker 1 9:32

Well, um I I think it it's it's all a tool, right? I think for me the main thing, um the way I my process is uh personally is to write a great melody. You know, I think that that's for me sitting in front of my piano. The process usually starts from there. And then um once I have a melody, you know, I I don't really go and experiment with sounds and do you know beats and things like that um until I have something solid in front of the piano. So that's the first thing. And uh previously I've gone uh for instance in my album Destiny, uh after I wrote some of the music, I thought I need a full-on symphony orchestra, right? Like an 80-piece symphony. So that's what I did. I used an 80-piece symphony for that album. Um for this album, which you uh kindly mentioned earlier that it's nominated for a Grammy Award, uh Moments of Beauty, my new album. Uh that has been completely a different process. Um, as far as you know, once I wrote the music, I realized that I just need some minimal instruments to kind of make it work. And um so going back to the technology, yes, we do use uh sound, scent, things like that, but only as a tool, not as a um a writing tool, if you know what I mean. It's after the melody is being written. Um and uh in this case, for instance, um I pretty much performed all of the uh instruments myself, meaning that all the like uh it's all done through keyboards and things, but like bass and drums and things like that. But then the only thing that I brought in was a string quartet, uh, which um I felt like it was necessary for to for the colors, and obviously you need live musicians to do that, but the rest of the album is pretty much performed by myself. Um but yeah, I mean there you have I mean it's very easy to get lost in all that stuff, you know, all the technology and all the great sounds and things like that, but you know, when you're sampling those sounds and stuff, it sounds amazing. But I mean, you know, you have to have a bass, you have to have sort of like a melody before you can start utilizing those sounds. So that's what I usually do. Starts for me in a in a dark studio with just me sitting in front of the piano. Doesn't sound very exciting, but that's just how what everything starts for me.

Speaker 12:38

You need a foundation before you can build the house, right?

Speaker 1 12:42

Yeah, I mean it's it's kind of like um it's kind of like having a great story, you know. I mean, uh like um doing doing a movie. I mean, you and I know, I mean, if you watch a movie nowadays, most of them are not that great because it it lacks that story, right? I mean that's why we love some of these older movies because just the great story. And I think every you know, when you write a piece of music, if the story and the the melody is not there, then you can have all the cool sounds and stuff is not gonna make any difference, really, to me at least personally. But for the kind of music that I write is very melodic, right? So that's very important for me.

Speaker 13:28

Well, thinking about it now, it's like you don't have to be a musician to put an album out now. You know, using all that technology to very easily put something together. Um obviously it wouldn't be something you could just start today if you had no experience. You have to know how to utilize all the tools. But putting down that foundation and being a real musician and putting together the rhythms and the compositions, that's where all the work is, and that's that's what's real about it. And I I like the way you you look at all that.

Speaker 1 14:03

Well, come on, man. Look at the look at these 70s bands, you know, look at these uh these great players, you know, that that would come on stage and perform. You know, Earth Wind and Fire, you know. I mean, you can't you can't just uh go on a laptop and start producing sounds and stuff like that. Yeah, I suppose uh certain electronic DJs and things like that, they put on some beats and stuff, but yeah, I mean you can't uh duplicate you know real musicianship. And it shows because at the end of the day, none of those people can perform, you know, and uh and I think that's what distinguishes you know someone who's a real musician. But yeah, I mean I essentially I agree with you. There they are things you can do, so you know, some scoring. I know people that don't even uh play any instruments, and they they're into some scoring and things like that. So I I'm not judging or you know, whatever people do what they do, but at least for me, I'm old school, you know, I'm I believe in learning your instruments and knowing how to perform. That's uh because uh that's how I started for the love of playing the instrument. I was never into okay, I'm gonna go out there and make you know lots of money and become famous and all that. It's always been about playing the instruments, hanging out with my friends. We would jam, we would perform. That just brought me a lot of joy. And it still does. That's why I do it. You know.

Speaker 15:46

So you do go out on tour? Do you have a tour planned? Excuse me.

Speaker 1 15:52

Yeah, actually, um, I I I have a great band. Um, and uh, you know, before COVID happened, I had a huge tour planned. I had a 30 city tour planned actually in China. Uh they invited me to do uh at their huge music festival. I was gonna do a master class for their classical musicians and then go on on a big tour. And of course, when the pandemic happened, all of that stuff sort of went away. And um and uh yeah, so now af you know, and then when we came back, I did a solo piano album, and then I started on this album, Moments of Beauty, and then uh so now after all of this, I think I'm ready to start going back out there and uh and perform live. So yeah, really looking forward to it. That's great.

Speaker 16:48

Excellent. So just uh to wrap things up, the last question I would have is do you have any favorite albums that you spend all the time? Do you actually have time for that? Most most musicians don't. They always say they don't have time to listen, they're always creating. I was just curious.

Speaker 1 17:07

Well, I think, you know, I don't know about you, but I go through phases of uh of what I want to listen to. You know, sometimes, you know, I'm a I'm a huge uh fan of uh classical, you know, European classical music. So I I I listen to a lot of that. And uh sometimes I go through my jazz phase where I'm listening to a lot of jazz stuff. So it it it's not like one thing where I'm like, and and the beauty of streaming music today is you could pretty much uh listen to whatever you want, right? Like um right now I'm listening to a lot of the friends that are nominated for a Grammy Award. Um and uh just to listening to their albums and uh and just uh enjoying that. And so that's something that obviously we didn't have way back when we would have to go to an to uh album, you know, get the album and buy it and bring it in and play, which was I took a lot of pleasure in doing that, obviously. You know, buying albums. But now I could just go and listen to whatever. So I I I go I go through my phases, you know. Um just uh last week uh I was listening to uh Saturday Night Fever's soundtrack, which I haven't listened to a lot in a long time. The B James I was like, man, those guys are so good, man. It's it was just so fun to listen to that uh soundtrack. You know, my son was uh watching the movie again, and we were listening to the soundtrack. So it's just it it it depends on you know what's going on and what phase I'm going through. But I the bottom line is I really enjoy music and it brings a lot of happiness uh for me and it's helped me quite a bit in you know my life since I was a child. So I encourage everyone to just listen, experiment, and uh, you know, make music a big part of their lives because it's just amazing.

Speaker 19:20

It is very therapeutic. Well, I appreciate your time, Omar Ocrum, and your music, and look forward to future releases by you, and thank you for joining me on the final and vinyl podcast. Thank you for having me on. Happy New Year. Take care. You too. Bye.