For Adham Shaikh, music embodies a certain sacredness that defies simplistic divisions of “acoustic” or “electronic.” Desiring to create bridges between different musical styles, within the fused roots of Shaikh’s tribal groove and dub-laced downtempo, he says he hopes to discover “the unpredictable creative thing that as a musician I am always seeking out.” His Fusion cd, consisting of groove-based ambient and dancefloor-driven worldbeat, is an audio illustration of its namesake. His latest CD Collectivity is another audio journey into world rhythms–all of it once again ridden on Shaikh’s joyous beats and polished production.
A lot of people know you as a dj but that’s not your roots?
No, in fact, deejaying came second. I’m a composer I guess first. I was a keyboard player. I played piano since I was about 5 or 6 and did the whole classical training Royal Conservatory things up to grade thirteen. And even got accepted into Queens University…I did 3 years of a music degree and then chose to interpret my composition professor’s statement of how he couldn’t really teach anyone how to compose but could show you how other people compose. But ultimately, if you wanted to find your voice you had to just listen to it. It wasn’t something you were going to learn in school.
