Artist Spotlight: Maii & Zeid - The Duo Crafting Arabic Alt-pop

Having instantly bonded over their love of music and their approach to songwriting in their first meeting, Alexandrian artist Maii Waleed and pioneering Lebanese producer Zeid Hamdan started the project ‘Maii and Zeid’ to add their catchy tunes and singular lyrical style, in which Waleed expresses her emotions “frame by frame, phase by phase,” to the region’s alternative music scene.

Back in July, beloved SceneNoise writer Youssef Armanios caught up with the duo at Lebanese alternative music festival Oakenfest, where they talked about their back-and-forth production process, sending each other recordings and musical ideas remotely, and how they take turns coming up with chords and melodies for their songs.

Hamdan also gives a timeless piece of advice to up-and-coming artists, telling them that fans come and go, and that they shouldn’t dwell too much on pleasing their audience, rather, to focus on their own satisfaction with the music they’re creating.

Watch the full interview here: