We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Faisal Zedan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Faisal, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story about the kindest thing someone has done for you and why it mattered so much or was so meaningful to you?
It was the unexpected financial and moral support during the pandemic from people who volunteered on their own to help established musicians and artist survive that dark and uncertain era.
Faisal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I fell in love with Arabic hand percussion at age 15 and it became the path of my life since I arrived in the U.S in 1991. Playing and teaching Arabic music and drumming gave me the chance to meet and deal with a wide range of people from different walks of life. I feel that music up lifts the spirits of people and it gave me the chance to connect on that level.
The music became a tool for connection and a peace making factor. I have been teaching drumming since 1996 and since then my focus on teaching hand mechanics and playing styles gave me a platform to be a teacher with a wider understanding of the ancient traditions that I come from. My teaching approach earned me recognition among the people who are pursuing Arabic music and drumming.
I feel proud of being able to establish teaching and performance credibility without the need for school degree since these old traditions are not taught using traditional learning paths. I studied and researched privately for many years so I can have a deeper understanding of my tradition where the modern music schools are not able to provide what I gathered and learned.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
There’s a goal that’s driving me personally and that is to understand rhythm on a deeper level. I feel the connection between the pulse of the beat coming from the drums and I feel it’s origin in the universe. My thinking expanded deeper to go beyond just drumming and creating music. It’s giving me the chance to look deeper in to the nature of time and the fabric of spacetime. I’m not a scientist but I feel the science in the beat and I believe we can understand it deeply and we can transmit whatever knowledge we have acquired to the next generation of musicians who will further understand the beat and time.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding thing has been making connection with people and getting to learn and understand our human connection and how music plays a great roll in that. Playing and teaching drums took me to places I never thought I will be able to go to and it made me meet people I wouldn’t be able to meet otherwise. Traveling all over to teach and perform made me realize that people do value art and music and they do recognize a good talent and are willing to support it.
Contact Info:
- Website: faisalzedan.com
- Instagram: faisal zedan
- Facebook: faisal zedan
- Youtube: faisal zedan percussion
- Other: Patreon.com/faisalzedan