Basil Alhadi a.k.a. Karrouhat
DJ/Creative Director NATIONALITY: Jordanian INSTAGRAM: @karrouhat
Did you always know you wanted to get into a creative field? Yes I always had a feeling that I couldn’t live the normal life. I've always known that I'm creative and wanted to be living in this way. I chose to be creative though it’s not as easy and fun as everyone thinks. It’s actually very hard and not stable at all but I chose this stress over the other lifestyle. I remember when I was a kid that I thought I would be a singer and I was always trying to be involved in this scene. Thankfully my family and relatives like music. I remember in the Nineties we were always rehearsing songs with my uncle to perform on Amman Radio station. When I was a child I used to collect cassettes – that's what I would save up for. I believe being creative is a big responsibility and the number one rule is supporting people who are starting. I started in the creative scene in the very early 2000s – the first song I wrote was around 2003 – before starting my Karrouhat project in 2008. Where do you find creative inspiration in this region? This region is my home. I'm from here and for me, being in the street or simply communicating with people around me is a big inspiration. Our region is one of the most interesting areas to be creative because people here are fun, easy to communicate with and we have a long history also. Do you feel this region is stereotyped by what the media represents it to be? How are you playing a part in helping to change this? Maybe, yes. In general we are all contributing to represent our region and we are responsible for that. Contributing is always about work and producing content non-stop, whatever the format: music, visual, architecture or even food! It all serves the same cause. I also believe it’s all about love and exchanging energies; how much you give and love you will get back. What challenges have you faced since entering the creative industry? I believe the first challenge is personal, something within me – am I actually creative? Do I actually have something to offer? – so the language here is different than what people are usually complaining about. It’s always about you: the starting point is you and then the world out there. There's also the challenege of getting the attention and approval from family, crowds and then clients. Realistically I always knew I had to be good first, then produce, get attention and approval for my work and then, perhaps most importantly, to work with clients to survive financially. How do you stay original, but relevant? Being creative is very tricky, especially when you start being recognised and work with clients on a commercial level where they want you in a certain format. The trick here is to stay original as much as you can. But how? I set a reminder in my calendar three times a week that says, “Stay Original”. I always look back to my history, where I started and always connect with my family. I always try as much as I can to be grounded and humble and not get tricked by the market. I always hang out with people from different scenes to stay connected with reality. Being updated is the real struggle – it’s daily homework and there's so many ways to get information these days. To be a smart creative is to combine all the updates with your original self; take things and work it out to look like you.