- Dear friends, following the recent catastroph in Lebanon, we have decided to donate 10% of this campagin to the lebanese NGO Beit El Baraka, working on the ground since 2018, offering food & shelter to those most in need -

ON/OFF

In December 2019, I felt the necessity to make a record in Lebanon -my first.

In particular in the family house in the moutains, near the Jaj cedars forest. It always had been a place I imagined myself recording, even if it is not equipped for a studio recording at all. It was just calling me, the silence, the physical organic sensation I have there, far from...everything.

So the question was, how to make it possible?

I gathered my team from France and Lebanon, and with their help we imagined ways to make it happen. The biggest challenge was to find solutions in terms of electricity as we only have 6 hours of it there. Not mentionning the acoustic ; and mattresses were our best option... With the help of my talented friends and family in Lebanon we were able to travel and make this recording a reality, in a country that was already starting to collapse. We were creating something where everything was collapsing.

The piano set:

Now the record is finished: set to be released October 23rd, i’m eager to get it out there --

The first single, Zakrini, is already released, and you can listen to it here:

For the record’s artwork I asked the young and brilliant painter Lossapardo - he was able to translate in his paintings the organic feeling of the record. He painted like we recorded, roughly and sincerely. We have printed a selection of his paintings and will be offering them during this campaign.

Here are the three paintings he did especially for this record and that we are offering here. These are limited prints (100ex only!), on fine-art Hahnemühle paper, and signed for those who'd like.

His painting of the electric counter comes from a picture of the house's actual counter - electricity going on and off every day. It was a huge part of the living/recording process, and it inspired the name of the record: On/Off.

Work on candles:

We also wanted to offer a t-shirt and a hoodie, and for this we teamed up with my friend Jalal Kassar and his Lebanese/UK brand Uncivil (Bliss). Here is the hoodie On/Off he designed for us:

Now to make all this come together, as we are entirely independant, we opened this online shop for pre-orders till the release of the album. We are launching this very first crowdfunding campaign during which we’ll be offering exclusive packages for those being with me since the beginning, and those who want to show support for my music and projects.

Bachar Mar-Khalifé On / Off