Levant band 47Soul has surpassed its initial crowdfunding goal of $18,000, with only three days left to go in their Zoomaal campaign. With members hailing from Jordan, Syria and Palestine, the band launched a Zoomaal campaign to cover the costs of recording their first full-length album and bring their unique "ShamStep" sound to life.
"ShamStep" – as the band has dubbed its unique musical genre – draws on influences from traditional regional music such as dabke, chobi and mjwiz. The band combines the regional sound with electronic influences, mixing Arabic and English lyrics to formulate an altogether unique and lively musical experience.
The “Sham” comes from Bilad al-Sham, which is the historic name for the region that incorporates parts of modern day Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria – roughly equivalent to the Levant. Recently the term has received international attention relating to ISIS, as the group included “Sham” in its name before it proclaimed a caliphate covering all of the Muslim world. 47Soul on the other hand, hopes to unite the region through music.
As the band members come from different areas of the Levant, a region riddled with ongoing conflict, they realized after forming the band in Amman that they would never all be able to visit one anothers homes. This made them nostalgic for a time when things were different and these uncrossable borders did not hinder travel. Since forming, the band has found its way to London, where the members don't have to worry about political problems hindering their jam sessions.
“The area where we are from, the Arab World, is too divided with borders,” band member Tareq Abu Kwaik told the BBC. “We as a band come from places that we cannot all be in.”
“In 1947, it was accessible to travel between our little cities,” Abu Kwaik added, pointing out that the band’s name draws its meaning from this date. “47Soul is saying that we still see [the region] as a whole.” Continuing, he said that this idea of unity can apply to the entire world, not just the politically unstable Levant region.
Although the band has met its base goal of $18,000, 47Soul set two higher goals, one of $24,000 and an ultimate target of $30,000. Reaching the second benchmark would allow the band to record its album as well as a music video. Achieving $30,000 in funding will enable the band to record the album, produce the music video, fund a launch concert and also help with guerrilla marketing efforts.
With only three days left, 47Soul may not quite reach $30,000 but we are excited that it has managed to surpass their base goal already. Now we just have to wait for them to finish the recording and we can groove – or "ShamStep" – to our hearts' content.