Arabian and the Sheik
Serendipitously, Jesse took me to a Reason event back in February. This peculiar, hidden soiree of music tech geeks was an adventure for me as one of the only female music producers present at the event. But it’s typical in the world of musicians and gear - women are generally the minority and certainly so in that hip hangar of the Santa Monica Airport.
When I arrived, I was early or everyone else was late - so I quickly stuck out my hand to the closest guy standing next to me and introduced myself. He said his name was Arabian. Well, I got Sheik for a last name so figured we might have something to talk about. Mostly, I did the talking. For 30 minutes, I went off about water rights and its cut-throat, dirty politics throughout history and the plight of the Palestinian people. And since Arabian has an understanding of just how dirty this world can be, he listened - though he quickly admitted to me that he’s an avid golf player and probably couldn’t say much about water rights. I forgave him, partly because I figured I could slowly convince him to be more water mindful if we ended up becoming friends and I had more opportunities to harangue him on the topic.
Typically, I forgot I was at a music event until Arabian asked the right question in such a setting, “So what kind of music do you do?” After replying “World Dance Music”, he said, “Well, I’m the guy you should know if you’re into dance music.” I’ve been in this business long enough to know that they ALL say that. Not one to be too quick to judge…(clearing of throat here)…I handed him my CD and asked him about his musical journey.
Turns out, Arabian could in fact school me on music and after 3 days in a studio with him, I’ve had the privilege of getting some music history lessons - particularly on electro-funk. See, Arabian produced a little track called Supersonic for J. J. Fad back in the day and was a founding member of a little group some folks like to call NWA. So who knew? Sweet, folk songwriter who got her start in a gay bar in San Francisco would one day be working on dance tracks with her new friend, Arabian Prince. But then, didn’t we always figure it would turn out this way? Arabian and the Sheik.