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Nader Mansour on giving up screaming, dating wild women and the insecurity of musicians.
Evolution can be a dirty word in the blues genre. But while Lebanese duo Nader Mansour (vocals) and Eddy Ghossein (guitar) set out throwing traditional shapes on The Wanton Bishops’ 2012 debut Sleep With The Lights On, Ghossein’s exit has seen the singer stir in electronica, Eastern motifs and processed vocals. “I never promised you blues,” Mansour says of new album Under The Sun. “I promised you honesty.”
Presumably you’re you pleased with Under The Sun?
Yeah. As much as you say you don’t care what everyone thinks, that’s a lie. We’re the most insecure species out there, musicians. We need that validation.
Love me, love me, love me, if you please.
What do you mean when you say you’re “finally getting to the core of the music I want to make”?
I started with the blues because it was accessible. They built a whole culture around those three chords, and for a nonmusician, back then, it was like, okay, I’ll learn these chords then I’m in. Maybe mess with the sound, make it more electric, more violent. But ten years teaches you a lot, and it put me on the road to my origins, those being oriental music. At the same time, I was DJ-ing and doing a lot of electronic music. And at some point I discovered I can actually sing, versus screaming.
How has your fan base reacted?
Some people were saying: “You’re selling out, going for something that’s not blues”. I was like: “Dude, as a matter of fact it was harder to sell this to agents”. Everyone wanted me to do another blues record. I’m grateful to whoever listened to us, but please, at no point come and tell me this is not the sound of The Wanton Bishops. I am The Wanton Bishops. So if I wake up and I want to do a reggae record, I’ll do it.
What time of the day should we listen to this album?
You definitely shouldn’t listen before slee
