Alright Mela

Alright Mela is when musical alchemists fire up an incendiary concoction of Gnawa ritual trance, techno, and eastern Asian traditions. Born from the creative partnership of Markus (electric oud), Cheb Xavi (keys, Armenian duduk, electronics) and Jaouad El Garouge (Moroccan Gnawa vocalist and guembri player), this amalgam of cultural and musical backgrounds reflects the trio's diverse heritage from the Mediterranean and North Africa.

​

At its core, Alright Mela embraces the raw spirit of 1970s tape music, layering electric oud resonance, hypnotic synthesizer pulsings, with layers of electronic percussion and guembri trance distortions. The band’s original compositions explore themes of migration, identity, and the environment. The music of Alright Mela ("All’s well" in Maltese) is a reflection of the band's mission to connect cultures and promote unity through their music. Drawing inspiration from the mixed Arab-European influences of Malta, to the urban Parisian underground, Alright Mela channels the celebratory and contemplative aspects of Eastern and Mediterranean musical traditions to create a trance-inducing, intellectually stimulating, rhythmically compelling experience.

​

Their self-titled album was released in 2024, and now Alright Mela is poised to bring their innovative and boundary-pushing sound to a global audience. Since their inception in 2023, the band has performed over 30 concerts in France and across Europe, and collaborated with artists such as Acid Arab, Ustad Santoo Khan and more.

​

Lineup:

Group Size: 3 Artists

• Jaouad El Garouge : voice, guembri

• ⁠Markus : electric oud

• ⁠Cheb Xavi : keyboard, duduk, electronics