The Solid State Of Likwid

Manama

Their debut album is still in the making, but this music band has already created waves in the Kingdom.

Meet the Bahraini brand Likwid, on among the most popular in bands in the Kingdom. The band earned had earlier earned a reputation for their superior on stage performance.

Lead vocalist and bassist Ahmed AlQasim, guitarist Ahmed Abdulaziz, and drummer Abdulrahman Malallah have been playing together since 1998 under several band names and different formations.

Later in 2004, they collaborated with keyboardist Khalid Al Shamlan to form a Latin band, La Movida.

Here they nurtured the synergy between the four of them for ten years before re-branding themselves to a modern alternative band as Likwid last year.

The band now performs various styles of music including smooth jazz, reggae, classic rock, blues, funk, and latin. Likwid has since established themselves as a captivating and entertaining band that focuses not on genres but just good music.

The members

Likwid’s soul is split in four: Lead vocalist and bass guitarist Ahmed AlQasim, who is also known for his wonderful lyrics. He is a member of the internationally recognized Bahraini progressive rock band, Osiris.

Khalid AlShamlan plays piano, keyboards and also gives backing vocals.  He is packed with a long spectrum of styles and influences, from the modern heavy metal rock to classical and jazz.

Ahmed Abdulaziz is a guitar player who has inspired a generation of Bahraini guitarists. With a colorful range of techniques rooted from rock, blues, jazz and Latin, he helped introduce western guitar styles to the Arab music scene through collaborations with Arab superstars including the late Ali Bahar, Abdulmajeed Abdulla and many others.

Abdulrahman Malallah is a full-time drummer in Bahrain and was selected by "Vater Percussions" as an official Vater artist.

Releases

The band released two singles around the end of last year. The first single, Love For Rent, is groovy song made in collaboration with Bahraini artist and songwriter, Ala Ghawas. Ahmed AlQasim composed the music, Ala wrote the lyrics, and the arrangement was done by the whole band.

The song also featured the talent of young Bahraini saxophone player Abdulla Haji, who performed as a special guest. The second single is a Reggae track called Cheated In Life, written and composed by Ahmed AlQasim based on his prior personal dilema of being a musician at heart but still having a day job in the field that has nothing to do with music.

The song encourages people to follow their dreams and passion in life and not get stuck with a job that they don't like. Both songs were well received by listeners after they  were repeatedly played on several radio stations in Bahrain, and was made available for free streaming on YouTube and SoundCloud.

Likwid has been collaborating extensively with Ala Ghawas for the past few years combining Likwid's music with Ala's brilliant song-writing skills. After the first collaboration on Love For Rent, the band went on to record almost all the songs on Ala's last album, Armor. Likwid also performed alongside Ala at the Music Room in Dubai in April 2014, as well as the first Jam Up event in Bahrain in December.

 The future

 Likwid has collaborated with Ala Ghawas and Bahraini film producer/director Saleh Nass on an upcoming film called "Live From Allston" that will be released in October 2015. The film will show Ala and Likwid performing songs from the album Armor, several of Likwid's original songs, along with a few of Ala's older releases.

 In addition, the film will show special interviews with the artists speaking about the collaborative relationship between Ala Ghawas and Likwid, along with the work they have done together on the album Armor and other songs.