Nourallah Brothers : un air de famille

Although most of the songs on your first album were written by only one of you (half for Salim and half for Faris), the whole album is very coherent, just as if you were twins. I especially have difficulties in distinguishing between your voices. Are you aware of that or do you totally disagree?
Faris: I agree with you on the voice thing.

With which artists/musicians would you like to work with?
Faris: I have no ambition to work with anyone as I can barely stand to work with myself!! It gets confusing enough switching hats from "Now I'm the Engineer" to "Now I'm the Singer" to "Now I'm the Keyboardist..." In a way, that’s kind of fun. At least nobody’s feelings get hurt when you tell them what they did sucked!
Salim: There are plenty of people I’d like to work with, mainly producer/engineer types like Tchad Blake, Jon Brion or Hugh Jones...I still subscribe to the theory that "X amount of heads are better than one..." Its hard for me not to have daydreams every now & then of getting the opportunity to work with people whom I really admire, people who have made great records in the past...it would be a real thrill for me. I would like for it to happen at least once in my lifetime.

Would you ? or are the Nourallah Brothers songs too personal?
Salim: Can any song really be "too personal"? I don’t think so...maybe people who dislike John Lennon’s "Plastic Ono Band" would disagree with me?

How did you both get back together after Faris left to Portland after the recording of the album ?
Faris: We didn't really get back together after I got back from Portland. Salim carried on doing the same thing he had been doing for ten years with some new guys. I recovered (will I ever?) from my divorce by building a more proper home studio and continuing to write, play and record music in a non-rock band format (by myself). Salim showed up, every now and then, when he had some time.
Salim: We’re a bit like Sonny & Cher during the "rocky" years, I guess...you decide for yourself who’s more like Cher!

What made you decide to record a new album ?
Faris: As far as the new album, that’s the current big debate!! Do we have one or have I just started my solo career??????? Time will only tell...
Salim: The first one did oh, so well, we owed it to ourselves to come up with a hit-laden follow-up. MTV was calling to us!!!

What can we expect from the new album?
Salim: Lots of painstaking reflections over song selection, song order & whether we’re truly "finished" recording or not! Since the first one was a fluke, making a follow-up under the now "defined" musical moniker "Nourallah Brothers" has been a tricky proposition.

When should it be out?
Salim: It should be out NOW but we can’t seem to agree on what exactly it "is" we’re going to put out!!! So who knows when...oh, we also need a label to actually "put it out" -- the age-old dilemma.

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