SOAPKILLS - The Best Of Soapkills

Soapkills is an indie electro-pop band based in Lebanon. The group was formed in October 1997 when Zeid Hamdan and Yasmine Hamdan, both born in Beirut in 1976 but not related, decided to explore and combine their interest in classical Arabic song and electronic music. Currently a cult group in Lebanon, Soapkills draws inspiration from both classical Arab music and the new electro scene blossoming in the Middle East. French media have described them as "Trip hop à l'orientale". The band's name was initially that of a song written by Zeid Hamdan, and according to him referred to the reconstruction of Beirut after the Lebanese Civil War: "We thought that at the time, in the context of Beirut being ... you know, reborn, and all the war being wiped clean, we thought, wow, it's shiny and it's awful and it's soap kills. We thought it would be a nice name for a band." The group's sound was initially dominated by a Roland MC-303 Groovebox, which Zeid Hamdan had acquired to replace musicians after the dissolution of Lombrix, a rock band that he had founded in the mid-1990s with Yasmine Hamdan and others Record Label: Crammed Style: Indie Pop