A Palestinian you should know: Merna
PiA: What’s your name?
my name is Merna
PiA: Who are you?
Merna Ever evolving, but always passionate about music, art, women, spirituality, human rights, and mental health.
PiA: Where do you live?
Merna: Currently in Toronto
PiA: How has your experience been in the music scene there?
Merna: Toronto is a great place to hone your skills, practice your live show, and to create in. Overall it’s rich with talent and diversity of sound. Much like it’s population. And also if you can make it through the Screwface capital, you can make it anywhere.
PiA: What type of music do you make and how did you get into it?
Merna: This is a reflection of self for me - ever evolving. What is always consistent is my soul. I’d say my music is for feeling. My parents love music and would bring their favourites into the home. From Bob Marley to Whitney Houston to Fairuz to James Taylor.
I’d say I’m a fan first. I would grab a mic anywhere and jump on stages as young as 3 at restaurants or concerts.
I took piano lessons when I was young and found my love for expression through music. I would follow along with lyrics in album booklets and record myself with the CD/cassette player my dad bought. (I kept this artifact). Quickly, I became the go-to classmate when anyone had requests to hear songs. One thing lead to another and I would be skipping classes to practice in the staircase or bathroom - the natural verb was great).
The rest is history and has a lot to do with writing songs, learning to engineer, the come up of the internet/social networking, learning to produce etc.
PiA: What kind of themes do you explore in your music / lyrics?
Merna: Whatever I’m discovering and learning about myself and life in general. Inspiration can come from conversations, dreams, feelings. Themes from romantic love, self love, politics, mental health, etc. What’s more important than the theme, is the perspective. That’s what makes art intriguing. I’m a “rubiks-er”. I question everything. It’s my Virgo Moon.
PiA: What's your favorite lyric you've ever written?
Merna: Honestly, I’m a real fan of my own writing and the catalogue is too deep to pinpoint one lyric.
A lyric that just came to mind now is from a song called, The Exception:
I know that time won’t wait for no man,
So what makes this the exception?
If nothing lasts forever, then what makes this the exception?
If change is the only constant thing we can depend on...
PiA: Brag about yourself: have you collaborated with any cool artists?
Merna: Beyoncé bought me BBQ once. She probably doesn’t know she did, but she did.
Anyway, who/what decides what/who “cool” is?
If I’m going to brag about myself then let me just say a lot of “cool” artists have collabed with me. Haha.. Swear I’m not as arrogant as this interview may be painting me to be.. I just like having a chuckle. :) I’ll tell you off the record.
PiA: What are the dream collaborations that you're trying to manifest?
Merna: Hmmmm, I think an Andre 3000 collaboration would be fun. That being said, wherever the vibe is organic, inspiring, and teachable-those are the ones I want.
PiA: How does your Palestinian family / friends / community support you?
Merna: My family is very supportive of my music. That doesn’t mean they like everything I make, but they support me 100% with whatever I do. I think they learned early on that they would have to. Haha.. My parents and sisters come to every show. It’s a beautiful thing to see. My whole family has actually said to me recently they are super proud of my bravery and the life I’ve designed for myself. I reminded my parents that in many ways this is all their doing. What a nice thought.
The general community hasn’t properly or intentionally been introduced to me yet. That’s an exciting opportunity I’m going to explore now. Timing is everything.
There’s a lot of parts to me and my life that I’d like to share with the Arab world and future generations.
PiA: How does Arabic or Palestinian music / culture find its way into the music you make? (if at all)
Merna: The answer to this question is interesting. To the “naked ear”, one may not hear much influence, but I’d like to think the soul of classic Mawal and the Arabic scales influence my vocal stylings at times, especially live.
More abstractly, and much like many diaspora Palestinians I was shuffled about ALOT during my life and was exposed to a myriad of ideas, music, cultures, etc.
Now that I’m producing my own music, I feel I’ve just fully come to “my sound” and it’s depth and complexity. it’s influenced by everything I’ve ever heard.
Let me take a moment here to credit Black music and thank all the past and current Black artists and ancestors that ever lived and created. Black women taught me how to sing.
PiA: What kind of future would you like to see for diaspora Palestinians in music?
Merna: At this point, I’d like a future where diaspora Palestinians can come together and form a community. I’ve just started to meet diaspora Palestinians in music. It’s inspiring and exciting. The truest form of activism is representation.
PiA: What's the best career advice you've ever received?
Merna: Ah- again, so many lessons from such an enriching journey. They always come when you need them. And I’m a master student.
Here’s a couple:
-you can do it!
-you can’t do it!
PiA: In the near future, Palestine is free, we're throwing a big party there to celebrate, and everybody gets to play some music, what records (not your own) are you bringing to play at the party?
Merna: This is a beautiful image. Thank you. I recently had a card pulled for me and the main message was to bring in, completely envision, and feel everything about what you want, as if it has already arrived. This moment. This is also known as manifestation, but such a good explanation.
Okay- music: Bob Marley wins every time everywhere.
