Musicians as Actors

the musicians at the center of this book were all born between 1975 and 1983, during the Lebanese Civil War. Most of them were born in Beirut, though in different areas of the city. Many grew up in Beirut as well. They were born into families that brought them a certain reputation. In Lebanon, people tend to judge people through their surname first, many Lebanese told me. “the moment you say your name, people put you into a category, and it is difficult to convince them that you might be different.” Some of the musicians told me that overcoming these implications around their family names is one of their greatest challenges inside Lebanon. Attached to most of the families are social and ideological positions. Mazen Kerbaj's father Antoine Kerbaj is a well-known actor: When Mazen plays his trumpet with unconventional techniques, the audience sometimes bursts into tears from laughing: “They think I'm doing comedy, like my father,” Mazen Kerbaj tells me. Zeid Hamdan has the reputation of coming from a rich Druze family. So, musicians who either do not like him or are jealous that he is just doing the music he wants to do would say to me: “You know, Zeid comes from this very rich family. He does not have to care about money issues, so he can work on underground music.”