An Interview: Sirens of Lesbos

 

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Hailing from Switzerland’s vibrant music scene, Sirens of Lesbos is a band that’s been turning heads worldwide with their multicultural identity and boundary-pushing sound. With the vocals of sisters Jasmina and Nabyla Serag, the band blends soul, jazz, hip-hop and world music to create a unique “worldbeat” universe. The group takes its name from the sirens of Greek mythology and the island of Lesbos—a nod to both their passion for musical storytelling and their desire to weave together diverse cultural threads.

Bursting onto the scene in 2014 with “Long Days, Hot Nights,” a track that electrified Ibiza’s club circuit, Sirens of Lesbos has since carved out a path far removed from pop’s clichés, delivering music that’s deep, authentic, and endlessly creative. With two albums, a slew of collaborations (including names like JID, Bootsy Collins, and Erick The Architect), and captivating live performances across Europe, the band is now stepping into an exciting new chapter.

In our interview, we talked to Jasmina and Nabyla about the band’s past and future plans. We had a delightful conversation that ranged from the inspiration behind their band name to their new album, which will be released in the coming months, to their first concert in Turkey on May 23. Read on to hear the story of this innovative band that brings together different genres in their music and their exciting projects in their own words!

Let’s start with a classic question. How did you come together and start making music as a band?

Nabyla: So this whole project actually started like ten years ago now, 2014 with Mel and Arci, who just had the idea of doing something that could also be profitable money wise because a lot of people who do music know doing it. It's very nice. Making money out of it is very hard and this can get a bit frustrating. So they just started this idea. They asked Jasmina for the first couple of songs that they did to contribute like vocals and inputs. Then I also went to the studio with them. It was fun. It was a very pragmatical and then we just thought, after a couple of years, after a lot of discussions, after working with a major label just really figuring out what we want to do. We sat together again and we were like, “hey people, I think there is a lot of or we think there is a lot of potential let's just do something we really like and love” and where the main goal is to do good music that we appreciate. And that was four years after we started. And then it was just making music, getting to know each other musically and personally, doing a lot of work. And yeah, I think this like new era started in 2018ish. And this brought us to doing our first album in 2020. And yeah, and since then we've been working together very happily, actually.

Your band name, "Sirens of Lesbos," draws from mythological sirens and the island of Lesbos. It started as a playful nod to writing an Ibiza hit, but it’s also taken on a deeper connection to contemporary issues like the refugee camp on Lesbos. How do you feel this name has shaped the soul and message of your music?

Jasmina: Well, I think it was more of a journey with that name. Because when we started with the project, we chose the name more because it just sounds nice. And it sort of gives a feeling that is, you know, like, kind of fits the music that we were producing. There was no deep thoughts of like, why would we choose this name? It was more about how the name sounded and that it's easy for people to just sort of keep it in mind, but very soon, when we started to question the project the way how we built it, like with this prophet like idea of also making money out of the music or maybe even that would be the main goal. That's also when the name became kind of not a burden, but something that we would talk about, like very frequently, “why did we choose that name” “it doesn't have anything to do with us” and etc. And then the migration crisis in Lesbos also became more public and people became aware of the political crisis. And then you were like “okay, fuck now, so we chose a name that has so many layers to it”  actually. People do not know why we chose it in the very beginning. But now when the project grew and also Nabyla and myself, we became more aware of our identity and like our diasporic background and so on. The name started to sort of match the project because we are political beings, we have a political background as well. We are in our lives political. And so the name I don't think it inspired us to make a certain way of or a certain kind of music, but it's more like we grew together with the name. I mean, the name actually made sense in the very beginning, but I would say we just started realizing that in the past couple years, maybe the last two years, at least for me, that's when the name became like very fitting, actually, to the project.

It’s a good story. You gave a name to your child, and the child grows up, and maybe that name also shapes the child, or the child shapes the name, so there is a good fit in it, right?

The band members come from different cultures. How does this cultural mix create a creative synergy when you come together?

Nabyla: In general, I think that getting together in a room with people with different cultural influences, backgrounds, history, biographies, is a basis for understanding that one particular assumption doesn't work. We live in a Swiss society now and certain realities are more present here. There is a very beautiful understanding in society of how it can be very profitable to combine different worlds in one person and to benefit from different influences. Yasmina and I, we have a lot of similar influences in this business but then someone from another background will bring something else into the room. So really thinking about identity in that context, I think that's where the synergy starts with everyone in this room and the musical influences, maybe. Do you want to say something about that, Jasmina?

Jasmina: I think we have feelings and musical backgrounds that shape our personalities. For example, for me, when I listen to Umm Kulthum's music, it's a very emotional thing. Or Mohammed Wardi. But it's more something that shapes my musical emotionality, it doesn't mean that you have to copy exactly the same music, you know, “oh, I like the guitar in Mohammed Wardi's so-and-so song. I wanted it to be like that” rather than “I want to recreate a certain feeling or a certain vibe.” That can be created with a completely different set of instruments for example.

Nabyla And even our different backgrounds are not only cultural backgrounds that we get from, let's say, our parents or their biographies, but there are also many other backgrounds that we have. For example, let's say someone really likes Americana music and someone else is really into trap music right now. These different tastes have a big influence on the music we make.

Let’s talk about the Swiss music scene. It seems to be both a blessing and a limitation for you. You’ve mentioned that its small size pushed you to "look outward." What are the pros and cons to live in Bern as a musician?

Nabyla: I think what we realized early on when we first started making music together was that it felt very small and limited, so it was really intuitive for us to look beyond the Swiss music scene from the very beginning. It was clear that if you want to do something big and really have that feeling, then we need to do something bigger than what the Swiss borders would give us. So that was a nice pro from the very beginning.

Jasmina: It was both a pro and con i think.

Nabyla: Yeah. But I think it just gave us a perspective that it was just bigger than the country that we happen to live in.

Jasmina: First of all, the music industry in Switzerland is very small. So it's limited. Also the country is small. So at some point, if you are playing live, and playing live is a very important income for you as a musician, I would say there is a disadvantage here.

Aren’t there many opportunities like live music venues or festivals?

Jasmina: There are. In fact, considering the small size of the country, I can say that there are many festivals and many venues. But performing in these places is also a matter of “genre”. Another thing is this: If we compare ourselves to someone who lives in London and has a mass of people listening to his songs, let's say there are 3000 people here. If we lived in London, that number would be 15,000. And as you know, in the industry these numbers are important. So I would say that's a disadvantage. If you don't live in the city where you want your audience to be, it's very difficult to build an audience. But it's also an advantage because it gives us the opportunity to travel, to be in different places, to connect with other people in other cities.

You’ve worked with legends like Bootsy Collins (8 Billion), JID (Like Some Dream), and Erick The Architect (Bowie). How did these collaborations come about? For instance, what was it like having a funk icon like Bootsy reach out—or reaching out to him yourselves?

Nabyla: First of all, we are very happy that all these collaborations are working. I think one thing that's very nice is that we realized very early on the benefits of working with other people, having other perspectives, having another vibe. From the very beginning we really tried to reach out to people and then we wrote to people and you're very happy when they write back to you and they're interested in working with you. The same thing happened with Bootsy Collins, for example. We were thinking things like “imagine Bootsy Collins doing this and that on this song, that would be great” and someone said “yeah, whatever, let's write to his manager, maybe he'd be interested”. And then it became a reality. That's how a lot of collaborations happened; we had a lot of names and we reached out to all of them.

It's still incredible to me that we worked with people like Bootsy Collins or Eric the Arctic. Because Bootsy Collins, for example, is a name we've been listening to for a very long time. I really love that.

You gave cconcerts at many places like from London to Amsterdam. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from performing live, and how are those experiences shaping your new music?

Jasmina: What I can remember in a very general way is that audiences in different countries have characteristics that you can divide in this way: “Okay, this is a more joyful audience, this is a more observant audience, this is a more bla bla bla audience”. For example, I didn't expect France to be so hyped. We went to Paris twice and it was really great.

Nabyla: And there's a kind of audience that's there to really listen to you and listen quietly. The first time you play in places like that, you think “oh, is something not right”. Then you realize “no, this is just a very different way of experiencing a concert”. And then you adapt to it. But it's definitely a learning experience for us.

Jasmina: I also like to think about how the cultural influence on people shapes their concert-going habits. For example, I watch people on the streets or when I go to get coffee, and then when I see them as an audience, sometimes I think “yeah, it makes sense” because they were very shy on the street and now they are shy as an audience. It makes a lot of sense.

Nablya, what was your favorite concert?

Maybe the question is, which one did you have the most fun by yourself?

Jasmina: I think what we call “fun” is not very comparable, but Paris was definitely very good.

Nabyla: Yeah, that was fun.

Jasmina: It's not just about fun, I knew it was a festival with a purpose and about migrants, which of course is close to our hearts. There are different ways to enjoy a concert and this is one concert we still can't forget.

Nabyla: We were very tired during the last tour period, we had an intense last week and we worked very hard. And when we finished this week, we had a great concert at home with a lot of friends, family and other people. People who are just from our city and who know us from way back. It was really nice to have that as a reward for all this intense touring, for example.

Your new album “i got a song, its gonna make us millions” comes out on April 11th. What kind of songs are waiting for us in this album? What can you tell us about the recording and songwriting process?

Jasmina: it's a very interesting question for me because the process was so intense. I'm very happy that we're done it.

Nabyla: I think this album is very different, very diverse musically. There are slower songs with guitars and there are songs that are about what we are trying to say and what the mood should be. So I think this album has songs with very different instrumentation and I would say it's a Sirens of Lesbos album. On the other hand, when you listen to the previous album and this one, I think it has a very clear line and I think this line is about our musical language sticking to whatever the vibe is at that moment. Actually both albums are very open and eclectic. It's not all of a sudden a very straightforward dance album.

Jasmina: I think this album represents much more Nabyla’s and my personality. I think that the political environment that we're -like all of us globally- in right now has shaped the album, for sure. It was also important to us that we have sort of a very straightforward representation of our background. I mean, we never had that on any other album. I would really say it's more stripped down to who the two of us are than the other albums.

And i hope we’ll listen some new song here in Istanbul.

On May 23rd you will give your first Istanbul concert. How do you feel and what do you know about the city, audience or the music scene in Turkey?

Nabyla: Not about the audience. But as you said before, I think we need to experience it on stage, to get to know both the audience and the city. Other than that I'm really happy because I really wanted to be in Istanbul. I've never been there. You've been to Turkey once a long time ago, right Jasmina?

Jasmina: My friend Meral, who lives there, gifted me a city trip to Istanbul maybe seven years ago, but I never went.

Nabyla: I'm just very curious to be there. And I would actually also love to stay there a bit longer if it's possible, but it's not.

Jasmina: The next day we're playing in Milan, Italy. So we won't have much time. Istanbul is a place I've always really wanted to visit. Giving concerts is also a very important thing for me because during the process of this album we talked many times that we would like to give concerts not only in the western parts of the world but also in other parts of the world. Because we have different backgrounds. So for me at least, but I'm sure for you too Nabyla, it's exciting to play somewhere outside the western world for the first time.

I think you love it but you'll need more days.

Nabyla: I would love to come with our mother because she used to watch a lot of Turkish.series and I watched with her and it's like a dream of her, I think, to go to Istanbul and I would love to come with her. Maybe that's actually the better context to just like, stroll around.

Jasmina: I think there's two ways to come, which is and I don't think only with our mother, but with our parents, because our father used to live in Istanbul, I don't know how many years ago. And so that's one context. The lady, our mother,  who watches the series, our father who has lived there and for sure, would be excited to see how the city has evolved and what happened. But of course, also I have a friend of mine who lives in Istanbul. Her name is Meral, our very close friend.

Are there other things you are passionate about besides music?

Nabyla: I don't know if passion is the right word, but right now I'm thinking about who I am both globally in general and as an individual within this political arena. I'm preoccupied with things like managing how I want to lead my life.

Jasmina: I would say that I have a much sharper way of thinking about things that have happened in the last five years, socio-political and geopolitical developments, and politics in general. And for me, how we relate to each other is also very important. Because of course we have a very collective cultural background, but where we live is very individualistic. And of course that's the case for many people who live in a diasporic environment. Now that I'm older and have a daughter, I embrace more of everything that comes from my family's cultural background. That's what I'm most concerned with.

Thank you very much for your answers. Finally, is there any message you would like to add or give to your listeners in Turkey?

Nabyla: Well, let me say that I'm very excited to come and play in Istanbul.

Jasmina: Yeah. Very thankful, very happy, very excited to come and play in Istanbul.

Then see you in summer in Istanbul. Thank you very much.