Ayman Al Houni is a guitarist and composer grew up in Tripoli and Benghazi. He was inspired to make music by a music teacher from the Tarik Ibn Ziad Music School. Together with friends he co-founded several bands, rising to become one of Libya’s most famous guitarists. The 59-year-old, who grew up in a family of journalists, lived for several years in Cyprus and Egypt, where he composed for many well-known stars and worked as an illustrator. In 2010, Al Huni released his first album “Gheziani” and later played with the Jordanian superstar Dina Karazon. He currently produces his music in his studio in Benghazi. In summer he organized the first concert after the end of the war in the Eastern Libyan city of Derna.

How would you describe Libyan music and what are the influences?

The DNA of Libyan music lies in the beat and from whatever is around us, as well as from our roots. I come from Hun. The music there is inspired by the desert from Sub-Sahran Africa. Beats are very important for our music.
Atmosphere, language, all of these things become defining influences, even language, trees, how we communicate, this all influences my music and Libyan music.

So Libyan music has African and Arabic roots?

It is not only African music, but many of the instruments we are using came from there. We are mixing African beats with the soul from the region and cultural influences from the Mediterranean and the Arab world. The result is something I would call a Libyan style, one that has developed over the last few decades.
Now there is definitely a Libyan beat. There is a big difference between the Libyan and other typical Arabic or oriental beats. It’s far removed from the Jordanian, Lebanese and Egyptian rhythms. Maybe the Saudi Arabian or Tunisian styles come the closest.
Your personal roots are in Hun, a very symbolic place for the Libyan culture. Why is this city so influential for Libya’s culture and music?
The people there like music. It sits in the heart of Libya, a crossroad between East, West and South. I would say that the core of the Libyan music tradition is from there. I think we’ve developed the modern Libyan style there over the last few decades.

When you started playing, Western music was forbidden in Libya, there was no vivid music scene. Did you travel to Egypt and Greece to produce your music?

It has not always been easy to be a musician in Libya. However, over the last ten years you’ve been allowed to play whatever you wanted. The door was not entirely closed.
There is no real difference between now and before the revolution for people like me who are playing music. The real problem is that there are no good production companies for musicians. That is why not many people know about Libyan music. In order to learn how to compose and produce music I had to leave the country. Now we can create those conditions within Libya.

Is there a chance to bring Libyan culture and music back to the international public?

Libya was a very closed country for decades. Because of the UN sanctions, because of the political situation for 42 years, because of its huge size even inter Libyan travel is hard. However, we are a mixture of everything in the region. This is an important message to deliver to the world and this is what we did on stage in Germany.
You have lived abroad, you are travelling all over the world and your music is inspired by that, as you said. What is your musical identity?
I feel purely Libyan. This means to be from Africa with a lot of influences from Europe and the Arabic world. By hear I am from the Mediterranean and also not far from Asian countries. We are much more than what the outside world sees in us:A country that speaks Arabic.
When you started playing music it was not seen as something serious. Nevertheless you made if your job.
I compose, I sing, I play. I’ve been in two bands, one after highschool and a second one, when I left to play in Egypt. I’ve now been performing live for twenty-five years. So, despite the hardships and the ignorance over my background, as opposed to modern musicians, I’ve proven that it is always possible to bring around change.

What do you think about the combination of musicians with different backgrounds on the Blackbox Libya tour?

It was a big surprise to me. I’ve been jamming with different musicians for many years, so I already had everything I needed to go on stage with very little preparation, which helped. We had no time to prepare for the concerts, but Fuad, Farah and I all speak the same language. Farah, although she does not live in Libya still has the Libyan feelings, her language, family, many things. We were trying to give each other a push. I helped with my experience where ever I could. Our music and culture have to live on, despite the current problems.

Music by Ayman Al Huni:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZu1-Cj6Jgo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP5OSp-3Ba4

Blackbox Libya is a cooperation of Heinrich Boell Foundation and Breaking the Ice

https://tn.boell.org/en/blackbox-libya-political-dynamics-and-spaces-artistic-intervention