Outlandish rediscovers the rebel within (scroll down for bio in Danish)

If you above all have a deep passion for the music, success is not always enough to keep the wheels turning. Outlandish realized that fact last summer, when the hit-making Danish hip-hop group was on the edge of a break-up.
After three years of intensive tour-activity in USA, Middle-east and Europe, Isam Bachiri, Lenny Martinez and Waqas Ali Qadri had such a poor communication that they no longer found inspiration in each other, but was working separately, trying of solo projects and ran out of ideas and enthusiasm. “Fortunately we got a wakeup-call and talked things over before it was too late. On the new record we reconnected with each other and with the love for life that drove us forward to begin with,” tells Lenny Martinez from the bands rehearsing-studio in Copenhagen, where the trio is preparing for the summer concerts and the presentation of their fourth album, Sound of a Rebel.

Outlandish decided to start fresh and dumped one and a half years work including 25 tracks. It hurt, but the members all agreed that it was a necessary step to take.
“In reality there was nothing wrong with the tracks, but something felt wrong inside of us and that reflected somehow in the music,” they all agree.
To sacrifice such a major work effort and start all over takes self confidence, but the band with the biggest international hits of this decade and the most award winning Danish music name, does not have any regrets. In six months they wrote, rapped, sampled and co-produced Sound of a Rebel, which is the trios most energetic and united album to date. More mature and delicate in the sound than the group’s first two releases, Outland’s Official and Bread & Barrels of Water, and more out averted than the previous.
“We are very satisfied with our previous releases that have brought a lot of good things our way, and still make sure that we are much requested internationally. But this is without doubt our most homogenous record and it is deep felt,” Waqas declares.

This time Outlandish teams up with super producers Frederik TAO (eight numbers), Bichi from Blue Foundation, Troo.L.S. and Louis Winding. That has created a collection of tight tracks full of life.

The inspirations are hip hop, soul and world music, and the catching chorus is lined up as it is their custom, so nothing new in that matter.
In the first single Rock All Day, Outlandish puts the worries aside and gets the party started – or the title track which is about breaking the routines that the group found itself in, between hectically tour activity and professionalization of friendships.
“In many ways that particular track says it all. It wouldn’t have been an honest album if we’d continued on as before. If we don’t feel the music then we are not doing well, and that is exactly where we would have ended up otherwise,” Isam determines.
Waqas agrees and explains that the lyrics this time focuses on life seen through the sunglasses of the three Copenhageners, who have all started their own families now. There is less religion and politics, and more observations from the near world:
“Our lyrics are always as taken straight out of a diary. Everything we tell is something we’ve experienced or can relate to.”

Among the topics, there is also room for telling stories about being turned into a “price wog” in the media - or spokesmen for terror and other absurdities, they do not stand for. There are also stories about missing the lady at home, or seeing old friends from Brøndby Strand end up struggling in life. In this way Someday deals with the ongoing gang war that takes place in the streets of Copenhagen: “It is the story about the fact that things can start of as innocent pranks, but then you meet the wrong people and maybe try to get some attention from home, because something isn’t as it should be in the family. We’ve seen it so many times,” says Lenny.
It is certain, that Outlandish’ own little family has sorted things out. Actually the members are so eager to exploit their rediscovered joy of playing, that it beats everything else in the 12-year long career of the trio. As Waqas describes the time after the completion of Sound of a Rebel: “After we’ve recorded an album I am usually so beat-up that I almost need a month’s vacation. This time I just feel like getting out there and show people what we are doing here.”

-------------------

IN DANISH

Outlandish genfinder den indre rebel

Hvis man først og fremmest brænder inderligt for musikken, er succes ikke nødvendigvis nok til at holde hjulene snurrende. Det indså Outlandish sidste sommer, da den storhittende danske hiphopgruppe balancerede på afgrundens rand.
Efter at tre års intens turné-aktivitet i USA, Mellemøsten og Europa kommunikerede Isam Bachiri, Lenny Martinez og Waqas Ali Qadri så dårligt, at de ikke længere lod sig inspirere af hinanden, men arbejdede hver for sig, prøvede sig af med soloprojekter og løb tør for idéer og entusiasme.
”Men heldigvis fik vi et wake up-call og talte ud om tingene, inden det var for sent. På den nye plade har vi genfundet hinanden og den livsglæde, der drev os frem til at begynde med,” fortæller Lenny Martinez fra bandets øvelokale i København, hvor trioen forbereder sig på sommerens koncerter og præsentation af deres friske fjerde album, Sound of a Rebel.

Outlandish besluttede sig for at begynde på en frisk og skrottede halvandets års arbejde og de 25 numre, der var kommet ud af det. Det gjorde ondt, men medlemmerne var enige om, at det var et nødvendigt skridt tage:
”I virkeligheden fejlede numrene ikke noget, men der var noget forkert inde i os, og det afspejlede sig på en eller anden måde i musikken,” forklarer de samstemmende.
At ofre så stor en arbejdsindsats og starte forfra kræver selvtillid, men årtiets internationalt størst hittende og mest prisvindende danske musiknavn fortryder ingenting. På et halvt år skrev, rappede, samplede og co-producerede de Sound of a Rebel, der er trioens mest energiske og sammentømrede til dato. Mere moden og lækker i lyden end gruppens to første udspil, Outland’s Official og Bread & Barrels of Water, og mere udadvendt end forgængeren
”Vi er glade for vores tidligere udspil, der har gjort meget godt for os og stadig gør, at der er bud efter os fra udlandet. Men dette er uden tvivl vores mest homogene plade, og der er nerve i skidtet,” erklærer Waqas.

Outlandish teamer denne gang op med superproducerne Frederik TAO (otte numre), Bichi fra Blue Foundation, Troo.L.S og Louis Winding. Det er der kommet en samling sprællevende og stramme skæringer ud af. Inspirationerne er hiphop, soul og verdensmusik, og vanen tro står de fængende omkvæd i kø. Så intet nyt under solen på netop dét punkt.
Tag bare førstesinglen ’Rock All Day’, hvor Outlandish lægger bekymringerne til side og får gang i gaden – eller titelnummeret, der handler om at bryde ud af de rutiner, som gruppen med dens hektiske turnéaktivitet og professionalisering af venskabet var havnet i.
”Det nummer siger på mange måder det hele. Det havde ikke været et ærligt album, hvis vi var fortsat som før. Hvis ikke vi føler musikken, så har vi det ikke godt, og det var dér, vi ellers var endt,” fastslår Isam.
Waqas er enig og forklarer, at teksterne denne gang koncentrerer sig om livet set gennem solbrillerne på de tre storkøbenhavnere, som alle har stiftet familie. Der er mindre religion og politik, flere iagttagelser fra den nære verden:
”Vores lyrik er altid som taget ud af en dagbog. Alt, vi fortæller, er noget, vi har oplevet eller kan relatere til.”