NOON’s electric, Middle Eastern fusion takes elements of music from the Western world and combines them with the traditional instruments of the Arab world. Their collective sound is distinctly global. For NOON, it’s a type of language all nationalities and cultures can understand and it’s only possible to create from living in Dubai.
Ratish (drums): “We draw inspiration from every element of life. It's not necessarily only music. What I really respect about most music out there is that it has the quality to bring people together, and I think that inspires us more than anything. Having lived in the States for a significant period of time before moving back to the UAE, I experienced a lot of things that I never got to experience growing up in Dubai. So I wanted to take an element of that back to my hometown. And through NOON, we are able to do that.”
Cody (bass): “When I graduated college, I had the chance to play bass in a different band and it was interesting for me, because it was similar to this lineup in the sense of a trio, playing kind of odd music. So playing with NOON now it puts me back in those shoes, a little bit. It also inspires me to see music as a universal language, no matter where you are. If I can inspire even one person that makes it amazing to me. It can really be the motivation you need.”
Mohammed (oud): “It's an honor, such an honor to represent the UAE at Folklife. I've lived there since 2015, so it's nearly seven years now. We’re very honored to be here in Washington, to be on the other side of the world playing our music that we compose, that we did. We put in a lot of hard work in Dubai to play for people right here in DC. It's been a pleasure.”