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Over a Dogma made its public debut last October in the tryouts for the 2004 Rock-it Festival, one of 11 bands selected out of the 50 who auditioned. I had watched bands through the three day-festival with interest and a little smug pride—my band, Nude, played in the tent Friday night and, while I enjoyed the other bands, I knew no one had gotten the place nearly as jumping as we did. That is, until Over a Dogma took the stage. Watching the band perform I felt a vague sense of envy, which gave way to dancing feet, pumping fists and a strange pride—that’s my friend up there kicking ass! Weak with hunger from the Ramadan Fast and injured after a Pete Townsend-style jump after the first number, bandleader Hamada el Mansour was the only one sitting down through Over a Dogma’s blazing 40-minute set.
I’ve known Hamada, a fellow musician from Lamma, since he was lead guitar for local band Garoupa, and on more than a few occasions enjoyed his frank and opinionated views on song writing, on band politics, or on relationships while drinking a pint at the Deli Lamma. Born and raised in Morocco, the 32-year-old’s first musical instrument was Renault 4, sitting on the hood and making rhythmic sounds by rocking back and forth. Steeped in the local music culture of Morocco, “where everyone played drums,” he played music of the Gnawa tradition from East Africa, while listening to his father’s Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin albums, his mother’s collection of French singers and his own collection of world rock albums by the likes of the Police, the Pink Floyd, Prince and U2. He got his first guitar at the age of 12—a gift he stole from his 5-year-old brother. For 10 years until he was 28, Hamada was a professional musician around Morocco, playing with a “band with no name”—an amorphous group of musicians who came and went, bringing their own styles and interests with them.
That free-spirited, musically open atmosphere is what Hamada hopes to recreate with Over a Dogma—different musicians, different influences, no idea thrown out. “When I came to Hong Kong, I couldn’t understand the concept of a `band’ – with a single identity and loyalty,” he says. The name of the band itself is an anagram on his name: scramble the letters “Hamada Groove” and you get “Ah – Over a Dogma.” He may be the nucleus of the band, but his goal is for the range of music will reflect the total creative input of the band. “I am Moroccan, so I might be doing songs in Arabic or French, but we do other things – Jean our bass player writes songs that are Afrobeat ¾. Barny has an Afrocuban Background which he contributes and Damien, our drummer adds a beautiful touch of jazz rock to the Moroccan tunes I bring to the band, giving them color and meaning.” he says.
“Our music and songs come from our own experience,” he says. “Like Keith Richards said, the guitar is like a radio – you don’t play it, you tune it in to whatever’s going on in your mind or heart. And if you do that, the audience will follow you.”
If their Rock-It debut is any indication, Over a Dogma has many fans in waiting.
-The writer, Kevin Voigt, is a Wall Street Journal reporter and bassist for Nude.
Photos by Steve Cray and Lauren Fievet.
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