Who is the cat with the weird African name? Once upon a time he was the drummer for Barbara Morgenstern.
Then he played percussion for The Schneider TM Experience.
But now, he’s MEK OBAAM, a
beer drinking promiscuous and bald version of the Mozzatollah himself.
It was early in the year 2004 that he first played rough version of songs written over the past two years to fellow Schneider TM cohort Michael Beckett, who agreed to produce some of them in his studio. After a few beers they knocked out a version of “Goodnight, Thank You” that, to say the least, surprised Beckett. It turned out to be a rocking tune driven by pummelling drums and a dry bassline which sat sturdy on the beat, and told the tale of a young man who knows exactly where he stands (right on fucking top) and what he wants (and gets), culminating in a one chord rush of fuzz and feedback. “Goodnight, Thank You”, like all the tracks that followed, is played tight, controlled, and in a way stops just short of ecstasy, or at most offers merely a brief glance of it. The voice is strong and clear, often acting out the role it is given by the lyrics: pleading, cheeky, arrogant, irreverent, or in the case of “Every One Wears Jeans”, bare of all emotion.
The songs are sung by a man whose bandmates used to call him their “little nightingale”, so soft was his voice. And each song they finished surprised them anew: boom chacka boom guitars with accordion drones, King Tubby reverb explosions on plodding, strung out sounding country tunes, click house, rock-a-billy goes early Who, and none of it flashy shit with the purpose of disguising shitty songs, because the songs are fucking superb.
The stuff Mek sings about would normally make you cringe (like many of the Mozz`s songs) but he pulls it off with verve. Often he’s the observer of inter human fuck ups of all dimensions, sometimes he takes on roles, as in “Song For Mothers” (where he`s a six year old kid who’s pissed off at his mother). Other times he’s the protagonist, flipping the bird to just about everyone else. Oh, and did I mention Elvis?
And when he plays live with his amazing backing band Awesome you’ll find him stood centre stage playing drums (floor tom, snare, hi-hat and cymbal) whilst singing. They’re a bunch of fine looking guys and an even finer live band...
So lock up your daughters (and sons – you don’t want to take any risks)‚ cos here comes MEK OBAAM...
