As Printed in the Quarter 2/2004 issue of The Belly Dancer Magazine
Dancer to Musician with Michael Beach
By: Oberon
Last year, November of 2003, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael Beach, charismatic founder, leader and Drummer of both the famous, “Brothers of the Baladi”, and the stylish Arabesque. Since this interview, Joseph Pusey, Michael’s close friend and Musical partner of many years, has died, making this history all the more precious. Sought out by Musicians, Dancers and Teachers alike, Michael has been a constant in the West Coast Middle Eastern scene for almost three decades. Creative and Knowledgeable Musician, skillful and approachable teacher, he is a powerful force, attracting visiting Music and Dance legends to share the stage with him to the delight of our community. I hope I’ve given you a taste of his evolution within these pages.
O So, Michael Beach, tell us about your early experiences with music.
M.B. None. No musical back-ground at all! My Older Brother and Sister had taken piano lessons. It was such a pain for my parents that when it came to Baby Michael – me, they didn’t even try. I grew up with a piano in the house but never played. To this day I wished I’d had formal training. Although, I admit, that even as a kid I only wanted to play the drums.
O Naturally attracted?
M.B. Yeah – Oh YEAH.
O Who were you listening too?
M.B. Oh – I was raised on Frank Sinatra, you know, the music my parents liked at home. Then the Beatles and the Rock bands of the sixties. I just always knew I wanted to be a drummer. My parents told me they’d buy me a drum if I took lesson. I took a few – I didn’t learn much. It was a marching band – so – snare drum. I wanted a drum set. If I’d gotten one at that point, maybe my life would have been different. So…..I never played anything really, grew up a frustrated Musician.
O When did you actually pick up a drum in a way that was meaningful to you?
M.B. Really didn’t play anything until I was in my 20’s.
“O” Where were you in your life when that happened?
M.B. Oh – I was traveling around the country in my van. I had a set of Bongos in my van and there were these two guys with acoustical guitars playing in the park. We just started playing. It’s a bizarre story really. We were in Canada, Banff, and we were jammin’ in the park, and we made a lot of money. So someone told us about the Vancouver Folk Festival, so we all drove there separately. It was amazing that we even met up again, because it was 400 miles away and it was a huge festival, but we found each other. It was raining, so we ended up jamming under a huge tarp, and as we were playing, a bus pulled up carrying all the festival performers. As they walked past us, one guy stopped, pulled out some penny whistles and started playing with us. One of the guys said, “Man, do you know who that is?” I had no idea, but it was David Ammram, a famous composer, conductor from New York City. He jammed with us a while, then turned to me and asked if I would “sit in” with him the next day. I met him as arranged, and we ended up doing a mini concert for about two hundred people. He told me to come back that night, which I did, and the next day which I did, I ended up playing with him, in front of about 20,000 people.
O With no formal training.
M.B. Yeah.
O O.K. – now I’m impressed. So what happened after that experience.
M.B. Nothing – I really didn’t even take it seriously although all I really wanted to do was play music. And I mean, that experience wasn’t with Middle Eastern Music, that didn’t come to fruition until I started the Brothers of the Baladi in 1975. It happened when I living in Arizona, teaching School.
O So when I think of “Brothers of the Baladi”, I DO think of Middle Eastern Music – so did you think “WHOOPS, I’m a Blue-eyed, white boy, but I think I’ll start a Middle Eastern Band.
M.B. Well….Yeah, no back-ground at all. It comes down to Zamara. We were living in Yuma, Arizona in 1975, and she had a weekly dance gig at a place called the “Chilton Inn”. I just went along to watch her dance to tapes, then started announcing her, then, she dressed me up. Next I started playing a metal Dumbek she owned – started to play it for her show. I really didn’t know what I was doing. From there, we just started adding people. Pretty soon there were 3 musicians – Peter, Colby and I. We had an M,C, too. His name was Josh Mertz, and one night he named us – “Brothers of the Baladi”. We listened to a lot of music and tried to copy it as best we could. This was all happening during about the last three years I lived in Arizona. Colby played 12 string guitar and Dulcimer, Peter played Clarinet and Recorder – I played drum. We played around town, making up our own stuff, playing for Dancers, around Phoenix etc. – that was it - that was the beginning of “Brothers of the Baladi”.
O Interesting – not at all what I had envisioned.
M.B. True. We would emulate musicians like George Abdou and do the best we knew.
O And from those beginnings.
M.B. Oh, I moved to Southern Oregon, as I had friends there, That’s where I met Joseph Pusey, He was doing a solo gig in Grant’s Pass.
O Did he have his own band at the time.
M.B. No, no. His back-ground was Folk and Celtic. I actually had to talk him into Playing Middle Eastern Music. In fact he always used to joke that, “it was all my fault”. We started playing together and got a gig at a place called “The Mouse Trap” in Grant’s Pass.
O Playing Middle Eastern Music?
M.B. No…..Well, we started. That’s really where we learned. Joe had more musical experience than I did, but we were learning it all together and we were soaking it all in; Joe grew up listening to Kaleidoscope, which was Suleyman’s, (from Sirocco) first Middle Eastern Rock band. But we were trying to do it all! Our “SHTICK” was, Original and Traditional, Irish Celtic Renaissance and Jazzy Blues, with a unique blend of Folk, Latin, Rock’N’Roll and the Middle East. We were just the magic duo, we were developing our thing. We were learning Middle Eastern Songs and playing for Dancers right away.
O And along the way, you picked up other musicians?
M.B. We had others sitting in with us because we were doing so much. Steven Skaggs, who’s on most of my CDs, played with us a lot. Steven actually had more Middle Eastern back-ground than either of us. The original “Brothers of the Baladi” happened back in Arizona, and was Josh, Colby, Peter and myself but I took the name again when Joseph and I needed a name for a gig – I said “What the Hell – I used to be “Brothers of the Baladi, let’s use the name again”, and we agreed on it. We played together for 12 years – since 78 - and the name stuck. Around the same time, my friend Allegra took me to see Sirocco in Santa Cruz. When I heard and saw Sirocco, I thought, “Now that’s really something”! We were very original but they were a powerful influence for both Joe and me. I thought, “Now I see there’s something to be done here”,
O How did you move forward from that experience?
M.B. In ’78. I went by myself to Country Fair, At that time it was Very small. I remember that Barbara Sellers was dancing. I had taken my drum and ended up playing on the main stage. I wish I could remember who I had played with, but my main memory is just that the fair was 1/100th the size of what it has become.
O You felt it would be a good venue for you and Joseph?
M.B. Not really. There was a friend of ours, now deceased, his name was Leo De Flambeaux. He talked to people, I talked to people. There are varying recollections of the beginnings of the Gypsy Stage. I was just happy to be one of the founding members. When we started there was a little 4x8 raised piece of plywood, we physically brought the boards and built it, kept adding on to it, covered it.
O So it became your assigned space?
M.B. In those days, nothing was assigned, you just kind of made it happen.
O Were you paid?
M.B. Not at first. Later we got a small piece of the gate. Leo would schedule the dancers, I was responsible for the musicians and Joe and I played. It was a magical, wonderful time. By1988, I had moved to Portland and Joseph and I were touring a lot. We also had a rock band named “Sonic Voyeur”. Then in 1990, we added Michael Kearsey, We became a three piece, Electric Middle Eastern Band. We still did the acoustic thing, and played for dancers all over the country, but we were becoming an International Touring band. Then Joseph left the band in about 1991. We were then joined by Tarik Banzi and Atillio. That’s when we did the “EYE on the World” CD.
O But that wasn’t your first Recording.
M.B. No, Joseph and I released 3 recordings on tape. Dance with Gladness, Food of Love and Beyond the Tent. After Joseph left, I did “Further Journeys” reflecting that major change. Further Journeys was done with Ishmael and Jouma Razgui.
O So for perspective, please describe the feel of the Middle Eastern Scene around you at that time.
M.B. Well, there weren’t many people playing Middle Eastern Music at that time – mainly, it was Middle Eastern Musicians playing Middle Eastern music. We were a rarity. Sirocco was a Hispanic/Caucasian mix, but we were white, Celtic guys, a real anomaly. The big names were, George Abdo and John Bilezikjian. The Egyptian Scene wasn’t happening yet.
O So you were “The Brothers” reformulated when you recorded “Eye on the World”.
M.B. Yeah, Michael Shreve, the original drummer from Santana came in and produced it because Michael Kearsey kind of knew him.
O What was Michael Kearsey’s back-ground?
M.B. Michael had a very famous band called “Upepo” – huge on the West coast, and after that , “The Razor Backs”. “Upepo” was kind of a Latin Rock, Psychedelic band – “The Razor Backs” were a Rock-a-Billy, Blues band. Michael was very well known. He was my back-bone and he taught me the business side of having a band. We began to evolve again. Tarik did his own thing with Al Andaleus. We brought many different musicians to play with us and included Reggae, Latin and Rock’N’Roll. Middle Eastern Music became 1/3rd of what we performed. We still performed at West Coast Rakkasah once a year, as I had done with Joe, until it no longer fit with our touring schedule. Our next CDs were, “Heart of the Beast”,1998, “Time of Peace”,1999 – then “Hope”, 2002. I then did my solo C.D., “Hands of a Thousand Dancers”, 2003. Through these CDs, you can trace our evolution. “Eye on the World” was mainly Middle Eastern, “Heart of the Beast”, was World Music - only about a third of it was Middle Eastern because of all the other musical styles we were playing. Due to my perpetual love of Middle Eastern Music, the last CDs have drifted back in that direction.
O During your career, you have consistently played with Middle Eastern Musicians as well as Caucasian Musicians. How do the Experiences Differ?
M.B. Hard to define. Now, there are a lot of American Musicians playing Middle Eastern music, back then there weren’t many. Ethnic musicians USUALLY, play music from their own country. Arabs playing Arabic Music, Turks playing Turkish Music, Persians, Persian Music. That isn’t what I want – I’m American – I want to play it all – I love it all. So playing with strictly Middle Eastern Musicians, can be somewhat limiting for me. On the other side of it – here’s a question. What’s the “real” thing? When you hear an American Musician singing and playing Middle Eastern Music – is that the “real thing” – I think there’s no answer to that.
O So do you think an Art Form can be moved forward by “tweaking” it?
M.B. Hard to say – especially now, when you have so many people are playing what they refer to as a “Middle Eastern Sound”. If you put a Dumbek on a recording and call it Middle Eastern Sound – is that Middle Eastern – who can say? So – Good, in some ways, but is it a “real” thing?
O What makes a great Drummer?
M.B. Well, what makes a Great Musician? Ability is definitely important, but “Soul” is ultimate. You either get it or you don’t – you either LOVE it or you don’t. Back-ground is important. You have to be around it and listen, listen, listen. Listen to the music.
O Got a favorite Drummer.
M.B. Armando of Sirocco. One of my favorite people – One of my inspirations. Having said that, drummers are all different. You couldn’t compare Amando with some incredible, 20 year old Egyptian drummer, because that drummer is only playing Arabic/Egyptian music. Now, can Amando do that, can I? I consider myself a good Egyptian drummer, but can I do it like them –maybe. But I can also play Turkish, Armenian, Arabic and a myriad of other styles.
O What is the role of a drummer in a Middle Eastern Band?
M.B. For me, #1 is simply keeping the rhythm – in the bands I play with I usually lead. For a dancer, I’ll check the level of her dance, and adjust my play accordingly. When a dancer has studied the rhythms and is truly comfortable – that’s the best.
O Michael, what instruments do you currently play?
M.B. Arabic Tabla, Persian Zarb, the big drum - Tabla Baladi, a regular Drum kit, the Mizmar, the Midjwiz, Arghool and Lead Vocals. I feel I’ve really come into my own as regards voice during the last two years, because to me, vocals are the ultimate instrument.
O So the current Make-up of “Brothers of the Baladi” is?
M.B. The current Brothers are – Brad Rapp, Dennis Elmer, Geoff George, J. Michael Kearsey and myself, Michael Beach.
O What performance memories stand out in your mind?
M.B. Performing with my best friend, Ishmael who plays on at least two of my CDs. Performing with John Bilezikjian. Bottom Line is, I love bringing Middle Eastern Music to American ears. Using instruments they can relate to, singing sometimes in English so that they can understand. Conversely, I love it when Middle Eastern people approach me after a performance and tell me how much they understood and how it touched them. Both worlds meeting – crowds of people dancing with joy –I love it.
O Since I named another your bands, “Arabesque”, I have to mention that you are currently doing a community night every week, with Geoff George, Brad Rapp and Sabinka Sarkofsky. A wide range and level of dancers, now gets the experience of dancing with an exciting live band. Is this satisfying for you?
M.B. Yeah – because our gig is well attended and it’s not easy to continue a weekly show and have it well supported. We love it.
O You also teach.
M.B. I teach work shops and classes nation wide and love it almost as much as performing.
O O.K. – Lightening Round. Zills during drum Solo?
M.B. If you know how to play them, Great. If not …….put them away!
O Your best asset?
M.B. Doing it all. It’s 95% business so I can get to the 5% music. Getting the Bookings, Publicity, Agents, Club Owners, Dancers, if you don’t have the gig you won’t have a band for long.
O What’s in the future?
M.B. I want to bring this music to a much broader audience. It has as much viability as any other music style.
O How has your recent marriage in 2001 to Portland Artist, Judee Moonbeam affected your career?
M.B. It has put balance into my life.
(Son Brit interjects here, smiling charmingly at us – “It GAVE him a Life”, he insists). It gave me the giggles.
O How do you want your community to remember you Michael Beach.
M.B. He was a good guy, and, he was a good musician.
O How will you remember your community?
M.B. Champion boxer, Joe Louis always said, “He was a good boy, He gave me a good fight“!
