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News
Premiering the Music Video for Bara7a (براحة)
We started off the campaign for Chapter 2 with a bang by sharing the music video for Bara7a. We landed a superb feature on Under the Radar! Read the full lyrics before you dive in over here. The song follows +Aziz’s experiences as an adolescent in Kuwait, delving into one of the near-universal experiences of …
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فرقة كويزيانا تجسد خليطًا ثقافيًا جديدًا
Looking for information about the band in Arabic? We created this little entry, please feel free to reach out via this website or social media. فرقة كويزيانا تجسد خليطًا ثقافيًا جديدًا، وهو خليط يوضّح تأثير ثقافة العَوَلمَة المتغيّرة على شباب اليوم وصقلها لهويّتهم. كويزيانا هي فرقة تقدّم صنفًا مستقلّاً من الروك المُتأثِّر بالموسيقى العالمية. لذا …
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Dealing with Unexpected Advice
A thought-provoking encounter I had with a big time artist manager.
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Album Review: A Debut Playfully Bending the Rules
A heady sense of irreverence hangs over the debut album from Kuwaisiana, a US-based indie outfit led by Kuwaiti singer-songwriter +Aziz. The record’s wanton style-hopping and language-swapping has the sense not of willfully breaking the rules, but playfully bending them with a swagger and a smile. It may be no coincidence the band was born …
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Our Debut Album is Here!
The Future is Multilingual ⚡ Our debut album, Chapter 1 (الباب الأول) is being released through Universal Music MENA on 5.18. Good things come to those who work their butts off amiright? The press around the release has been decent, but one article stands out from all the rest. A heady sense of irreverence hangs …
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Patreon Makes All the Difference: Support the Music!
Support Kuwaiti singer-songwriter +Aziz on Patreon, help him on his journey to build cultural bridges with his indie rock band Kuwaisiana.
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Merch Ideas Worth Exploring: Pelicans & Arabic Typography!
Merch ideas for Kuwaisiana t-shirts and stickers. Enjoy the view.
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Take a Deep-Dive Into our Lyrics & Tracklist
Kuwaisiana is a proudly bilingual project developed by +Aziz. Below are the tracks on our debut release, Chapter 1. You can listen to the development of the New Orleans sound across Chapter 2 and Chapter 3. For me, part of being Kuwaiti today means engaging with many potent thoughts with poetic confidence: xenophobia, censorship, money …
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Music & Lyrics

Chapter 2
Sink your teeth into Kuwaisiana’s Chapter 2 release, a 5-track exploration of Khaleeji and Arab-American identity. Working in Arabic and English, Kuwaisiana is a full-bodied band producing a danceable, dynamic sound that draws on world music and indie rock. Led by Kuwaiti singer-songwriter +Aziz, the 6-piece blends funk, rock, ska with New Orleanian jazz, adding a unique twist to what Indie Arab Rock can sound like.
Born out of +Aziz’s desire to explore parallels between American and Khaleeji cultures, Chapter 2 is the band’s followup EP to Chapter 1, which was released through Universal Music MENA. This 22-minute EP deepens the band’s exploration of the day-to-day experiences of Arab-American youth and the evolving viewpoints of Khaleejis living in the Arabian Peninsula. It will be self-released on Bandcamp and then published to streaming platforms.
Lyrically, +Aziz explores the cultures he knows so well through his metaphor-rich lyrics, which sustain a tension between conversational and a more evocative, poetic perspective. Kuwaisiana is making progress at a time when so much of the world is in flux. Give the EP a listen!

Chapter 3
This EP was recorded at Marigny Studios in New Orleans (2021) right before +Aziz’s relocation The 25-minute EP presents a full-bodied sound, mixing funk, rock, ska with New Orleanian jazz, adding a unique twist to what Indie Arab Rock can sound like. As the pandemic wore us all down, the band leader relocated to Seattle to push forward with his vision.
Chapter 1
“Kuwaisiana’s, Chapter 1, is an awesomely interesting release by an equally intriguing band from New Orleans with bridges to Kuwait who combine the vernacular of topics between there and the US southern region. They cross bread everything from Cajun to Pop music in their combination of styles that never leave out the two areas in which they’re grounded, yet they have a universal appeal in the process. Chapter 1 wins on that premise alone.” James McQuiston, Editor at NeuFutur
“Drawing fitfully from their surrounds, the septet’s sonics are bolstered by bursts of brass and the lilt of (apparently synthesized) accordion, conjuring a rootsy, Cajun vibe around +Aziz’s raw, DIY-rock approach. At the best moments, a barn-storming, street-party abandon overcomes these slightly flat, self-produced recordings… But there is a potent spice found amid this audio stew. Split into two “sides” — the first in Arabic, the second English — the lyrics on “Chapter 1” carry subtle weight as a reflection on the modern Arab experience.” Martin Wingham, Arab News
“Given the current banal state of popular music, an album and a band like Kuwaisiana are just the tonic that is needed… So here’s to Kuwaisiana for treading new ground and charting a new path. In a musical landscape that sometimes feels too cookie-cutter and too safe, Kuwaisiana are paving new ground, and hot damn, it is awe-inspiring.” Greg Robson, Step Inside This House