FARID Ali A.K.A. Mr. Gambus has spent years raising awareness about the Gambus, a traditional instrument that is slowly fading into obscurity. The Gambus, or “Oud” as it is called in Arabic, can be traced back 3000 years to ancient Persia, where legend has it that the instrument was created by the sixth grandson of Adam (yes, as in “Adam and Eve”). Mr. Gambus lives and breathes his instrument, and here he tells about the new “Gambustar”, and why he will never rest till the Gambus is saved.

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Tell us about yourself.

I am mostly concerned with promoting the Gambus, a traditional instrument. However, the Gambus that I play is different from the traditional one. It took a slightly different form about ten years ago here, in Malaysia. Back then, the Gambus was going into extinction, so a guitar maker in KL, Jeffrey Young, designed a fusion between the guitar and the Gambus -- the Gambustar -- in an effort to save the traditional instrument. He approached me and asked me to help him promote the instrument, and I’ve been applying myself to the task since then.

How did you first get into music?

When I was a kid I was exposed to a lot of popular music, but at the same time I got a lot of exposure to traditional forms because my father is from Johor. In my teens I started drifting away from that, and I got caught up in Jimmy Hendrix and George Benson. My music had a lot of those kinds of influences for about nine years, which was when I started playing at music festivals around the world. Then Jeffrey approached me with the Gambustar, and since then I’ve been exploring and creating and promoting with my faithful instrument.

Tell us about the first time you picked up a Gambustar.

Well, when I picked it up, it just made a lot of sense to me. Because I’m trained in guitar, and Gambustar gave me the same feeling. You tune it like a guitar. Physically, I knew where the notes are. But, you don’t play it like a guitar. I decided to try to incorporate elements of my guitar discipline and violin, but at the same time keep the essence of the Gambus.

What is the biggest thing you’ve given to your art?

Total devotion. It’s more or less a new instrument, and currently I’m the only one playing it, so I’ve still got a long way to go to promote it. Playing it more in public will hopefully raise awareness, and get younger people hooked!

Tell us about your upcoming show.

It’s called Gambus Goes Latin, and it’s on the 21st and 22nd of April. I’ve tried bringing the Gambus to different genres of music in the past, and this time round it’s Latin’s turn. I’ll be playing some popular songs from South America, and my own renditions of them, as well as some of my own compositions.

What is your favourite song of all time?

There are far too many songs to choose from. I think every song is good, there’s no such thing as bad music. What’s important is that the song is played well. The song has to be executed properly.

Is there a song the Gambus wouldn’t be able to do justice to?

I’ve tried to fuse a lot of songs in the past, and though the song doesn’t always sound exactly the same, it still works. Gambus gives you a different flavour, though it depends on the player’s willingness to explore. The traditional Gambus only plays in one key, but now that we have the Gambustar, it can be played in many keys, making it applicable to most genres.

What inspires you?

Since early on, some of my main influences have been George Benson, Jimmy Hendrix, and Santana. But I’m inspired by all kinds of music, and I want to explore the Gambustar’s potential in all genres.

Do you have any performance superstitions that you abide strictly by?

No I don’t. Just as long as I perform well, I’m happy.

How did the nickname “Mr. Gambus” come about?

Well, it started about five years ago when I was first promoting Gambus. A few friends kept teasing me for promoting such an ancient instrument, and they wouldn’t stop calling me “Mr. Gambus”. Somehow the name stuck. I realised when I performed in South America that Farid Ali is a pretty forgettable name, and that “Mr. Gambus” has a better ring to it. So I thought I’d keep it.

If you were a superhero, who would you be?

I think the closest thing I have to being a superhero is my Gambustar. I’m not into competing. I feel privileged to have been given a voice through this invention. I can express myself in a different way.

What’s next for you?

I still have a journey ahead of me with this instrument. I plan to further develop myself, and hopefully sometime in the future an institution like Universiti Malaya will call me or something. If the Gambustar can be recognised by these institutions and included in their curriculum, then the standard of the Gambustar can be elevated. Maybe one day Sting will decide to experiment with the Gambustar, and he can do for Malaysian music what the Beatles did for Indian music when they experimented with the sitar. Right now I’m the only one playing this instrument, and it can get lonely sometimes.

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Yasmin Zetti Martin writes for Kakiseni.

Gambus Goes Latin happens at the Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS, Level 2, Tower 2, PETRONAS Twin Towers, KLCC, Kuala Lumpur from Mon 21 - Tue 22 Apr 2008 (8.30pm). Tickets cost RM85/ RM65/ RM40/ RM20. For more information, click here.