Champ & The Carot

“You will be successful in business and married life”. That’s what my fortune cookie read when I cracked it open in Rochester back when I was just 16. It never left my mind, always gave me re-assurance that I’ll be okay in the end. I can feel that NOW is the beginning of it, in the business part at least: Worked at one of the top advertising companies in the world for a year while I was still…

It’s been a while…A lot of stages, a lot of cities, a lot of new friends and new lessons, loads of humility and memories, a lot of train, plane, boat tickets to go put on shows across the globe…Worked with different clients spread around, from Orchestras, to a historical French Singer, to a gaming global event… it’s been a while indeed.But I’m back because I wanted to document the process of…

I’ve been back in Beirut since June, even though it still feels like I’ve left the US last week. Lebanon is where I grew up, and what molded me. But Lebanon is also like that first love you reference everything to, with all the bittersweet memories, accepting them with all their flaws… Sometimes, it’s just good to step out and explore something new that will bring out the best in you.

Black Howlh…

End of the Road, Heading Home

The last shows I can talk about for April were extraordinary. One was in Lebanon, on which my Black Howlteam hopped: the Beirut Madinati fundraising concert. That group was different, fighting for what was right, gave a lot of hope for Lebanese people, inspired change. So you could imagine how honored I was when they called me to get Black Howl on board. I wish I had been in Beirut for that, but…

Lebanon is a small cozy beautiful country. It’s also very corrupt and chaotic unfortunately.

So I packed a bag and booked a ticket for about a month, to go help out at Zuhair Murad’s Paris Fashion Show in January, pass by London a bit to see friends, and end up in NY for two weeks.

It’s now been three months that I left my small room (and my guitar, mind you), and I changed my ticket back about…

2015 going on 2016

My absence on here has been long, and I’ll try not to forget anything that happened during these past two months.

  After we launched our company Black Howl, we focused on 4 a Causeagain and threw that Smile 4 a Cause party to help out Global Smile Foundation. Our friends and other new friends showed up to that cool party, the music made sure of it anyways, and Romax, MAK and Padawan made them…

October and November mainly focused on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, the original Broadway musical show.

I couldn’t unfortunately take a single picture of Disney’s Magic, but here are some I could show you.

I could have never imagined dealing with so many problems on a daily basis. At the same time, it makes me so proud of having a team of people working as hard as myself. We met some great…

Charity, Wicker And Cheers

  This month started off with a charity event, Foot 4 a Cause: it was mainly the first time I stepped out and let the 4 a Cause volunteers choose the cause, come up with the event, contact the suppliers and make it happen. Of course, I had to tweak and push a few things, but the result was fine. I felt proud seeing that young team finally taking matters in their own hands and make things happen.…

August kicked in with two concerts working in parallel. It allowed me to test my team, without me being on ground or even available to solve or help around: Luana (my right hand) and the “minions” took care of Hiba Tawaji’s rehearsals and concert at Byblos International Festival, while I was working in Beirut with Mashrou’ Leila for this gig at Beirut Holidays in Biel. I also got to initiate a…

Lebanon’s Festivals, Sunny July

July started out with Liban Jazz’s gig for Bombino. I had to work in the Music Hall Waterfront for the first time, which is maybe the most beautiful venue I’ve seen in a long time. This was also a test for me on Liban Jazz, as it is usually run by one person. The band was nice and fun to be with, and the music was different from what I usually work with. All in all, it was a good show.

 As the f…

After Mashrou’ Leila’s April tour and Sound of Music, we ended April with a DJ gig with Poliakov. I’m not particulary a fan of DJs and electronic music, but James Zabiela was a bit different I guess. He creates everything on the spot, and seeing him play was like watching a kid plays with his legos and games. His energy was superb, and he was adorable with the public, taking the time to go around…

“February Made Me Shiver” – Part 2

Apart from all the production I had going on since February, which you can read about in part 1, I worked on some illustration again. It was nice to take some projects that weren’t that corporate and where I could draw the way I liked something the clients would also appreciate.

Nineteen 84 called up, and we worked together on an illustration for a new Cadillac model they were bringing in. I had…

“February Made Me Shiver” – Part 1

I have been sitting for at least 30 min at Kissproof playing with a puppy instead of getting myself to write this post, since I don’t even know how to begin anymore, having been absent for at least three months.

So maybe I start gradually.

February fell hard on all of us, with the loss of a close friend/sister/little apprentice/champion. And I don’t know if it was that or other painful…