MALAMOR

Sanaa Taha, voice
Jaka Hawlina, trumpet, tuba
Luka Ropret, guitar
Gregor Cvetko, bass guitar
Blaž Celarec, drums 

MALAMOR came to be in 2014, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The music and lyrics of the songs are authored by the lead vocalist Sanaa Taha, while the musical arrangements are up to the whole band: Luka Ropret (guitar), Blaž Celarec (drums), Jaka Hawlina (trumpet, horn), Peter Baroš (keyboards), and since 2019 – Gregor Cvetko (bass).

The songs are written in English, Spanish, French and Italian. The music is an amalgam of Cabaret, Latin, Ethno, Soul, Glam, Psychedelia, and Garage Punk. The members of Malamor jokingly define their peculiar genre as “postglam retromex soul-punk”. The unusual blend of styles and languages is the reflection of Sanaa’s ethnic mix (Slovenian, Italian, Arabic), broad travels, curious life experiences, and her long sojourn in Mexico – which she considers her true home. The other members of the band – who are all Slovenian – add their own creative spark to the arrangements through long years of experience as musicians and instrumentalists.

It is therefore almost impossible to assign a musical genre to Malamor, the most that can be said is that Malamor’s eccentric and cinematic sound would be well suited for the films of Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez. Since 2014 the band has played innumerable concerts at venues in Slovenia, as well as Italy and Mexico. In 2016, Malamor published their first album Viva la libertad! and went on tour to Mexico, where they played many extraordinary concerts in the desert towns of the Northern Sierra Madre. In 2017, the band followed with a second album – Daisy – in which their inherent garage punk tendencies came more to the fore. Finally, their third album Bed of Love – written, recorded and produced in 2020 – will be released in April 2011. Bed of Love is based on ancient magical texts from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece – which Sanaa studied and reinterpreted to write a collection of songs based on ancient Mediterranean goddesses. Again, the sound of this album is eclectic – post-hippy with an ethnic, oriental, bent.

Sanaa Taha – author of songs, lead vocal – was born in Slovenia to a mixed family (mother from Trieste (Italy) father Jordanian), but as a child moved first to North Africa, then Iraq, then England. She is fluent in five languages and considers herself a citizen of the world. After graduating from the Venice Art Academy she worked as a set and costume designer in Italy and then relocated to Mexico for many years,  working in theatre and cinema as well as writing and publishing short stories and essays. Returning to Slovenia in 2008, she formed a musical cabaret company (Subkomite), for which she wrote three original one-hour cabarets and was one of the performers. In 2014 she created the band Malamor, which has performed at innumerable venues in Slovenia, as well as in Italy and Mexico, and has released two albums – with the third due for release in April 2021. In 2018 she obtained a Masters of Anthropology in the UK. In Malamor, as creative director, author of the songs, costume designer, and lead vocalist, she combines her love of the word, of music, of visual arts and of performance.

Blaž Celarec – drums, back vocals – is a percussionist, drummer, clarinetist, producer and sound engineer based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. After learning to play the clarinet as a child he studied Latin-American percussion at the Conservatory in Rotterdam, after which he traveled several times to Cuba to study with Eduardo Lavoy and others. He played Cuban music in Slovenia, Italy and Croatia for many years, but recently is more involved as a drummer and producer in the creative singer-songwriter Slovenian music scene. As a musician he has recorded more than sixty albums with different groups and over thirty albums as a producer and sound engineer.

Luka Ropret – guitar, back vocals – graduated in classical guitar in Ljubljana in 1997, after which he began exploring different musical genres – such as folk, jazz, rock, fusion, and electronic dance music. Apart from the classical guitar he also plays the mandolin, oud and electric guitar. He has performed with different groups (Malamor, Brina, Autodafe, Menu B…) in many venues and festivals across Europe, Russia, Northern and Central America. He composes and arranges music for theater, contemporary dance, puppet shows, films and television.

Jaka Hawlina – trumpet, horn, back vocals – wanted to play the clarinet but that instrument was already present in the family band, so he ended up playing the trumpet. He graduated in classical composition and has played the trumpet in many different formations – from marching bands to Dixieland, Ethno, Cabaret, Pop, Rap, Funk, Rock, Jazz, and theatre music.

Peter Baroš – keyboards – started his musical education by listening to Bach’s fugues and playing the accordion, but switched to keyboards as soon as he heard a recording of a Doors concert. Since then he has been interested in psychadelic musical journeys, improvised stage performances and strange sounds. He has performed in many Slovenian rock bands as a saxophone and keyboard player but Malamor suits him best. Peter is also at the head of SIGIC (Slovenian Music Information Centre).

Gregor Cvetko – bass, back vocals – started his musical journey on classical piano. But he always wanted to play the bass and while listening to punk records, he picked up a guitar instead. After elementary school he started playing double bass. As a double bass player he took a part in several theatre performances travelling from Moscow to Caracas. He has been involved as a bassist, guitarist or pianist in different bands of various genres from ethno to punk, rock and pop. Sometimes he sings.

Admission: 5€
Tickets can be purchased 1 hour before the event at the entrance to the venue.

* In case of rain, the event will take place in Kulturni dom Metlika.

Due to the amendments to the decree on the temporary restriction of the cultural services, event may be attended only by persons with a certificate of: recovery of covid-19 (P), vaccination (C) or a negative test result, which must not be older than 48 hours (T). Entry to the event is only possible with a PCT certificate. Certificate is not required for children under the age of 15 who attend the event with close family members or guardians.