May 7, 2025

Fann w Fenjein: Rust

Hala (Halo) Srouji

Electro-Tarab

“Bittersweet Is Part of Who We Are”: Rust on Identity, Sound, and Survival

By Carol Ohair

In this special conversation between two electro-tarab powerhouses in the indie scene, Rust sits down with Carol Ohair—one half of the duo Anamel—to unpack the emotional weight and sonic shifts behind their latest album, Masar (Arabic for “pathway”). Rust, the Prague-based Syrian-Lebanese act composed of vocalist Petra El Hawi and producer Hany Manja, has become known for weaving Arabic musicality into immersive electronic soundscapes. But Masar marks a detour from their signature dancefloor energy into a darker, more introspective space. We wondered if the haunting vibes of Prague, their recent relocation, or the emotional residue of exile inspired this evolution? Carol dives into the duo’s inspiration and journey in a conversation that reflects our bittersweet reality as Arabs and artists.

Photography by Farah Abou Kharroub

CAROL OHAIR:

I’ve been quite observant of Rust for a while, since you started off back in Beirut, but from the shadows يعني observing from afar, like that person in the whatsapp group that’s just looking and not saying anything. And I’m very happy to ask you a few questions. First of all, mabrouk on your new album. I’ve been spending a couple of days now listening to it, and I’ve gone through your website, and I have a few burning questions, starting with: What happened? Not in a bad way, but what happened to take you where you went? There were signs that this is where you were going. I felt there was a complete, really interesting, and nice shift—and at the same time, there’s a lot of authenticity in it. So tell me about Rust now, in 2025, what happened? What triggered this? And what is this album exactly trying to say?

PETRA EL HAWI:

Actually this album was the Rust-iest album we’ve released so far. It was done last year, it was awarded a production grant from Al-Mawred Al-Thaquafi (Culture Resource). We had this idea in mind إنو خلص let’s do what we really want to do, let’s take it where we really want to take our music, without expecting how the audience would grasp it. And then it was like a journey, how we collaborated with Jana Salloum, and how she wrote this poem in فصحى (formal Arabic) and we worked with it. We wanted to translate how we felt regarding the concept, the theme, all the emotions. And then, we didn’t know what to do with it…

CAROL:

Haha, I totally get you. So what happened?

PETRA:

Then there was a moment of clarity like– oh, would people really enjoy it?– because the music we’d been doing is more of a dancey, groovy, uplifting music. And then there was Masar, so what should we do? We waited until we found Etyen and we released it with his label,Thawra Records, because we knew that he would take it to the right place.

Artwork by Amy Chiniara

CAROL:

Very nice. Hany, on your end, I’m curious about your journey. I’m also a producer, so there was something very reminiscent in the cleanliness and the instrumentation—there is a bit of bitterness in your sounds now. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m hearing a lot of inspiration from Moderate and Archive. But there’s also this bitterness, a bitter flavor, that comes from our area, which I don’t feel in Europe. I’m very curious about your journey in it.

HANY MANJA:

Oh, wow. First of all, Archive and Moderate, oh my God, you just hit it, because these are my favorite two acts.

CAROL:

And Modeselektor too, there’s something from their newest album…

HANY:

I think it’s in my subconscious, because when it comes to electronic acts, Moderate is my favorite project, and Archive is also one of my favorite bands ever. So yes, this is the dark electronic part that feels like my comfort zone, and there is bitterness/I think it’s also related to the fact that I was living in Beirut at that time. I was living in the Czech Republic for 15 years before that, then I went to Beirut for four years. And I don’t need to explain more why there’s bitterness when you’ve experienced what has been happening to the region.

CAROL:

Yeah, yeah I understand…

HANY:

And, as Petra said, it was liberating in a way that we just wanted to express ourselves musically, to freely express how we really felt, what is happening, what is surrounding us, what we’re going through—and we put it all there. The collaboration went very well with Jana, with her vision and her style of writing. I think there is also a lot of bitterness and actually darkness there, in a sweet way too. I like to call it bittersweet. It’s not a mean bitterness, and it’s a part of who we are.

CAROL:

Okay, interesting. I want to know a little bit more about your journey, also Petra from your point of view. Even when you guys have dancy tracks, they’re actually covers or remixes, at least from what I’ve realized, and I appreciate that a lot. So how does this discourse fit or not fit with what you’ve been doing? Is Masar another Masar of your journey, or is it a continuation of it? How would you describe it right now? Are you setting a different tone or a different discourse? You’re also very big on talking about Arab women, the identity, all of these topics, is this still heavily charged in your newest release?

PETRA:

Well, we don’t like to be fixed on one path, so we try to always have a new approach to our music, whether it is a cover song or an original song or a project like Masar. We don’t like to be stuck in one place. So with every song, we take another approach, with another perspective, with new sounds, with new melodies, with something else for us to be refreshed. And we learn the patterns that we’ve been passing through: what’s working, what’s not working, where do you want to take it more, how to push our boundaries, for us to be always in progress.

Masar was another path where we experimented with how our sound would be, especially with the oud and with the relationship of my voice not being the only instrument anymore. It was our first time adding this instrument and with that, it created our next path. We want to keep doing both journeys in parallel, so that we could elaborate our sound more and do what we really love, and do what people are really responding to. There’s this balance so that we keep sane, you know?

CAROL:

Yeah. How long have you been living in the Czech Republic now?

PETRA:

A year and a half. Since October 2023, since the war happened. We had to relocate.

CAROL:

So you produced the music and the album in Lebanon, and then you went to the Czech Republic and released it there. Did you feel a change, now being artists in the diaspora? Was it received differently? As you know the music industry here is tough, we have a lot of good talent, but we have limited opportunities, so the market gets saturated very quickly. Was it more comfortable for you to just forget about the audience, forget about what they want, and was it easier to do that once you left?

Tell me about the dynamic shift. Basically, I’m trying to ask, have you found a community there, or did you still release it in mind to target the community here, but as people from abroad right now, and is being received the same way?

HANY:

Well, it’s a tricky question. The more we are doing this and being in this environment, the less we understand what’s happening and what people like and don’t like, and how they receive music, it’s changing and shifting so much. So from our side, we just stop expecting what the outcome could be or should be, and just do it. One year ago, we wondered how this different sound was going to shape or change our identity, or how people would perceive our music. Now we’re in a place where I think, like, wtf I really don’t know.

CAROL:

Yeah. It must be liberating!

HANY:

In a way yes, and also you want to make a living out of your art, so you have to find a balance. It’s liberating in a sense that you just do the best that you can do, be authentic to yourself, and put it out there and hope for the best. Being an Arab artist in Europe, you have two kinds of audiences, and it’s hard to please both. Actually three audiences, because you have the Arabs in the diaspora, the Arabs in the region, and the audience here. So really different directions, preferences, and languages. So, it’s hard to navigate between these three. But as you said, I think it works well also with the European or the non-Arabic audience. They appreciate you as an artist when you are authentic to yourself, when you’re not trying to imitate something that exists already. They feel the authenticity. They feel the sensation of the place you’re coming from and they appreciate that. It’s important for us because we live here, and we play big festivals sometimes or in small clubs in Europe, and we need this connection with the local people.

CAROL:

Nice. Alright, and what’s the inspiration now? Like, after Eli and I produce something and we let it out, I usually feel empty for a while, like I have no temptation for beats or grooves or things to say. How are you feeling now, and where do you imagine Rust will go in the next six months?

PETRA:

Before we moved to Prague, the inspiration was the situation, everything we felt there. When we moved here, being an expat was a new experience for me. Now I know how expats think and feel, how with the war and with everything that’s happening back home, it’s really frustrating and it creates a new perspective to your life, because you’re living in two places at once. I’m trying to build a life here, and I’m still homesick, so this duality is the main inspiration. That is how we created the song Diaspora. It targeted that typical story. Now we’re taking it from there, and we’re trying to express ourselves and wherever we’re at. Sometimes we get stuck, of course, so we don’t do anything.

HANY:

And the fact that also, when it comes to writing, we don’t write the lyrics, we always collaborate with established poets. So they can also bring their inspiration. Because with our generation, we share a lot of problems and struggles and hopes and imaginations. That’s what happened in Masar, and in the last three or four singles with Nada El Shabrawy, a writer from Egypt. We are working on two singles more with Nada as well. Personally, like when you’re a producer or musician, I always try to create space to experiment and do a lot of unfinished stuff.

CAROL:

Yeah, a lot of them! Hard drives of unfinished stuff! You have a jam from six months ago, it’s like ‘that was so random, don’t save this’, and then you save it and it’s like ‘oh my God we have a booking and this track would be amazing!’ It’s like you’re decluttering your inspiration sometimes, and it can be used for later.

Ok, thank you for pushing this, all of it out, the pain, the love, the hate, feeling stuck. Any final words before we sign off?

PETRA:

It was great speaking with you! We’ll let you know when we plan to go to Beirut soon!

Rust is a Prague-based Syrian-Lebanese duo blending traditional Arabic musicality with original compositions and powerful vocals to craft captivating Electro-Tarab soundscapes. Formed in 2021 by Lebanese music therapist and vocalist Petra El Hawi and Syrian musician and electronic music producer Hany Manja, Rust’s live performances transport listeners to a realm where heritage meets innovation, and the beauty of Arabic music converges with the dynamic energy of electronic production. With a deep commitment to challenging conventional notions of Arab identity, Rust is carving out a sonic expression entirely their own.

The Anamel Project, is an electronic music duo founded by artists Carol Ohair and Eli Ishac, known for their live mixing of analog synth sounds, liquid bass stabs, distinctive selection of signature vocals, and organic melodic instrumentation that elevate the consciousness and emotions of their audience. Anamel have been featured on releases under different labels including Cafe de Anatolia and Moonkoder. Carol also works in social psychology and strategy, and is a talented theater sound engineer who has created original music and soundscapes for numerous local stage productions.

Hala (Halo) Srouji

Hala (Halo) Srouji is a writer and production manager with a background in editing, journalism, and sustainability. With over two decades of experience in communications and media across the Middle East and the U.S., she curates cross-disciplinary editorial projects that spotlight cultural dialogue, creative collaboration, and environmental awareness. Hala is currently managing and facilitating part of Fann w Fenjen’s interviews with and between artists, bringing a unique and new perspective to artist visibility in media