Introducing Mahdi Khene was born in Algiers. At the age of one, he moved with his family to New York City. He started playing the guitar at the age of 14. He attributes his songwriting style to having been a self-taught musician. A troubadour at heart, he has been traveling from place to place, spending time in Maryland, D.C, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, and Virginia only to make a full circle and find himself back in New York where he performs his latest Folk/Rock albums and composes original scores for films and documentaries.
The new single “sense” which is taken from the album Don’t say a word opens out strong from the gate with great vocals & instrumentals. It’s only the greatest of singers who are capable of embodying such deep human experiences with such regularity. The crowning touch of Mahdi Khene’s achievement is the talent he shows for shaping his voice as closely as possible to the musical arrangement. The lyrical content for “sense” provides the script for Mahdi’s drama. It’s never overwritten; the words are carefully chosen and there’s no audible fat on the songwriting that trips up individual phrases. The lyric mines a near-universal strand of language with turns of phrase any adult listener will recognize, but it never sounds unnecessarily contrived or stilted. Its pure conversational eloquence increases its chance for connecting with listeners and Mahdi makes all of those moments count.
We managed to track down Mahdi Khene for an interview to find out more about his music career so far…
What inspired you to get into music?
Growing up, there was always either Muddy Waters or J.J. Cale playing on a speaker, at some point I decided to steal my brother’s guitar and start a band.
How would you describe your music?
it’s folk and alternative rock sprinkled with Tuareg blues.
What would you say is your recording and songwriting style?
I tend to write things as they come. I record and produce all my music at my home studio.
Where would you like to see your music career in 5 years time?
With all things considered, I’d be happy just to play.
Where can music fans listen to your music?
I’m on all the major streaming platforms, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal…etc