Modeling, Designing, Animating: Yal Solan’s Artistic Odyssey Unveiled in Soulful Melodies.
“Carve your own path in everything you do.”
Introducing Yal Solan, the multifaceted artist captivating audiences with her soulful pop sound, poetic lyricism, and captivating visuals. Hailing from Lebanon, Yal is a singer-songwriter, poet, model, and designer, seamlessly blending her diverse talents. With a background in math and graphic design, she embarked on a musical journey after discovering her singing prowess during university. Yal’s music, described as soulful pop with oriental influences, aims to resensitize emotions in a world that often numbs us. As a yogi, her inspiration stems from spirituality, nature, and human experiences. Yal’s debut single, “Silent Fireworks,” received a profound response, echoing her desire to awaken souls through her music. Evolving with each release, Yal fearlessly explores her musical identity, infusing oriental instruments and singing in Lebanese Arabic. Beyond her music, Yal is a passionate animator, model, and designer, combining her talents in projects that hold personal meaning. As she continues to carve her unique path, Yal Solan is set to release more singles, enchanting listeners throughout 2024.
Photo by: Samer Beyhum
Please introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi! My name is Yal Solan. I’m a singer-songwriter, poet, and model from Lebanon.
Tell us about your education.
I actually never studied music. In school, I specialized in the math curriculum – a grade A geek if I may say! – and in university I studied graphic design with an emphasis on video animation.
What were you like when you were little?
I was a very calm and introverted girl. I was the quiet imaginative kid who was lost in her own world, making her action figurines play in a band, replaying the music videos she recorded on her VHS tapes, confiding in her CD player, always up to date with magazines about pop stars and the music scene.
How and when did you discover the singer in you?
I discovered that I could sing in the late years of university when I joined the chamber choir there out of my curiosity for music. Then the bigger turning point was meeting the brilliant artist Mike Massy, who has been my vocal coach and mentor since, during one of his Voice Matters workshops where he teaches everything from voice, to breathing, anatomy, massage, and mindfulness. It felt like finally finding my place in the world, and I started taking vocal coaching sessions with him.
Photo by: Homere Semaan
How would you describe your music?
It’s hard to define my music style – I call it soulful pop. My music is the result of blending my poetry writing with oriental instruments, ethereal vocals, and mystical elements. It’s like a mix of soul, fusion, and world music. It is soulful and sensual enough to dream to, but powerful and intense enough to awaken.
You write your own lyrics. What does the act of writing do for you?
Writing is one of the biggest tools of self-expression. The act of writing for me is channeling our inner contents – heart, mind, and soul – through our bare hands into a physical form we can observe, catch up to, make sense of and alchemize. Journaling has led me to a lot of self-discoveries, and writing poetry has been a huge outlet for my thoughts and emotions.
Where do you get inspiration for your music?
I find inspiration in that space where I process the outer world into my inner world. As a yogi, I am very much inspired by spirituality, mysticism, nature herself, the longing for conscious living and self-awareness, as well as very human experiences such as desire, sensuality, or
heartbreak.
What do you want to convey through your music?
I want my music to take the listeners on a journey into themselves, to resensitize their emotions in a world that relentlessly tries to numb us. I seek to make music that awakens our souls, like a mantra. At the very least, I wish for my songs to be a little reminder of the beauty of the world.
What was your first single and what was the response?
My first single was Silent Fireworks. It is a song about the power of our intuition, and connecting to that wisdom inside more than ever in the quiet pace of the night. It is a very intimate song to me – I wrote it in the hours past midnight in what felt like a very magical moment of inspiration. The response was beyond amazing, especially because I didn’t know what to expect from sharing such a personal experience that is not very tangible.
I was worried that maybe it would be too abstract, and people would not relate, but I’ve received beautiful sharing from people telling me they’re listening to Silent Fireworks before a stressful meeting, that some people play it as their comfort song, others posted stories with Silent Fireworks while meditating in nature, others even shared that they experienced a felt sensation of Silent Fireworks in their bodies while listening to it, many even said they cried.
The cathartic feeling, I had hoped to give was very much received!
People were also very happy with the music video. I put myself out there and any I had friends tell me that the way I owned my true self was inspiring their own transformation. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=780Wez0_80c).
How would you say your sound has evolved since you released your first single?
With every song I feel I dive deeper into my musical identity, into what it means musically to sing in English but have Arab roots. In my second single Toss & Turn, I felt braver in elaborating on my unique sound and in highlighting the oriental touch. So, I used Oud as a dominant instrument and it was definitely a door for me to explore further how to integrate oriental instruments in my work. I must say that since then, the songs I’ve written have also been purely in Lebanese Arabic!
Can you walk us through the creative process of completing a song?
My songs start off as poetry I write in my notebook, formless and unfiltered. Before making it into a song, I transcribe it on my laptop, and try to see if there are any patterns that call me, any rhymes in the words, what belongs in the chorus and what belongs more in the verse.
The music part is never a linear process though. I let my writing simmer until a moment strikes where I hear one of the lines and it keeps on tugging at me. That’s when I know I need to create it and that melody I hear in my head starts to develop into the rest of the song.
What has been your most memorable moment from your performances so far?
I would say my one-year anniversary performance at Barzakh, the very first venue I performed at. It happened to be a super blue full moon that night, so the energy was already super high.
It felt very meant to be, like an extra validation from the Universe’s timing. I was sounding better than ever with the new formation of my music ensemble, my one-year speech was super emotional, the crowd was a full house with people barely fitting! Going back to the same places with an evolved self were very rewarding, seeing how far I have come.
You are also a model. What are some of your best modeling projects?
My favorite modeling project happened to be on the set of the music video for Toss and Turn, featuring Lebanese fashion house Jad Couture, who provided all the versatile wardrobe from the wedding dresses for me and my “bridesmaids”, to a jacket made from the Lebanese “Lhaf” blankets to a blazer with ruffles pink and blue enough to show my masculine and feminine side, and finally the winged “dark feminine” black wardrobe.
It felt great to combine my passions for music and fashion in one project, and collaborate with amazing local talents here: I had one of the most established Lebanese fashion photographers, Homere Semaan, shoot the cover image, as well as the up and rising Mayan Msaed as second photographer and BTS, the brilliant makeup artist Rawane Hachem, and the flower designer Samah Dagher of Masaha Design. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etIQmSS4uWw)
You are also a designer and an animator; can you tell us more about your experience with animating and what software you use.
I create animated videos for NGOs from A to Z. The projects I take on are mostly awareness campaigns and explainers on causes like ecofeminism, sustainability, human rights and women rights more specifically. I always prioritize projects that are meaningful to me, and aim to use my skills in visual storytelling to make a difference.
I use Adobe Suite, specifically After effects for the animation.
What else are you working on or have coming up next?
I’m working on my next singles, writing some, composing others, and planning for the release of my finished music throughout 2024.
Best advice you have gotten so far in your career?
Carve your own path in everything you do.
Your favourite quote(s)?
“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” -Albert Camus.
Your motto in life?
The body keeps the score.
Tell me something people would be surprised to know about you.
My age! It always comes as a surprise to someone meeting me for the first time because I’m way older than what they assume.
And what do you do when you have time to yourself? For example, what are you a total nerd for?
I practice yoga or work out at the gym. I’m a total nerd for the human body and what it can do through breath, voice, and movement.
Your message for us at CP magazine.
Thank you to the CP Magazine team, especially Mr. Jameel Arif who reached out to me. It’s been a pleasure answering your thoughtful questions!
