Bojan Preradovic is a busy man.
The musician is at the heart of two of the UAE’s biggest bands. He’s best known as the lead singer of leading metal experimentalists Empty Yard Experiment (EYE) and guitarist for rocker Jay Wud. The 33-year-old Serbian talent’s next musical foray is a solo album.
Entitled Saytrip, the record is conceived as a series of collaborations with musical mates from across the region. Tracks from the project will be previewed for the first time this weekend, at what's being billed as an EYE acoustic set (in reality it's just Preradovic and guitarist Mehdi Gorjestani) for The Other Side, hosted at Dubai's And Lounge on Friday, September 25.
Several of the record’s key collaborators are set to join the duo onstage: Dubai-based songwriters Gaya and Reiner Erlings, bandleader Wud, and Jordanian singer-songwriter and event headliner Hana Malhas.
“When you already have a meaningful relationship with another musician, the music that comes out is so much more striking,” says Preradovic.
“I want every song to have a different kind of character. I want people who like electronic music, rock music, singer- songwriters, the radio, whatever, to find something on it.”
Saytrip gathers material Preradovic has written over the past decade. He says it exhibits a distinct sound and more individual approach than his work with EYE.
“The songs are very personal. The concept, musically, is how this region, and the relationships I’ve made, have affected me,” he adds. “A tribute to the Middle East – what Beirut means to me, what Dubai means to me.”
While we can expect a first single before the year is out, with the full album to follow early next year, EYE fans needn't worry. The singer says that after a slow summer, the quintet are reconvening to work on a new album, to follow last year's excellently received Kallisti.
“EYE is totally different to this, but I can jump from one to another,” says Preradovic. “I just want to produce as much music as I can.”
• Preradovic will perform an acoustic set with EYE on Friday, September 25 from 9pm at And Lounge, The Address Marina Mall, Dubai. Also performing at The Other Side is Hana Malhas and the Overthinkers and Gaya. Tickets, Dh75, from www.platinumlist.ae
rgarratt@thenational.ae
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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THREE
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The specs
Engine: 1.6-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 217hp at 5,750rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 1,900rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh130,000
On sale: now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
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The biog
Marital status: Separated with two young daughters
Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo
Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian
Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness
Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
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How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
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Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
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