7 p.m. EDT Saturday, June 26, 2021
Virtual Pride Concert feat. INDKNA | + talkback
Online Livestream
FREE with RSVP
Closing out Pride Month, AANM and YallaPunk are excited to present a debut virtual concert by INDKNA, a Yemeni and Yemeni American band of immigrant and gender nonconforming women. Following the performance, join the band for a talkback moderated by YallaPunk founder Rana Fayez.
INDKNA is a group of Yemeni and Yemeni-American artists and songwriters who offer alternative and empowering narratives for Yemeni women and minorities. As a band of immigrant and gender nonconforming women, INDKNA’s music centers a radical feminist approach in its songwriting practice, as it tackles issues of bodily censorship, political unrest in Yemen and personal struggles. INDKNA uses song to reclaim the Yemeni dialect, and innovates Yemeni music through introducing experimental genres inspired by electronic music, jazz, hip-hop and classical Arabic sounds.
INDKNA Band Members
Methal | Producer
Methal is a Yemeni songwriter and producer who was inspired to begin her music career during the Arab Spring of 2011. In protest of American president Donald Trump’s travel ban, Methal took part in Spotify’s Collaborative Audio/visual Project, I’m with the banned. The widespread exposure allowed her to release a self-titled debut EP that same year. Currently, she is focusing on experimenting with sound textures and sound design. She emphasizes heavily on the usage of visuals to tell a story without a constructed meaning, to give the audience the freedom to ask questions and experience a different perception.
Salma | Guitarist & Vocalist
Having grown up in a deeply musical and political home in the heart of Sana’a, Salma’s relationship with music is one of personal and spiritual significance. Being exposed to different musical styles from a young age and later immigrating to the U.S., the search for a constant that brings home has informed much of Salma’s work as a Yemeni in diaspora. In their search for a political and musical identity, Salma seeks to create daring connections that re-imagine home within the context of traditional Yemeni sound and culture.
Amaani | Vocalist
Known as the first female Yemeni rapper, Amaani Yahya uses music to address issues that are considered taboo to discuss openly in most Yemeni communities. Her poignant and rhythmic lyrics confront topics such as the ongoing injustices faced by women in conservative Yemeni societies as well as her current home, the United States. In 2016, she was invited to perform at Lincoln Center’s Global Exchange in New York City. Living in the U.S. as an asylee, Amaani is based in Arizona where she continues to make music and engage in global activism, advocating for human rights and equality across the SWANA region and the world.
Layle | Vocalist & Oud
Layle is an interdisciplinary migrant Yemeni songwriter and interpreter. Having worked between Boston, Mass., Oakland, Calif. and Portland, Ore., Layle’s work focuses on creating alternative narratives in queer immigrant SWANA spaces. Working primarily with language and sound, Layle’s work explores meanings of home, belonging and memory through composition, songwriting, visual art and space curation. Layle is a co-founder of the multilingual queer and trans SWANA zine Za’faraan and the queer Yemeni virtual platform zahawiQ.com
Yasmine | Drums
Yasmine is a drummer and multidisciplinary visual artist who uses various mediums to juxtapose disparate cultural references and to explore the connections between personal experience and larger social and political structures.
YallaPunk founder Rana Fayez
Rana Fayez is founder and director of YallaPunk, an organization that is redefining the narrative for SWANA (Southwest Asian North African) people through the arts. Prior to creating YallaPunk, Fayez lived a past life as a reporter and present over ten years booking shows. Fayez holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a masters in organizational communication. While not running YallaPunk, they teach classes on accessibility in tech and coach artists on web development in addition to utilizing digital tools for online community building. Fayez is also a DJ and a noise performer.
In partnership with
YallaPunk logo created by 2021 YallaPunk artist fellow and illustrator Tracy Chahwan.
Made possible in part by
AANM is a Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). This project is made possible in part by support from the NPN Artist Engagement Fund. Major contributors include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). For more information visit www.npnweb.org.
Due to the pandemic, we have been closed to the public since March 13, 2020. Closed doors mean that our earned revenue streams have dried up, and corporate funds have been pivoted to assist with COVID-19 relief or for their own financial survival. We are looking forward to the day we can safely reopen, but until then, we need your support.