Tunis is a tiny bubble. But that has nothing to do with the city’s sprawl. Instead, it’s more about how likely you are to stumble across someone you look up to or follow on social media when walking down the North African capital’s streets. Can they be from the Mediterranean State itself or elsewhere in the region, for some reason, all roads seem to lead to the former Phoenician port. Here, an encounter with one of your favorite artists can happen as easily as turning a street corner and hearing their name being dropped in a café downtown— which is exactly how I was introduced to Syrian multi-hyphenate Yara Said, also known as DJ NoiseDiva.
Initially in town for a residency with Mawjoodin— a non-governmental organization advocating for the rights of sexual minorities in Tunisia— the 33-year-old decided to extend her stay to take advantage of the abundance of sea and sun, luxuries her home in Amsterdam does not necessarily offer. Using this time to focus on a research paper she had been working on for a while, the multidisciplinary artist revealed currently transitioning from one artistic practice to another, while making the best out of her temporary home to recenter.
“For me, any country that can speak even just one word of Arabic is home,” she laughed, emphasizing on how different life can be abroad. The contrast in experience, which can be significant in every aspect, can push some to reconsider some of the choices that had almost defined them thus far.
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“I always saw myself as a painter working in a studio in clothes splattered with acrylic. But now, I’d say that art is a bit more at the back and that DJing is slowly taking over,” the Holland-based artist revealed. “When you’re born and raised in the region, you tend to naively look up to the West. However, once you’re there, as someone who’s displaced, you start realizing that people are very entitled to ask you questions you don’t necessarily want to answer and that can be very triggering,” she went on to explain.
Having left her native Syria almost a decade ago for Amsterdam, Said reflected on how she often felt reduced to her status as a refugee ever since. In her love life, she revealed feeling “interrogated” by her dates, wondering why and how they could pick on her wounds with so much ease. In her work, she felt like she constantly had to justify her art, burdened by the pressure of having to give grounds for every creative choice she made. Put under a substantial amount of emotional labor, the constant reminders of her past eventually pushed her towards a realm where she felt like she could finally escape them: music.
“When I first started playing music, I immediately realized that no one would come up to me after my sets asking all these questions. The club scene is very different from the art scene. With music, I could play tracks that spoke about our lives— especially through AlNather, Shabjdeed, and the whole BLTNM crew— without having to do it myself,” she mused. “All the kids in Amsterdam would go crazy, while my friends from the region would also get excited. It felt like I had finally found a voice that brought joy to people as they danced and that brought me peace in return,” she continued.
Now far from the label of “refugee artist” she once bore after designing the 2016 Refugee Olympic flag, she now prefers to go by NoiseDiva, her stage name when behind decks.
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“Noise is something I’ve been fascinated with for a while. During my masters, I studied acoustic ecologies and researched how noise from fighter jets affects humans both physically and emotionally. And this obsession with noise obviously extends to music because, as they say, music is just organized noise,” she noted before providing more insight into how her alias came to be.
“‘Noisediva’ combines ‘noise’ and ‘diva,’ which represents a woman who, to me, brings emotions, vulnerability, stage presence, and swag. At the end of the day, I want to have fun. I love fashion and colors like blue, green, and yellow, in contrast to the common black in the scene. The name Noisediva to me is both bold and provocative,” she shared.
“Funnily enough, being called a ‘diva’ in Holland isn’t seen as a positive thing. For us in the region though, icons like Umm Kulthum, Sabah, and Madonna were divas—women with strong social status.”
Pictures courtesy of Paul Mesnager
On how she keeps her head above water, Said explained that feeling grateful helps her stay grounded and motivated. Crediting her family for their constant support and battle to provide her with a better life, she emphasized how their belief in her has been a never-ending source of strength and inspiration.
“I simply try to stay appreciative of the life I live today. It comes and goes but I try to always keep my eyes on the prize, which is making the women in my family proud. They all fought to get me here and I want to pass that onwards,” Said expanded, revealing that if it wasn’t for them, she wouldn’t have reached the point she is now at. “The only thing I want is for my sister to be able to feel that too and to experience the same, if not more, amount of freedom I have today,” she added, though she expressed that she does have her moments of doubt every now and again.
“I’m human, I do sometimes want to give up. But I let myself cry, go through the existential crisis that needs to be had and I just let it be. But I never ever doubt the fact that I want to make a living out of art,” she expressed, emphasizing on how the road to success isn’t a linear road. “Success isn’t putting sticky notes on the wall. You have to fail 5000 times before winning. I tend to say that I’ve never had a bad gig in my life, but if I’m being honest, that’s not necessarily true, but why would I say they’re bad? I’m getting paid at the end of the day, and although the audience didn’t understand my music as much as I wished, I just keep faith that next time will be better next time,” she continued.
Hardworking by nature, the up-and-coming disc spinner appeared keen on sharing how spontaneity and taking things easy helps her creative process. As they say, creativity thrives in a relaxed mind— an adage Said has taken to heart.
“I’m so organic with it all. I get inspiration from what my friends show me, what I see go past my TikTok feed, and plenty of time spent listening to music online — which is probably why I’m alone a lot of the time,” she revealed. “But when my set is ready it’s like a surgery to me. I keep shuffling and shuffling until I get the right formula which is striking the perfect balance between dancing and resting. And the benchmark is whether or not I can dance to it myself at home,” she elaborated, explaining that each time a set feels ready, she puts a timer on while she’s “cooking or something.” If it makes her dance, then it’s good; if not, “Sorry, you’re not coming to the club with me tonight.”
With so many travels, gigs, and releases scheduled in the upcoming weeks and months, it is no surprise to hear that for Said, “productivity is key.” And as she’s just shared her recipe for maintaining balance, maybe we should take note of one or two tips to apply in our own lives and respective routines in hopes of reaching similar levels of fulfillment.
