Ink26 is the combination of two old great bands that took a break from music for a while.

The lineup is:

  • Vocals: Kamal El-Khoueiry
  • Guitarist: Joe Abdel Sater
  • Guitarist: Jad Matta
  • Bass: Roy Naufal
  • Drums: Chris Michael

Antoine: Hello and welcome back! The local music scene has missed you. What were the reasons for the breakup of Blood Ink and Element 26?

Blood Ink never officially broke up till recently (when the new band formed), but 2 of the members (vocalist and drummer) got too busy with marriage & work which mainly lead the band to be inactive.
Around the same period of time, Element 26’s guitarist left the country which officially marked the break up of the band.

 

A: Why did you decide to get back into the scene? Moreover, why now?

The members from both bands still had some side projects going here and there, but nothing major.
The return of RockRing and Summer Fusion got the bands excited again and they decided to merge which seemed nothing but natural as both bands were very close together from their earliest days, all the way back to 2003.
It was the best decision we made.

 

A: Where did the idea of combining the two bands come from? And how were the current members chosen?

Roy and Jad were trying to get Blood Ink back together, but that wasn’t working out with the vocalist & drummer, then Roy thought Element 26 have those exact 2 members with more or less the same issue; being friends and all, the whole thing came together with a lot of excitement over a Facebook group chat. In 30 min, the band had set out the plans for a whole year.

 

A: You took a very long break. What was it like playing together again for the first time, especially that your first appearance together was at a big concert (Summer Fusion)?

It felt very natural and as if yesterday we were playing together, we even had a new original by the 2nd practice. What really helped was that both bands were really close, numerous times we had interchanged members and played as guests with each other; we even used to share the same practice place (Blood Ink had their own) so the chemistry between every single member is beyond perfect.
What we really missed was the feeling of playing live, performing for a live audience, and it was great being back on stage again! We’re not planning on taking any breaks soon!

 

A: How do you think the scene changed in the past three or four years?

It got ‘disconnected’ . Before, everyone knew everyone, but with the lack of events, new generations came in but had no meeting ground, specially that no one other than RockRing was doing anything worthy & regular (RockRing was on break for few years as well).

But everyone seems excited again, there’s a lot of talent … all that’s missing is more regular events and it seems things are on the right track with RockRing back.

Before, when you wanted to go to a concert, you didn’t need to go with anyone or plan anything, you just get yourself there knowing who to expect and all the friends who will already be there, you’d know how the event will be, you’d even know how you’re going to spend your time after the event! Today, unless you have someone going with you, you wouldn’t go because it doesn’t feel like going to a hangout place, it feels “cold” going to an event – this will change once everyone gets connected again, which is happening slowly but surely!

 

A: Where either Blood Ink or Element 26 signed back in the day?

Blood Ink had a distribution label for its first album (which sold out and was #1 for over a month at Virgin Megastore in 2006), the 2nd album was going to be mastered by Universal Studios but the album was never made public (yet).
Element 26 had an EP released locally.

 

 

A: As we know, Blood Ink promised their fans to release the album even though there were no plans for a band reformation. Are you considering releasing the album as Ink 26? Or will the band be using new material?

The full album will be released online along with tabs on the Blood Ink Facebook fan page which will mark the official disbanding of Blood Ink, and from there redirect all the fans to Ink26’s page.


We will pick some of our favorite songs and keep playing them in Ink26 – some might be changed a bit and make it in part into the new album; but it will mostly be new material as we already started composing.

 

A: Tell me about Ink 26’s new logo. Where did the idea come from?

ink 26 bloodink element 26

 

Ink26’s logo was designed by Jad Matta, and it is very simple yet very visually present, it’s meant to stick in your mind &  it is exactly how we wanted it to look like.
We wanted something typographic and simple, modern and dynamic and at the same time to give the feel of a metal band; look at the logo, what can you hear?

 

A: What is in the works as Ink 26? Can we expect a new single? A music video? Maybe even an album?

All the above – and we have several events coming up and already booked – we are planning to hit the country by storm!

 

A: What can you tell me about it?

It will blast your ears.

 

A: Thanks for your time! And welcome back!

It’s good to be back!

FaceBook Page: Ink26

Instagram: @ink26band

YouTube: Ink26

– Antoine Kanaan.

Read more by:  Antoine Kanaan.
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