Description
NAXÖ is a queer, non-binary, Egyptian Multidisciplinary Musician, Producer and Sound Healer. NAXÖ is fusion of Middle-Eastern folklore and groovy electronic psychedelic music with songs that consider queer culture/migration, postcolonialism and re-imagining a better world - all with grand Arabic & English vocals, ecstatic synths, and the kind of percussion that finds its way to your core. Based in Chicago and their works have been featured local, national and international.
Work Sample
https://songwhip.com/naxo/something-blue
Something Blue
by NAXÖ
released March, 2022 on all music platforms
02:44
https://songwhip.com/naxo/khawal2020
Khawal
by NAXÖ
released October, 2020 on all music platforms
04:10
https://songwhip.com/naxo/wogoudy
Wogoudy
by NAXÖ
released May, 2021 on all music platforms
05:04
As it represents the great mental and spiritual realizations followed by initiation of spiritual development and the beginning of another higher stage, symbolized by guiding and empowering with wisdom and a humanitarian heart delivered to the world.
Songs are on queer culture/migration, transness, post-colonialism and re-imagining a better world, music with deeply grand vocals, ecstatic synths and the kind of percussion that finds its way to your core, bringing audience into states of mindful questioning, stepping into new spaces within oneself on many levels, understanding new ways and ideas to be inspired and influenced by, allowing my crowds to be their full selves as we build community, honoring the ways of our queerness into our healing spaces and share our stories for our higher selves rooted in the world of universal genders & orientations.
History
Mirza Shams (AKA, Stage Name: NAXÖ) is a queer non-binary Egyptian multidisciplinary sound artist (music producer, composer, keyboardist, singer and DJ) and sound healer, based in Chicago and featured for their works on Chicago Reader, Chicago Zine Fest, Windy City Times, Philly Weekly, Queer Aesthetics and others. NAXÖ is a fusion music project of Middle-Eastern North-African folklore within groovy electronic polyrhythms & basses, drums influenced by rock, jazz, trap, trance and psychedelic music. Growing up in Egypt, NAXÖ performed & produced in clubs, theaters and festivals for a decade with passion about creating authentic and loving spaces for the queer and trans community, and believe DIY spaces are a conduit for connection & healing.
Artistic Vision
As a music producer, composer, storyteller and multi-instrumentalist, NAXÖ orchestrates sounds to explore psychological narratives, subjectivities, and stream of consciousness. Vocally, NAXÖ activates emotional pitches to navigate personal transformations through the compositions. NAXÖ fuse their Egyptian heritage with contemporary schools of sound with works that conjure a magical fusion that weaves psychedelic waves through beats creating a contemporary tapestry with Middle-Eastern North African folklore music and electronic sounds, featuring transparent voices calling to resist, embedded deep within a poly-rhythmic groove. NAXÖ embodies intertwined aspects of surrealism, symbolism, queerness, gender fluidity, queer-migration, neuro-divergence, body positivity, healing and postcolonialism experiences, narratives and attributions on a wider frequency, energy and vibration.
Traditional Folk/Ethnic Artform Statement
Between Egypt and USA, NAXÖ performed and produced solo aside from being in some of the finest fusion bands in clubs, theaters and festivals for a decade. NAXÖ's live collaborates with dancers as Radia Ali AKA Noori, light artists as Farnaz Khoshsirat, and guest musicians between instrumentalists and vocalists.
NAXÖ opened for "Hello Psychaleppo" and "Felukah" at YallaPunk in Philadelphia, and got featured on Philly weekly and also opened for "City Of Djinn" at The Empty Bottle in Chicago and again in Martyrs' Chicago, and got featured twice on Chicago Reader. At Flux Factory in NYC, Mark for Redaction. Also at Chicago's ICUQTS and Trans Art Is Exhibitions. NAXÖ was featured in Chicago Zine Festival 2019, Chicago Dyke March & Glitter Fest 4. NAXÖ is also the resident DJ for Aywa Hafla in Chicago, in addition to DJing at Ecstatic Dance Chicago. Since quarantine started, NAXÖ has shared virtual stages with La Queerantina, World Refugee Day Chicago, Planet Lit & Trans Day of Remembrance, & donated performances for Emergency Fundraiser for Black and Pink Chicago, and Art Benefit for Beirut Artists impacted by the recent explosion.
Then after opening up the city in 2021, I performed at Casa Al-Fatiha, Pride Without Prejudice, Entanik's Endless Pride, Movement+Medicine, Haibayo's Argyle May and September Festivals.
For more:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hf1m-EF8TDtxasL6_xj0n_-FLdXX0a55/view
Name
Mirza Shams - Stage name: NAXÖ
Type
Individual Artist
Address
918 N Lawndale Ave, Apt 1
Chicago, IL 60651
Contact Person
Mirza Shams
[email protected]
773.943.1320
Web Site
Artistic Discipline(s)
Dance
- Contemporary/Modern
- Folk/Traditional
Multimedia/Experimental
Music
- A cappella
- Contemporary
- DJ/Electronica
- Folk/Traditional
- Heritage
- Tribute
Spoken Word/Storytelling
Geographic Availability
Chicago/Chicagoland
Fee Ranges
lowest reasonable fee for the shortest engagement: $150-250 but the highest reasonable fee: $500-800
Additional Services
Demonstrations
Lectures
Master classes
Residencies
Teacher Development
Workshops
Core Audience(s)
Adult
Bilingual
- Arabic
Children
Seniors
Youth
Additional Populations
Behavioral Disabilities
Developmental Disabilities
Emotional Disabilities
Learning Disabilities
Physical Disabilities