Final Veil
St. Louis, Missouri, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2008 | SELF
Music
Press
Full interview recording on website link on band site - KDHX St. Louis radio
APRIL 5, 2013 · 11:28 PM
Final Veil by Final Veil
Review by Teresa Fisher
Final Veil’s debut self-titled album captivates listeners’ right from the first song. At first listen, the band Enigma came to mind, as I found that I was tapping my toes to the beats but was also brought to a calm state of mind. Final Veil’s first album is one that has something for all dancers as it mixes traditional Egyptian rhythms with electronic beats, house, trip hop, drum and bass as well as vocals. This album transports the listener into a dreamy dance state of mind. Intro, the album’s first track starts off with mid-tempo drumming and distinct zagareets that can be heard in the background. Intro sets the stage for what is to come. Tracks like Just a Memory, Mission Over, Habibi Ya Ayni and In the Twilight hold steady with Middle Eastern influences while tracks like From the Other Side, Pied Piper, Awakening, and Taken lend influences from both house music and electronica. Cora Camille, Final Veil’s founder, was so inspired by the beauty and powers that Egyptian music has, it lead her to learn to play Middle Eastern music. This brought her to England and musician/producer Hossam Ramzy. When Camille returned to home to the States, she put together Final Veil. The album was released in 2010 and is available on iTunes, and Amazon. www.finalveil.com - Fuse magazine
Review of Cora Camille's show featuring bellydancers and flamenco dancers and her band Final Veil along with flamenco band The Reventones. See page 11. - Sinner magazine
Take 5 with Tim: Cora Camille
TIM BROUK
By TIM BROUK
tbrouk@jconline.com
The trio Final Veil is led by Cora Camille, longtime singer and bellydancer in the St. Louis world music scene. Final Veil concentrates on Egyptian music while Camille sings in English and Arabic. See www.myspace.com/finalveil for more on the band.
1 How would you describe Final Veil's sound?
The music we are doing is really kind of an experiment of east meets west. From the east, we use different elements of Egyptian music, particularly some of the drum rhythms, and sometimes we also use the same musical phrasing and instrumentation utilized by traditional Egyptian orchestras. We blend these elements with western club music, specifically the electronic music genres of down-tempo, house, and drum and bass.
2 How does Egyptian music differ from other Middle Eastern sounds?
Egyptian music is usually in 4/4 time which makes it easier for western ears to follow as opposed to some others such as Turkish music, for example, that is usually in odd numbered time patterns. Egypt is like the Hollywood of the Middle East. It is the center of all the most successful entertainers in the whole region. Egypt has a rich musical and artistic heritage and for many decades the most famous middle eastern musicians have always seemed to come out of Egypt.
3 How is bellydancing incorporated in a Final Veil show?
I began bellydancing many years ago so it is a natural progression as a performer for me to mix my dance with singing. When we do shows, I am the singer and the bellydancer.
4 How did you get into this kind of music?
I first was exposed to Middle Eastern music in high school when my mom gave me her old bellydancing instructional and orchestral records from the 1960s. I fell in love with the music. It was because I enjoyed the music and the Egyptian rhythms so much that I decided to try bellydance classes. I performed a lot and also opened my own dance studio in college and then later started learning how to play guitar, then later the oud, and then I started training as a singer. While Middle Eastern music might sound so unfamiliar to many people here in the Midwest, I have grown up listening to it so it feels natural to write and play music with eastern influences.
5 Who else is in the band? What do they do?
Christian Oncken plays electric guitar and DJs the midi aspects of our sound. He is also our producer and has done the production on our tracks which we are currently preparing for an album release this year. Christopher Dylan is our percussionist, and he will be playing a djembe drum at our show this weekend.
Final Veil will make its Indiana debut at 11 p.m. Saturday at Hunter's Down Under, 302 Ferry St. Lafayette indie rock band Why I Like Robins will perform, too. The show is free.
Publication: Journal & Courier
Publication date: Friday, May 1, 2009
Page number: 3
Edition:
Section: TGIF
Day: Friday
Byline: TIM BROUK
Byline ID: tbrouk@jconline.com
Copyright:
RESALE: Yes
archivei~82277759 - Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana)
St. Louis/Seattle-based Sinner magazine featured Final Veil in one of their issues. Full article with review and photos can be accessed online at:
http://issuu.com/stlsinner/docs/stlsinner11
go to page 15 for a full page review! - Sinner magazine
Cora Camille, front singer and bellydancer for Final Veil, performs for the making of the music video for "Mission Over" as reviewed by St. Louis/Seattle Sinner magazine. - St. Louis Sinner magazine
June 14, 2007
Far Out at the Way Out
I'm a big fan of bellydancing, and even took lessons for a while; it was sad, sad, sad. I resigned myself as a bystander, which was easy, since one of the country's biggest bellydancing festivals is held up in Park City, Utah (it's sponsored by Kismet School of Dance, where I took lessons). I could never quite get into what they call the Egyptian Cabaret style - that is, the spangles 'n' bullet-bra school, the style you see in a lot of restaurants as early dinner-show. My sister worked at a Middle Eastern restaurant for a spell, and maybe I just saw too much of it when I'd go down there for falafel. My speed's more Fat Chance Bellydance, aka the San Francisco tribal school. Or accidentally weird bellydance, like the chick I saw dance at the Park City Festival one year: "Dondi, Bellydancer of the Universe." She was a little fat in the can, and had a whole skirt made out of fake sunflowers, which she wore with three-inch heels (those shoes may be the reason she didn't move her feet at all when she danced). When I moved to St. Louis, I was a little bummed out that Middle Eastern dance didn't seem to have quite the same foothold here, though it's grown a lot in the past six years; only recently did I learn about Final Veil, a collaboration between DJ Leon Lamont and bellydancer Cora Camille. Though they may have a lot of bellydancers in Utah, I can guarantee there's no one bellydancing to turntables in rock clubs, so on the record I will now say that St. Louis has trumped SLC as bellydance capital, at least in my mind. I'll be filling in for Ann Haubrich and Jane Ibur tonight on Literature for the Halibut, but I may muster the energy to go down to the Way Out tonight to see Final Veil collaborate with Tory Z. Starbuck, who I imagine will come equipped with Middle Eastern flutes and bizouki.
June 14 (Tonight!)
Final Veil & Tory Z. Starbuck
Way Out Club
2525 S. Jefferson
Doors @ 9PM
Posted by Stefene Russell at 05:07 PM | Link & Discuss (0 comments) | Clubs & Nightlife
- 52nd City
Cora Camille and members of Los Flamencos are interviewed on-air about "Ole', Habibi!," a bellydance/flamenco show created by Cora Camille featuring her band Final Veil and bellydancers along with Los Flamencos and The Reventones. - KWMU
St. Louis nightlife is in a bit of a precarious state, with spots either closing because of the economy or caught up in the recent drama surrounding downtown violence.
But Lola (500 North 14th Street) is looking past it all, moving forward with big expansion plans as it takes over the adjoining Washington Avenue space formerly occupied by I Am Sneaky, a shoe boutique.
The new space, which will open this weekend, gives the popular nightspot a second entrance — this one on bustling Washington Avenue.
Though a tough economy has shuttered venues, Lola owner Chris Hansen says he's a firm believer in finding opportunity in tough times.
"You can shine and rise to the top while others are retreating and being more conservative," he says. "We're forward-thinking and taking chances. This is a bustling entertainment district and, for us, connecting to Washington Avenue made good financial sense."
The new, 1,500-square-foot space is called Lola Lucid. Hansen says it will be more comfortable, chill and cozy than Lola's main space. Lola also recently received a 3 a.m. liquor license.
The music programming will be DJ-centric; live music will remain in Lola's original section.
The new area will host an absinthe bar with organic martinis, "cool boxed wine," canned beer and more, Hansen says.
Now Lola will seek to satisfy both diners and the late-night crowd.
"I want my diners who want something romantic and intimate to have that ability without running into a nightlife environment they weren't looking for," says Hansen.
Since opening in January, Lola has featured a mix of R&B, electro, house, jazz, hip-hop and more including Mo Egeston, Lamar Harris/DJ Nune, Dawn Weber, Brothers Lazaroff, Coco Soul, DJ Needles, Audra Angelique and Teddy Presberg. New to Lola is Lola Does Lola, a burlesque show featuring local performers Lola Van Ella, Audra Angelique and the 14th Street Band, Sundays at 9 p.m.
Despite opening in a difficult economy, Hansen says, things are going well.
"We came out of the box strong and identified with our core clientele, which is a diverse and unique audience, with a great music and food culture, a great downtown urban culture," says Hansen.
He says Lola, which will feature a new rooftop patio in the spring, has been equal in serving as both a restaurant and a nightlife destination.
"This place is alive when people are listening to great music, eating great food and having a great cocktail," he says. "You can't remove any of those things from it." - stltoday.com
Audra Angelique, a top 10 contender on OurStage.com an MTV partner. - Our Stage an MTV Partner
Audra Angelique performs her original works with her band, the Audra Angelique Experience, LIVE on KDHX 88.1 FM. - KDHX 88.1 FM (St. Louis, MO)
Singer, Producer & D.J. Audra Angelique performs on Fox 2 News prior to a performance with one of her projects, Aura (World Club & Tango), with Asako Kuboki from the St. Louis Symphony and Ranya Iqbal on Cello. - Fox 2 News
Discography
Final Veil has released two albums, the first is self-titled and the second album is titled "Arabian Daze." Both albums are internationally distributed by bellydance music distributors as well as itunes, etc. Final Veil's music has been featured in a Batman film released in theaters in 2010. Songs from both albums have been played on radio stations nationally, and the group's music video for the single "Just a Memory" has been featured on television and viewed by audiences worldwide.
Photos
Bio
Using dance, multimedia, and live instruments, Final Veil delivers experimental electronic music with a prominent Middle Eastern influence.
Cora Camille formed Final Veil out of her great love for middle eastern and experimental fusions of world music with modern club music. Camille began her study of classical Egyptian and Lebanese dance under the instruction of Diana Wolf of Simone's Seventh Veil in St. Louis, MO when she was a teenager. Never letting go of her passion for belly dancing while attending the University of Missouri, Camille opened her own belly dance studio in Columbia, Missouri to teach group classes and private lessons which helped supplement her income as a college student.
The power and beauty of Egyptian music sparked Camille's initial interest in the dance and led her to pursue learning to play Middle Eastern music. This pursuit landed Camille in London, England, where she studied dance and rhythm with internationally-acclaimed percussionist and producer Hossam Ramzy. It was Ramzy that introduced Camille to his long-time mentor and fellow musician friend Wadie Nossier. Nossier, a former instructor from the Cairo Music Institute and a world-renown oud-maker, taught Camille Egyptian music and how to play the oud. At the end of Camille's stay in London, Nossier bestowed the honor of personally crafting her an oud for performances before she left England to return home to the United States.
After returning home to the U.S., Camille came up with the name Final Veil and began looking for musicians to help her fulfill the dream of playing live Egyptian music. After trying various musicians and line-ups for Final Veil (at one point even having a six-piece band), Camille decided to combine her love for Egyptian music with her equal feelings for Electronic music.
After a couple of years of doing live performances with d.j.s in club and festival settings, Camille paired with XJN. XJN (Christian Oncken) is a DJ and producer from St. Louis, MO. He began a lifelong obsession with music starting with piano lessons at the age of 5 and continuing on to violin, french horn, vocal music, bass and guitar. Christian became involved with live electronic performance in 1995 and soon began collecting electronic instruments for his studio, eventually learning to build, then code and design his own electronic instruments and effects. He learned to d.j. at college radio station KMNR in Rolla. After moving to St. Louis in 2000, he helped create the live house band Urban Jazz Naturals which combined live production and sequencing techniques with live musicians on stage. He produced a number of singles for the project, having one of his tracks remixed by JT Donaldson for Gallery Records. XJN then collaborated in the studio with Demakus Lewis for a UJN release on Vista Records.
Rick Costa aka "Graybeard" provides the live percussion for Final Veil performances. Costa is a trained percussionist focusing on world percussion; he is an educator, a composer, and a performer. He specializes in Middle Eastern instruments such as Riq, Tar, Doumbek. He has traveled and studied extensively with middle eastern percussionists and is currently mentored by Raquy Danziger.
Bassist Chris Stout recently joined the band. Coming from a heavy metal background, Stout's driving bass lines and haunting background vocals add to the full sound of the band.
Final Veil has released their second album recently on Revealed Recordings. The album is now available on iTunes, Amazon.com, and many other distributors (see www.finalveil.com for more information).
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