DAMMAM: Dammam-based alternative rock band Sound of Ruby have been telling stories through music for decades.
“We can say that we were the first band to play rock in Dammam, or Saudi Arabia,” frontman Muhammad “The Camel” Al-Hajjaj, who founded the group in 1996, tells Arab News.
Al-Hajjaj describes the band’s sound as “punk rock, alternative rock, emphasizing Saudi and Arab music,” and cites Henry Rollins — founder of US hardcore band Black Flag — and grunge legends Nirvana as influences, along with two of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s major inspirations, Pixies and Melvins.
But back in Nineties Dammam, there were few who shared Al-Hajjaj’s love of loud Western-style rock music. “If we saw someone wearing a rock band T-shirt, we’d immediately try to talk to him,” Al-Hajjaj says. “It was hard. The popular music (in the community) at the time was rap, Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, and Arabic (mainstream) music. I like Michael Jackson, by the way. But it was hard. We’d hear ‘What is this?’ from people.”
Al-Hajjaj, like many rock musicians, taught himself to play guitar. He was inspired to do so, he says, by a scene in 1985’s “Back to the Future” when Michael J. Fox’s character plays the famous riff from Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode” (also covered by several other guitar greats, including Jimi Hendrix). “It made me love the instrument,” he explains. “My father said, ‘Be good and I’ll buy you a guitar, don’t worry.’ It was the era of MTV and Channel V, there was a love for the guitar.”
At that time, he stresses, there was no internet on which to view tutorial videos. So Al-Hajjaj bought a 20-page book (“I still have it today”) which showed the finger patterns for chords and began to learn a few songs. “Everything was do-it-yourself,” he says. “We’d get together at weekends and play small underground gigs.” More than 12,000 kilometers away from where Rollins and the Melvins were based, Al-Hajjaj was mirroring their punk DIY ethic.
“They had vicious names for those of us who listened to that music,” he says. “But, with time, there was acceptance.”
Sound of Ruby played a major part in gaining that acceptance. And they did so at a time when there was no infrastructure in place to support anyone interested in creating music in the Kingdom that was not Khaleeji pop. That, in itself, is remarkable enough. The fact that, almost 30 years on, they’re still going (albeit with some lineup changes over the years — the current roster is Al-Hajjaj along with bassist Kamal Khalil, lead guitarist Nader Al-Fassam, who’ve both been part of the group for a couple of decades, and drummer Faris Alshawaf, who only recently took over from his brother, Talal) and still retaining their alt-rock roots as they move through middle age is even more astonishing.
It helps significantly that Khalil also owns a recording studio. “We’re lucky to have a sound engineer who’s been a member of the band for 24 years,” Al-Hajjaj says. That enabled Sound of Ruby to put out professional-level recordings (10 albums so far, plus singles) even when there were few studios geared up to capture rock music in the Kingdom.
It’s been a long road, Al-Fassam acknowledges.
“When I joined the band, my son was 10 days old; today, he’s 20,” he says, adding that his son is now a musician himself, performing in several bands around Dhahran.
“We’re proud that we’ve influenced the younger generation throughout our artistic career, providing them with support and encouragement,” Al-Hajjaj says.
Sound of Ruby members Kamal Khalil, Muhammad Al-Hajjaj and Nader Al-Fassam. (Supplied)
Many in the younger generation got a taste of Sound of Ruby in one of Saudi Arabia’s most successful movies, 2022’s wrestling-themed action-comedy “Sattar” — which is now also available on Netflix — thanks to Al-Hajjaj’s younger brother Ibrahim, an actor and comedian.
“An opportunity came when a rock song was requested for ‘Sattar.’ Our song ‘Fannan’ was very suitable for the scene,” he said.
In ‘Sattar,’ Ibrahim plays Saad, a soft-spoken daydreamer who longs to be a wrestler—an ambition that seems far out of reach. In the scene, he is driving in the car with his loving fiancée by his side and his demanding future mother-in-law in the backseat. When they ask him to play some music during the already awkward ride, “Fannan” blasts from the speakers.
At first, Saad, the character, nervously fiddles with the radio dials, clearly worried they might misunderstand his musical tastes. But quickly, his voice clears and he cheerfully proclaims: “This is a Saudi band, Sound of Ruby — I like to listen to different sounds and be cultured.”
The women look baffled and reply, “You have strange taste.”
Throughout the movie, Saad has to constantly overcome potentially crushing obstacles — both personally and professionally. The audience never stops rooting for him. This is a relatable Saudi struggle to balance childhood dreams with adult pressures, aiming to make society and family proud; Saad’s journey begins in the underground, outside of the mainstream, fueled by passion and perseverance. It’s easy to see why Sound of Ruby were chosen to help soundtrack his anger and frustration.
But the band’s perseverance has paid off. The music industry is starting to catch up with their ambitions. The Kingdom’s cultural scene has been forever altered by the sweeping changes of the last six years. And Sound of Ruby’s live performances are no longer secret, underground affairs. You can often catch them live at the café-cum-record store Bohemia in Alkhobar.
“The spread of culture is a very beautiful thing — whether it be music, acting, or any artistic work,” says Al-Hajjaj. “It’s a beautiful thing that we now play in our beautiful city. I used to dream of a place like Bohemia before — previously, concerts and audience participation were all outside the kingdom. Now, with the support of the Entertainment Authority, we are breathing life into the music.”
And Sound of Ruby are making full use of this new freedom.
“We released three new songs from our new album, that will be released this year,” Al-Hajjaj says. “Stay tuned for the album and concerts. In 2026, the band will celebrate its 30th anniversary.”
Like the precious gemstone they’re named after, known for its resiliency, Sound of Ruby are standing the test of time.
