With their latest single, Like No Tomorrow, climbing up the charts, FACT caught up with Hadi Assoum of Qatar’s own Caravan Dream to talk all things band, musical influences and appreciating life’s great journey.

Who are the band members, who does what in the band, and how long have you been performing together?
We’re a four-piece band and, for us, it’s more than just a band—we’re best mates and family to each other. Radi El Zouhby is the lead singer and plays rhythm guitar, I’m the lead guitarist and the primary songwriter, Rami El Zouhby plays bass and Alex Banashko is our drummer. We’ve been playing together since 2019.

Where are you all from, and how did you get started?
Alex is from Ukraine, while the rest of us are from Lebanon. However, we’ve been living in Qatar for years, and that’s where we met. We’ve all played in various acts and cover bands and even shared stages at different festivals and venues as guest artists in each other’s bands. In 2019, the stars finally aligned, and we formed a cover band called Bottomz Up. Our big break came when we got the opportunity to open for Marshmello in Doha, which created a significant buzz for us. We gigged around Doha regularly until COVID-19 hit, which froze everything. During the pandemic, our musical efforts shifted to online jams and collaborations.

You all previously played in cover bands. Was it hard to transition to writing your own music? Who writes the songs or is it a group effort?
During the pandemic lockdown in 2020, while witnessing the chaos and uncertainty around us, I turned to music as a way to heal and process my emotions. One day, during peak lockdown, I sat down at the piano and wrote a few lines about how it’s okay not to be okay and that we would get through it all. I recorded a quick demo and sent it to the band’s group chat. We decided to produce the song remotely, each from our own homes, and that’s when we began focusing on original music. Our first track, Heroes Dreams, was self-produced and mixed by Dave Skelton in Ireland. That was the birth of Caravan Dream as an original music band.
I usually do most of the writing and produce demos, which I share with the band. We then jam and develop the songs together at our studio, with everyone contributing. Radi wrote Fantasy on our debut album, and Alex often adds the perfect melodies when we’re stuck. After Heroes Dreams, we released Into Your Maze, followed by our album Fantasy a year later; both were mixed by Greg Johnson in California, LA, and mastered by Mazen Murad at the world-class Katara Studios.

As a band, what or who are your musical influences?
Individually, we’re a musical salad with a real mix of musical influences, ranging from classic rock, metal and psychedelic rock like Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Doors, AC/DC, Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Metallica, to pop icons like Michael Jackson, and even genres like reggae, blues, jazz, rap and electronic music. Collectively, though, we’ve distilled all of that into what Caravan Dream sounds like today, a blend of indie rock, pop rock, dance rock and alternative rock. As a band, I’d say our biggest influences are The Killers, Coldplay and Kings of Leon.

You’ve got a new single out, Like No Tomorrow. Please tell us a bit about the song—what’s it about and what inspired it?
As the title suggests, Like No Tomorrow is a call to break free from the barriers that hold us back, to chase our dreams without fear, and live life as if tomorrow will never come. It’s about taking risks that are worth it and finding heaven in doing things your way. The song started as a fictional story about a girl calling her loved one on a runaway journey. Later, I stumbled across a real-life story about an enslaved couple in Atlanta during the darkest of times. They escaped from a prison-like farm where love was forbidden and made it to freedom. That story inspired me to finish writing Like No Tomorrow.

As I’m preparing these questions, it’s steadily climbing on the QBS Radio Top 40 – currently at number 17. How does that feel?
It’s incredible! We’ve been on the QBS Radio Top 40 chart for several weeks now, and I want to give a huge thanks to the QBS team, especially Haytham Al Jawhari and DJ Chloe, for supporting us from the beginning. Being at number 17 and climbing is surreal, especially alongside such big names. This kind of love from our fans and listeners means the world to us. As of this week, Like No Tomorrow has been streamed in 108 countries on Spotify alone, which is mind-blowing for us!

Now that you’re bona fide rock stars, are you getting recognised when you’re out and about in Qatar?
Doha is relatively small, and we’re quite active, performing 30 to 35 gigs a year. The love from our local fan base is amazing. We’ve started to recognise familiar faces at our shows, and we often receive messages from fans telling us they’ve heard us on the radio or used our songs in their social media posts. After our gigs, people sometimes queue for photos, and there have even been a few funny moments when someone starts singing one of our songs when they see us in public. We don’t consider ourselves rock stars yet, but we’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved and grateful for the love and support we’ve received from our fans in Qatar.

Where can our readers see you performing next?
We’ve just come back from a little summer break and will be back in action in the next couple of weeks. This season, we’ll be playing more regularly at The Backyard, one of our favourite venues in town, where the crowd is always amazing. We’ve also got some big international events lined up, as well as regular gigs around Doha. We’re also working on a couple of tours in the Middle East and Europe, which our management is preparing. All our upcoming events and concerts will be announced on our official social media. We invite everyone to follow us on social media, listen to our music on all streaming platforms and subscribe to our YouTube channel to see our music videos.

Anything else you’d like to add?
Firstly, I want to thank you for this opportunity to be featured in FACT magazine, which does such an amazing job staying active and up to date!
I just want to say that, despite all the troubles, wars and broken dreams in the world, I believe there’s still so much love and beauty out there. We need to care for one another, put aside our differences and focus on what unites us. Caravan Dream promises to keep making music to spread as much love as possible, it’s our passion and all we have on this journey of life as a band. After all, it’s about the journey, not the destination! Just like a caravan goes. Much love from Radi, Rami, Alex and Hadi to everyone. Caravan Dream fam. ✤