Background
Mike Massy was born in the Phoenician town of Anfeh, Lebanon on March 31, 1982.
Mike Massy was born in the Phoenician town of Anfeh, Lebanon on March 31, 1982.
Meanwhile, Massy attended jazz ballet dancing courses for 10 years, before joining the Arabesque troupe.
He began his career in 2003 by releasing an album of spiritual hymns, Ila ssama atba’ouka, before founding his own label, Falak Productions. His debut album, Ya Zaman (Ô Good Old Days), was released in 2011 to critical acclaim, praising the nostalgic melodies of the East, the rigorous harmonies of baroque, and the elemental roots of jazz rhythms. A collaboration between 32 Lebanese and Belgian musicians, Ya Zaman peaked atop of the Lebanese charts, earning Massy the Murex d"Or (Golden Murex award) for "Innovation in Music" in 2012.
In 1996, at the age of fourteen, Mike Massy joined the Lebanese National High Conservatory of Music to continue his classical piano studies before specializing in Arabic Opera in 1999.
Passionate about theatre, he joined the Faculty of Fine Arts in 2001, where he obtained a degree in drama. Massy"s entry into the music industry began in 2003 when he released his album of spiritual hymns, Ila ssama atba’ouka.
Five years later, he composed the music of Tanya Nasr"s documentary "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Massy cites Fairuz, Aziza Mustafa Zadeh, Zaki Nassif, Jacques Brel and Dalida as his biggest inspirations, among others
Mike Massy released his official debut album and third overall, Ya Zaman (Ô Good Old Days) in November 5, 2011.
Recorded in Lebanon, as well as Ghent and Brussels, the album is described by the artist as the "result of many emotional fluctuations", and that he wanted “to share every emotion felt throughout these songs while writing them.” The album was a commercial success in Lebanon and neighbour countries, topping the Virgin Megastore Charts, earning Massy his first Murex d"Or for the "Innovation in Music" the following year. In 2012, he wrote and composed the soundtrack of the controversial Tannoura Maxi, the feature-film debut of Lebanese director Joe Bou Eid. His continued success in the Arabic music scene raised interest in the United States, where Massy made his debut Broadway concert in 2013 at the Merkin Concert Hall.
While working on new projects, Mike Massy met Ayad & Sary Khalifé and decided to create a Sufi Andalusian music with a hint of Jazz and Oriental that later on sees light at the Zouk Mikael Festival.
The album, entitled Naseej (literally "the action of weaving") was composed and recorded in Paris, France, and again, in Ghent, and Brussels like Massy"s last album. The project had its premiere at the Zouk Mikael Festival on August 7, 2014, with the album released the same month.