The Egypt-born, based in Toronto, 24-year-old, Bassem Abdelfattah goes by the moniker ‘artistbasm’, which he describes as “an example of not knowing what’s going on.” Through this, his entire output is fueled by avid curiosity and a knack for adventure, which he uses, along with his strong will, to execute his ideas.
So far, artistbasm has released five songs in the span of a single month, with every one of them using the same lo-fi cover image, under an overarching ‘portfolio’ concept. Speaking to Bassem, he says that the idea arose from being an ex-student of business and digital art; having acknowledged that he wanted to be a songwriter and a producer, he decided to create his portfolio as a way of showing people what he’s capable of, in hopes that they would reach out to collaborate with him.
“By nature of how I create, I'm generally taking a lot of shots in the dark, so my perspective is that I’m an example of not knowing anything, I’m just trying stuff. everything I do is fuelled by curiosity in a way,” says Bassem about his creative process.
The curiosity and experimentation show up in all the songs he has released so far. The musical atmospheres he created for his portfolio noticably change, showing a dynamisim. From the guitar-led and bluesy ‘kisses_1’, to the driving, electropop sound on ‘cant stand it_3’, all the way to the synth-heavy soul sound on his latest, ‘complicated_5’ artistbasm’s portfolio is turning out to be interesting, with only one thing in common among his five releases, a lo-fi, chill feeling to his compositions.
“I think art is telling stories, it’s how humanity developed, it’s all we need really,” says artistbasm. “So I’m just trying my best to understand and communicate my perspective in a way that is unique to me.” Along the way, he manages to put forth good music in quirky packaging, and a fresh sound, all combining into a formula that rarely misses.
Listen to his singles here:
