Bedouine's debut album “One of These Days”

Los Angeles resident Azniv Korkejian never planned on a career as a singer-songwriter. A graduate in sound design, she first found work as a dialogue editor for TV and film, so singing was essentially a private practice. Adopting the Bedouine alias later, she was encouraged to share her songs and eventually approached Matthew E White with “One of These Days”.
“It was around the time I left my full-time job for a more flexible freelance position,” she explains of the shift. “I could begin to think about encapsulating my writing under the umbrella of a cohesive project. There was no pressure or hurry, really.”

That relaxed approach is reflected in her songs’ languorous country soul, which Korkejian describes as “music that’s not suited for a social hour” - surely one of the reasons White welcomed her into the Spacebomb fold. “He made it clear he believed in me and repeatedly propped me up and told me I was capable. I was already a fan of what he was doing and it was clear he had a taste for the understated, which I appreciated. When I approached Matthew, I hoped he’d recognize it as something different in a special way and I’m stoked that he did. They say the best record label is the one that’s most excited about you and that’s how I felt about Matthew.” 


Bedouine has a story to match the name. Azniv Korkejian, born in Aleppo, Syria to Armenian parents, spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia, moving to America when her family won a Green Card lottery. Living at various times in Boston, Houston, Lexington, Austin, and Savannah, she eventually found a community of musicians in Los Angeles that feels like home. One day she walked into the studio of bass player / producer Gus Seyffert (Beck, Norah Jones, The Black Keys) to inquire about portable reel-to-reel tape machines and ended up cutting “Solitary Daughter” in a first take.

Eschewing notions of nomadic chic, Bedouine represents minimalism motivated by travel, paring down and paring down until only the essential remains. Her music establishes a sustained and complete mood, reflecting on the unending reverberations of displacement, unafraid to take pleasure along the way.