Seven questions With The Cheeky Habibis

Rapidly emerging to the forefront of the local Cardiff scene after working on their music and live appearances over the past few years, The Cheeky Habibis have easily grabbed the attention of local promoters and audiences a like through a series of successful appearances at the Welsh capital’s most beloved venue. The end of February 2025 saw the release of their latest single, ‘Being Human’, an eminently danceable take on pop-rock with a touch of punk woven in and the very first song they originally worked on after forming the band.

In this new instalment of our Seven Questions with Music Is To Blame series, we speak with vocalist Gabriel, drummer Hadi, and bassist Les about the band’s ongoing trajectory, their hard-to-pinpoint sound, and why ‘I’ve made it’ moments can prove dangerous.

Introduce yourselves and where you’re from.

We first met in University in Cardiff, but we all come from different places. Hadi is French-Lebanese but born in London, Les is also from London but his family is from South Africa, and Gabriel comes from Swansea – the place Dylan Thomas once described as “the graveyard of ambition”.

What do our readers need to know about you?

Les: I think our lyrics are probably something that will always stand out, they have a spoken word element to them and it’s something that has made our music different.

Hadi: I also have a love of dance music in its different forms and that has been a big influence on the band too.

What have you got coming up that you’re most excited for? 

Gabriel: Hadi has been away from the past year on a study abroad year so we’re really looking forward to him coming back to play live. We wouldn’t be the Habibis without him!

Les: We actually have an EP coming soon that is already fully recorded, we’re staggering out releases as we build up to it.

What’s the best run-in you’ve had with a fan?

Gabriel: When we were starting out we had this very young fan who would always take pictures during our sound checks as a way of saying “I’m here, I’m going to see the show!” Not quite a run-in but it was a very sweet thing that felt really supportive.

What’s been your biggest ‘I’ve made it’ moment so far?

Hadi: I’m actually quite wary of ‘I’ve made it’ moments – I think it’s good to always think of something else new and different you can do. When you feel like you’ve made it is probably the sign that you should stop.

Gabriel: That said, playing a set at Sŵn Festival last Autumn felt like a real step up. We got a really good reception after that and got to play some venues we never thought we would as a result.

What are your three “desert island” albums?

Hadi: ‘Silent Alarm’ – Bloc Party.

Les: ‘Charades’ – The Shivers.

Gabriel: ‘Your Funeral… My Trial’ – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Sum up your sound in three words.

Bouncy, energetic – and of course cheeky!

Chiara Strazzulla

@cstrazzull

Image: The Cheeky Habibis

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