How the Overnight Project became an Overtime Project

Mashrou Leila or “Overnight Project” is an indie rock band that started in 2008 due to its previous Lebanese members: Andre Chedid, Haig Papazian, and Omaya Malaeb. The original members created Mashrou Leila as a temporary project to relax through music, due to the political issues in Beirut at the time. The band began playing original music created by the members it recruited which currently consists of one of the founding members Haig Papazian, Hamed Sinno, Firas Abou Fakher and, Carl Gegers. Their loud yet melancholic music that tells a story caused Mashrou Leila to become famous worldwide and tour all over the globe including places like the USA, Germany, UK, Canada, and France.

Unfortunately, because of the Middle Eastern’s views on the LGBTQ+ community, and Hamed Sinno the main singer of Mashrou Leila being gay, the Middle Eastern community believes that he is encouraging the Middle Eastern LGBTQ+ community and therefore Mashrou Leila is banned from performing in several Middle Eastern countries. Due to rainbow flags being held by the audience in a previous concert in Egypt, it has been banned there and in Jordan.

Mashrou Leila has been an inspiration in the Middle East and all over the world, letting people know that there is no need to hide or be ashamed of who they really are thanks to Hamed Sinno’s public courage. Not only is Mashrou Leila inspiring but it also motivates people to stand up for their rights no matter what they might be, and it encourages people to make use of hard times to create something good.