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Biography

About the artist
Michel Banabila, born in 1961 in Amsterdam to a Dutch mother and a Yemeni father, is a sound artist, composer, and producer. His family background reflects a blend of Dutch, Jewish, and Yemeni heritage. A self-taught musician with a intuitive approach to sound, Banabila has released a wide range of works, starting with his first LP Marilli (1983), and has composed scores for numerous films, documentaries, theatre productions, and dance performances. In addition to acoustic instrumentation, he incorporates electronics, field recordings, found objects and fragments from radio, television, and the internet. A recurring element in his work is the use of self-made language or fragmented speech - created through sampling and cut-up techniques. Similarly, his compositions often evoke imaginary creatures or otherworldly environments, suggesting places and beings from beyond known geography.

Live
Banabila made his first live appearances in 1984 with Richard Zeilstra (aka Genetic Factor) and other musician friends at the Tegentonen Festival in Paradiso and at Airwaves in the NL Centrum, Amsterdam. He continued performing live in the mid-1980s with Chi and in the early 1990s with East Meets West, with whom he recorded the album Hoy Babo Hoy, produced by Robert Musso. Since then, he has performed both solo and in various collaborations, often incorporating live audiovisual (AV) shows. In 2002, he performed again at Paradiso in Amsterdam during the album launch of X-Rated: The Electronic Files, alongside Scanner, vidnaObmana, and Biosphere.

In 2013, he performed with video artist Geert Mul at the State X New Forms Festival in The Hague ,and at the DATA exhibition at Stedelijk @ Trouw in Amsterdam. In 2014 they performed at the Logan Symposium at the Barbican in London, and in 2015, they also performed together in Beirut at the Global Week for Syria Festival, with Anas Maghrebi. That same year, Banabila performed solo at the Sonic Circuits Festival in Silver Spring, Maryland, and in 2016, at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC. Together with Radboud Mens and Marco Douma, he gave several live AV performances throughout the Netherlands, including appearances at Le Guess Who – Modulation and the Bimhuis STEIM Summer Party, which were compiled on the limited edition CD 2015 Live.

In 2018, he took the stage at De Haperende Mens in Amsterdam, which ultimately led to the recordings of Just Above The Surface. Also, Banabila has played three times at the Ambient Festival in Gorlice, Poland (2005, 2014, and 2024). In 2016, he performed with Oene van Geel at both the Rewire Festival in The Hague and Audio Art in Kraków. In 2024, he presented an AV show with Ines Kooli at the Uncloud Festival. Most recently, in 2025, Banabila performed live at Le Périscope in Lyon, Magazzino sul Po in Turin, and Café OTO in London, among other places.

Music + collaborations
Banabila's recordings range from minimal loop-based electronica, fourth world, and neo-classical pieces to drones, experimental electronica, and tribal ambient. He has collaborated with a diverse array of musicians, including Alex HaasAnton Goudsmit, Beppe Costa, Cengiz Arslanpay, Cloud Ensemble, Eric Vloeimans, Erkan OğurGareth DavisHanyo van OosteromHolger CzukayJoshua SamsonMaarten VosMachinefabriekMaryana Golovchenko,  Mehmet PolatMete ErkerOene van GeelPeter Hollo, Pierre Bastien, Radboud MensSalar AsidSandhya Sanjana, Scanner, Willem CramerYaşar Saka, Zenial, and others. In addition, he is also a member of the Disquiet Junto, an association for communal music/sound-making.

Albums
Banabila has recorded many albums, including VoizNoiz (2000) and Spherics (2001), originally released by Steamin' Soundworks  (NL). These albums were internationally licensed to Tone Casualties  (USA) and Pork Recordings  (UK). BBC legend John Peel was the first to play music from VoizNoiz on his show. Moreover, Banabila's tracks appeared in a mix by Osymyso (4AM Eternal - MixMag Magazine) and vinyl followed (Pork 081). In 2001 Banabila joined Holger Czukay's Linear City collaboration project, on the track Ten Steps To Heaven. Furthermore, his collaboration on VoizNoiz 3  (Challenge Records) with trumpet player Eric Vloeimans received the Edison Jazz Award in 2003. In 2004, the duo were also nominated for a Golden Calf Award for Petersburg, Places and Paintings, a film by Ben van Lieshout.

In 2005 Banabila founded his own independent label, Tapu Records. In 2008, Steamin' Soundworks released a 2CD compilation album, Precious Images,  that featured 10 years of Banabila's recordings. For the same publisher, Banabila was the producer and co-writer of the album Arhil, by Ali Bahia El Idrissi. The first track of this album was used for the Putumayo sampler Sahara Lounge.

Banabila was also awarded with a composition stipend for the period of 2012-2013 by FPK, the Dutch Performing Arts Fund. His track E.T. was used in Boarding Pass, a mix by French renowned composer / producer Rone for Tsugi Magazine #66 in 2013. In 2021, a remastered version of the track was added to the compilation LP And Felt Like... Later Gaspar Claus recorded the piece for his LP Tancade (E.T. Extra Terre Version) on cello. 

Banabila recorded six albums with electronica wizard Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek (Banabila & Machinefabriek Travelog Error Log / Macrocosms / Entropia / A Looming Presence) and three albums with viola virtuoso Oene van Geel (Music for viola and electronics part I / part II /  Live at Rewire - Whales Calling). Since 2014 he has experimented with a small modular set for his Feedback + Modular + Radiowaves series.

In 2016–2017, three reissues featuring recordings from the 1980s came out:

  1. Chi – The Original Recordings (ambient / reissue) by Astral Industries (UK),

  2. Things Popping Up From the Past (early works / reissue) by Bureau B / Tapete Records (DE),

  3. Trespassing (2LP vinyl; a reissue of his first LP Marilli, and a partly new compilation) by Séance Centre (CA).

In 2018, Steamin' Soundworks reissued VoizNoiz part 1 as a 2LP vinyl album, including a new exclusive remix by Michel Banabila & Oene van Geel.  In 2019 Banabila self-released Uprooted, new work with contributions by Peter Hollo (cello), Gareth Davis (bass clarinet), Oene van Geel (viola & stroh violin), Gulli Gudmundsson (bass & ebow), Alex Haas (synth & electronics), and Stijn Hüwels (guitar & electronics) on a limited edition CD. ('a balanced syncretism of musical strategies and forms that becomes more rewarding and provocative with each listen' - Nick Ostrum / The Squids Ear). With Alex Haas he recorded The Woods, featuring Bill Laswell. Michel Banabila also performed on Sun Comes Out from Lithium (Sonicontinuum / 2020) by Alex Haas.

In 2020 Banabila collaborated on the EP The Spaces You Hold with British composer and sound artist Robin Rimbaud. In the same year, 7K! released Cassina, a new single by Michel Banabila & Machinefabriek, for the compilation Ambient Layers.

In 2021 Bureau B released a new compilation featuring more recent works by Banabila: Wah-Wah Whispers. In December 2021, Banabila made his debut on the Amsterdam-based  Knekelhuis label, with his celebrated LP Echo Transformations.

In 2023, Pingipung released Baba Soirée, an album showcasing his collaborations with Pierre Bastien. That same year Banabila recorded the EP Night Eyes with jazz legend Dave Liebman. In June 2024 Knekelhuis released Banabila's second LP for the label; Unspeakable Visions

In May 2025, Pingipung released his second LP with Pierre Bastien: Nuits Sans Nuit. Also in 2025, Glasgow based Invisible Inc Records released Resonance: 10 Years Of Vibrational Sounds From The Heart Of Invisible Inc, a compilation featuring artists like Michal Turtle, David van Tieghem, and many others, including a track by Banabila: Memories Of The Forest.

Other projects

Besides making albums, Banabila works with theater, dance and visual art on more conceptual artistic projects. Banabila worked on various films, videos and video installations with video artists Geert MulOlga Mink, Nan Wang, and photographer Gerco de Ruijter. With Geert Mul he had an audiovisual live set; Big Data Poetry, which they performed in venues like The Barbican (London) during the Logan Symposium 2014, and TENT (Rotterdam) during Sound Spectrums 2012.

With Olga Mink he performed at the LUX Festival (Sevilla), the VAD Festival (Girona)  and the State Of The Image Festival (Arnhem) in 2006. For Gerco de Ruijter he did sound design for several stop-motion animations and video installations, like the critically acclaimed Crops, shown in the Hirshhorn Museum (including a live performance by Banabila -  Washington DC, 2013) and Ringdijk at Panorama Mesdag (The Hague / 2016). Nan Wang's video for Banabila's A Sense Of Place (with Oene van Geel) was shown at NFF (Netherlands Film Festival). And in 2019 Banabila scored Nan Wang's Pareidolia, that was shown in 2019 at IFFR (International Film Festival Rotterdam).

Dance
In the summer of 2010, Michel Banabila performed live with Conny Janssen Danst during a three-week open-air event, Common Ground, on the roof of De Hofbogen in the centre of Rotterdam. Each week, Banabila had a guest improviser: Mete Erker, Daniella Bernoulli, and Corrie van Binsbergen. In 2011, he toured the Netherlands with Corrie van Binsbergen and Conny Janssen Danst in Life-Live! to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Conny Janssen Danst. In 2017 Michel Banabila & Maarten Vos toured for four months across The Netherlands with Home, a critically acclaimed dance performance by Conny Janssen Danst with live music. 

In May 2018, San Francisco Ballet used Banabila's remixed version of Jump Cuts in Guernica, a choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. In 2019, Banabila was commissioned by Philadelphia Ballet to compose new work for Yin Yue and commissioned by Patrick O' Brien to compose work for Patrick O'Brien Collective, with support from CUNY Dance. In 2023, Banabila was commissioned by BalletMet to score a choreography by Yin Yue (Timeless Tide) with support from Northrop, which premiered at Asian Voices and by YYDC to score a choreography by Yin Yue (Somewhere), which premiered at New York Live Arts in 2024. Furthermore, Banabila was commissioned to score Presenting Rage, a choreography by Camryn Stafford with support from CUNY Dance, which premiered at Gibney Dance in New York (2025). On 5 September 2025, Somewhere will have its European premiere in Rovereto, Italy.

 

Disquiet / The Uprooted Orchestra

Flow State Interview

Headphone Commute interview

Junto Profile interview

Knekelhuis interview

Michel Banabila AllMusic bio

Séance Centre interview

The Early Current interview

 SCORES


Film & Documentary:

2023 - ARTEMIS - MARTIJN VELDHOEN
2021 - DESCENDING THE MOUNTAIN - MAARTJE NEVEJAN
2021 - LITTLE OX - RAF WATHION & PATRICK VANDE BROECK
2020 - KEIN GELOEL - DAVID KLEIJWEGT
2019 - HELDEN VAN HET MAXIMA - PAUL RIGTER
2018 - THE THIRSTY CITY CIUDAD MEXICO - ALEXANDER OEY
2018 - WAR CHILD KILI CHALLENGE: BEYOND MOUNTAINS - GABOR DEAK
2017 - PIETER ENGELS / HOLLANDSE MEESTERS - DAVID KLEIJWEGT
2017 - PORTRET IN BRONS - MAAIKE ENGELS
2015 - MEET ME IN VENICE  (with BEPPE COSTA) - EDDY TERSTALL
2014 - TIME AND PLACE, A TALK WITH MY MOM - MARTIJN VELDHOEN
2014 - SPEECHES - DAVID KLEIJWEGT
2013 - DE TECHMENS - BREGTJE VAN DER HAAK
2013 - LAST WORDS - KOERT DAVIDSE
2012 - CHINA ; VAN CARTIER NAAR CONFUCIUS - MARIJE MEERMAN
2011 - ONE FALSE MOVE - CLARA VAN GOOL & RIA MARKS
2011 - EEN AANZIENLIJKE RESERVE AAN BESCHAVING - ROB SCHRÖDER
2009 - GRAND PARIS - BREGTJE VAN DER HAAK
2009 - I AM GURGAON - MARIJE MEERMAN
2008 - IN REAL LIFE - ROBERT JAN WESTDIJK
2007 - ONZE JONGENS - BREGTJE VAN DER HAAK
2007 - SATELLITE QUEENS - BREGTJE VAN DER HAAK
2007 - HET APPELMOESMEISJE - MARIJE MEERMAN
2007 - MARTHA VONK GAAT NAAR ISTANBUL - HESTER OVERMARS
2006 - VLUCHT VAN DE VALK - CLAUDIA HAURI
2005 - SAMUAL - TAMI RAVID
2005 - STROOM - JORD DEN HOLLANDER
2004 - MAMA, PLEASE CALL ME - MARIJE MEERMAN
2004 - ST PETERSBURG, PLACES AND PAINTINGS - BEN VAN LIESHOUT
2004 - NEVER LET GO - CLAUDIA HAURI
1987 - CRAW AND CRAW (with WOUTER VELDHUIS) - BOB RUIJZENDAAL

Video:

2025 - HOE WEET JE WAT JE WEET - STEVEN ELBERS
2021 - HOME - CONNY JANSSEN DANST / DAVIDE BELLOTTA
2021 - FRAMED - CONNY JANSSEN DANST / DAVIDE BELLOTTA
2019 - A SENSE OF PLACE - NAN WANG
2019 - BREAKING POINT-  NAN WANG
2019 - PAREIDOLIA - NAN WANG
2018 - SEINPOSTDUIN [52° 6'32.29"N / 4°16'34.73"O] - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2017 - SAND WANDERER - ERIC GIESSMANN
2017 - DISSOLVE - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2016 - RINGDIJK / DIKE RING - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2016 - GRID CORRECTIONS - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2014 - PLAYGROUND - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2013 - CROWDS (BIG DATA POETRY) - GEERT MUL
2013 - CROPS - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2013 - TERRA INCOGNITA - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2012 - EYES OF THE WITNESS - GEERT MUL
2011 - LETTING GO - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2010 - VOCAL VOID - GEERT MUL
2010 - COLLAPSUS - TOMMY PALLOTTA
2010 - JACKSON POLLOCK'S ROAD TRIP - GERCO DE RUIJTER
2009 - DUIZEL - MAAIKE ENGELS
2008 - A MOODY GUY'S AUDIBLE DREAM - GEERT MUL
2008 - VOICE PRINT - OLGA MINK
2008 - URBAN RHYTMICS - OLGA MINK
2008 - URBAN NATURE (with ERIC VLOEIMANS) - OLGA MINK
2007 - TRANSMIT / EFFENAAR LIVE - OLGA MINK
2005 - MATCH THE MOVIE - GEERT MUL
2004 - LOW PULSE & HIGH NOIZ - OLGA MINK & IRENA MIHALINEC
2003 - STRAIGHT 18 (RED CROSS) - MAAIKE ENGELS
1984 - CALLISTO - DAVID GARCIA & ANNIE WRIGHT
1984 - sound for a video installation (at 'Luminous Image' Stedelijk Museum, A'dam) by MICHEL CARDENA


Theater:

michel banabila / theaterencyclopedie

 

“He is a man of many genres, or perhaps more correctly, he is trans-genre, for there seems to be no particular base from which he prefers to work. He just composes. And collaborates eagerly, to the listener´s delight.”

Stephen Fruitman - SONOMU.NET

“It’s quite hard to find the right stage for his work, because it often simply “does not fit the format”. But – as he has always done – Banabila chooses to do what he feels that must be done. Not just simply what might be expected. No compromise!”

"Michel Banabila blinkt uit in het compileren van geluidsdecors / stadsgeluiden, ondefinieerbare radiostatische kraakjes, gespreksflarden, gebubbel en geratel vormen de ingredienten voor een stijlvol, bijna filmisch klankuniversum."

Edo Dijksterhuis - NRC

“The humility of Michel Banabila & Oene van Geel is apparent, as composition, improvisation, and shaping duties shift from song to song, man to man: a fluid trade that yields far greater dividends.”

“Banabila has created a backing track for everyday life. It is moody and low and it hardly ever fails to satisfy.”

Michael J. Ryan - BOSTON HERALD

"On VoizNoiz tender beats, oddball samples, live instrumentation and vocal snippets weave together to make a warming abstract picture, one of those ones that looks good whichever way you hang it."

WAX MAGAZINE

"The sounds he makes are spectacularly gorgeous and immaculately crafted"

Jamie - NORMAN RECORDS

“Banabila creates something genuinely strange and dreamlike. But it's also immediately appealing and deeply chill. Frankly, an excessive abundance of unearthly wonders.”

“A melange of lush harmonics and soft but heavy broken beats, tropical synth work and warped electro-acoustic sounds that manage to feel hugely organic, ancient and tribal and synthetic and futuristic all at once.”

“The man has a consistent, high-quality music catalogue, and if the name Banabila is new to you; well worth investigating”

“There's a deeply meditative feel to much of the music here, making 'Travelog' one of the most cohesive yet hard to categorise headphone soundtracks I've heard for a while.”

"His work bridges experimental and contemporary forms with a modern sound bordering on electronica but infused with a seriousness of intent and purpose less frequently heard in that style."

Phil Zampino - THE SQUID'S EAR

“He uses sounds to create 'words' of sound that speak in the language in which we hear. Creepy, loungy, jazzy, sexy, mysterious, fun, and artsy - learn a new language with Banabila, the language of sound”

"Banabila crée ici quelque chose de véritablement étrange et onirique, immédiatement attrayant et profondément relaxant. Il ne cesse de nous surprendre, à la fois par la fréquence de ses parutions et par la diversité des champs musicaux qu'il propose." 

BAD SEEDS RECORD SHOP

 

“De abstractie en de menselijke expressie tillen elkaar naar een hoger niveau. Een geslaagde combinatie van evocatieve soundscapes en sterke improvisatie is vrij zeldzaam. De Rotterdamse geluidskunstenaar Banabila en Turks-Nederlandse rietblazer Erker komen op 'Route Planner' soms dicht in de buurt.”

"A wide orchestral palette and some absolutely top-notch production, with a beautiful sense of space and an ability to shift subtly between warm and cold atmospheres" 

Stuart Bruce - CHAIN D.L.K

"Michel Banabila ist ein Zeitenwanderer. Er braucht Musik, Musik braucht ihn."

Andreas Cevatli - GROOVE.DE

“It's wonderfully reassuring to see mature artists not just continuing, but releasing music of quality and creativity that exceeds their previously excellent work. Bravo! for 'Float'. ”

"Nuits Sans Nuit: les bruits de la nuit s’en retrouvent amplifiés et les échos du monde environnant résonnent jusqu’à nous."

Vincent Arquillière - POP NEWS

'Travelog' by Banabila & Machinefabriek:

"a Glitchdroneworldbeat collaboration to die for"


Peter Hollo - Utility Fog / FBI RADIO

"Pieces like 'Little Star' showcase an incredibly cinematic and homely essence. It's somewhere between ambient folk and a dazzling Balearic beach soundtrack, as slow textures wash over you like a tide."

Tom Babbington-Fowles - RECORD REPORT

 

“Banabila is a musician working across a range of genres. 'Music for viola and electronics II' with Oene van Geel is an expansive, stylistically omnivorous affair, while 'Error Log' with Machinefabriek is altogether more focused. The influence of acousmatic approaches to composition makes its presence felt on both albums.”

“Banabila seems to have tuned a radio station to the global frequency of the Earth.”

"Lumière de l'obscur, beauté des chocs et des convergences, Michel Banabila conduit un fascinant orchestre subliminal."

Dionys Della Luce - INACTUELLES, MUSIQUES SINGULIÈRES

 

 

 

"Artificial voices, singing and speaking in an invented language.

'Little Star' seems like it can only be described as an Alien Lullaby." 

Paul Simpson - THE ANSWER IS IN THE BEAT

"One thing I like about Michel’s work is that it’s not afraid to be emotional at times… very warm. There’s impressive instrumentation and very good mixing"

Dr. Chris Dooks - IRREGULAR CRATES.

“Banabila cycles through formless electronic bliss, lengthy passages of radio-transmission static or dusty piano loops and upbeat electro-folk-song grooves”

Matt Korvette - YELLOW GREEN RED

"The Pork folks discovered Banabila with 'Mono/Metro,' a holler-sampling-and-contorting fragment of genius that Moby would stomp Fairfield County, Connecticut into the subsoil for."

Paul Cooper - PITCHFORK

“He assembles humorously upbeat, almost poppy structures that seem all the more accessible for the sampled blurts. Even his slower tunes are punctuated by smile-inducing processed vocals.”

EXCLAIM.CA

"Banabila  da oltre trent’anni pubblica con regolarità lavori molto interessanti, eclettici e liberi da qualsiasi classificazione da solista o con l’aiuto di collaboratori."

 Marco Calloni - BLOGFOOLK

 

"Już nie po raz pierwszy Michel udowadnia nam majstersztyk w tworzeniu pierwotnych pasaży łączących egzotykę / alchemię dźwięku z dalekich regionów naszego globu z przeszłością. "

ANXIOUS MUSICK MAGAZINE

"The music of Banabila is a microcosm of itself, a complex interplay between acoustic and electronic, found objects, field recordings, and unnamed unheard of textures." 

Mike Lazarev - HEADPHONE COMMUTE

"'Echo Transformations' proves again how Banabila is at his best creating his characteristic fourth world atmospheres infused by warped electro-acoustic manipulation."

Mariette Groot - UNDERBELLY SOUNDARTMEDIA

 

"Banabila's music is submerged in layers of psychedelic waveform wobble and stuttering a-rhythmic percussion. 'Zoosemiotics' is a particular zoner, and plays rubbery wind tones through mouthy electrical processes, letting an inebriated electronic rhythm and dank vibraphone hits create a Badalamenti-esque backdrop." 

BOOMKAT

"Music like skits linked by language and the musicians’ joy in ethno-absurdity, wherein breakbeats swept up from the rubble of a bustling Babel sprout from the global glossolalia like freaky minarets"

Echoinggrove - RATE YOUR MUSIC

“Banabila merges aspects of sound design and collaged samples with Bastien's Don Cherry-esque improvisations into a true fusion of the ambient and glitchy.”

" 'VoizNoiz’ is eigenzinnig, slim en groovy. Als een wandeling door een stad op de eerste mooie dag van de lente, als iedereen vrolijk en een beetje gek is."

msch - GONZO

Michel Banabila live in Turin
Title=”Michel Banabila live at Zaal 100, Amsterdam"