Libyan music flourished after the opening of the Libyan Radio in the mid-fifties of the last century. It appeared in Libya in the early seventies and reached its peak in the eighties and nineties. Time still shapes the music and many artists have contributed to the development of this industry. In this article, I am sharing my interview with another famous musician in Libya, Ayman Elhouni.

Ayman Elhouni is originally from the south of Libya, specifically the city of Hune. He learned the basics of singing since elementary school. Also joined the school’s team and learned to play the Accordion. Then, moved to Tripoli with his family. He continued the school activity where he learned how to play guitar as well until he founded his band in high school.

The band was given the name ”Hope” in his junior year in high school. He was the lead singer and he encouraged his friends to play musical instruments. Especially, with the support of the school and it was the best support for the beginning of their journey at that time.

The school provided the instruments and the rehearsals room. Although the start was random and not organized, however, they reached a good level with the band. After graduating high school, Ayman moved to Cyprus since he is coming from an elite media family. That helped him to develop in Caricature Art. He spent a lot of time to practice in his family’s printers in Tripoli and Benghazi. In addition to this, he worked with Sowt Nas Newspaper where he met the poet Ahmed Fouad Najm.

An Early Realization in Music

But after that time, he found that caricature was not the goal for him. After that, he decided to go back to Libya after he finished studying business management. He stayed in Libya for a short period before heading to Egypt where he stayed there for a year. He made connections within the art scene in Egypt. He moved back to Libya to create his official professional band and it was called ”Friends Band”.

The band was based in Benghazi. It was the base where they distributed all the Libya. Back in the 1990s, he worked as a composer for a period of time. He then created a band with the artist Ahmed Aljebali. They had many concerts around the Arab region. He also worked with many artists like Hamid Shaari and with poets like Aymen Bahjat Qamar, Mostapha Zaki, and Abdulhamid Najm.

The artist Ayman Al-Huni has received a number of awards through his theatrical works. Among which was the play (Al-Tayyib Al-Satan). He also got the second best musical composition. Also, received an appreciation award at the Ismailia Festival in the Arab Republic of Egypt in 1998. Last year, he was honoured by obtaining the highest score in the soundtrack at the Ninth Theatre Festival in Tripoli, Libya. That is based on the play (Let Shakespeare fall), which was requested to be shown twice in Morocco, specifically the cities of Tetuan and Meknes. The field of soundtracks loved him a lot, as he had an excellent musical imagination that enabled him to excel in this field.

You can follow him on Facebook: Aiman Elhouni أيمن الهوني | Facebook