They were in a small recording studio in Khartoum, surrounded by electric guitars, keyboards, drums, and saxophones, writing lyrics and recording new music. Then the gunfire started.
That was in April 2023, when the civil war between Sudan’s military government and the Rapid Support Forces erupted into open urban warfare in the capital. Three years later, the conflict has killed more than 150,000 people, displaced approximately 12 million, and reduced entire neighbourhoods of Khartoum to rubble. It has been called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. And yet, somewhere in Jeddah or Cairo or the highlands of Sudan, members of one of the country’s most influential bands are still making music.
We called ourselves Sounds of the City as Khartoum is our inspiration, says Timon, whose full name is Mohammed Almustafa, and who co-founded Aswat Almadina — Sounds of the City — in 2014. Our music comes from the atmosphere in Khartoum, the natural sounds of the city, the sounds of the people, the sounds of the streets.
A Band Born in Revolution
Aswat Almadina quickly became one of Sudan’s most beloved cultural exports. Their sound blends Middle Eastern folk influences with urban pop and vibrant jazz. They were the first Sudanese band ever to tour the country.
Their lyrics — addressing social justice, corruption, and the everyday struggles of young people — earned them recognition as UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors in 2017. But their outspokenness also brought trouble. Lead vocalist Ibrahem Mahmoud was arrested repeatedly by national security services for singing the truth.
Their music became the soundtrack to the 2018-2019 uprising that toppled longtime leader Omar al-Bashir. The lyrics of Aswat Almadina were chanted through the streets of Khartoum as hundreds of thousands of Sudanese demanding change faced rubber bullets and tear gas.
War and Exile
When the civil war erupted in April 2023, six members of the band fled Khartoum within two months, traumatised by the sight of dead bodies, destroyed buildings, and burnt-out cars in the streets of their city.
It was like something out of a zombie movie, Timon says. He now lives in Cairo, having missed the birth of his second child because of displacement. Ibrahem Mahmoud lives in Jeddah, working remotely with bandmates across multiple countries.
Music as Survival
Despite everything, the band continues. Even in the early days of the war, trapped in their studio while artillery shells fell nearby, Ibrahem kept recording. He wrote and recorded a song whose title translates as Give Peace a Chance, collaborating remotely over a flickering internet connection.
The sounds of the weapons were loud, but there was always music going on, Ibrahem recalls. Music is my survival mechanism, it’s always saving my life.
Today, Aswat Almadina is working on a new song titled simply Sudan — a track that the band says will reflect both the country’s extraordinary beauty and the unbearable pain of its current moment.
A Symbol of Hope
In exile and in war, Aswat Almadina has come to represent something larger than themselves — the idea that Sudanese culture, identity, and humanity survive even as the country tears itself apart.
Timon keeps a photograph from one of their last concerts in Khartoum, taken just a month before the war began. When you look at this, there was a Khartoum, he says softly. There were very lovely nights in Sudan.
There’s always hope, says Timon. I want everyone, not just me, to speak about peace and love. That’s what will make things better, more than speaking about war.