Hanni El Khatib

San Francisco-born Hanni El Khatib folds an array of abrasive textures into his output under the broad umbrella of rock & roll, drawing from blues, folk, indie rock, garage, punk, and even hardcore rap. Arriving in the first years of the 2010s, he favored a stripped-down yet forceful guitar-and-drums approach that brought attention, especially once Dan Auerbach oversaw his second full-length, Head in the Dirt, which appeared in 2013. Over the ensuing period he broadened his approach, linking a pronounced visual identity to an expanding range of sonic experiments that culminated in the 2017 release Savage Times. Functioning as singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist, he releases music through the Bay Area independent label Innovative Leisure, where he also acts as creative director and co-owner.

The son of a Palestinian father and a Filipino mother, this first-generation American passed much of his early life as a skateboarder in San Francisco and grew immersed in the graphic art tied to that culture. Prior to focusing on music he held the post of creative director at the HUF skate and surfwear label. His guitar-driven sound, marked at times by the gritty blues approach associated with Jon Spencer and edged with punk urgency, first surfaced on two 2010 singles issued by Innovative Leisure. Momentum built quickly, leading to a support slot on tour with Florence + the Machine in 2011 and, later that year, the arrival of his debut album Will the Guns Come Out.

For the follow-up, El Khatib enlisted Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach as producer, resulting in a more refined 2013 effort titled Head in the Dirt. One track, “Can’t Win ’Em All,” gained wider exposure when Audi featured it in a commercial aired during the Super Bowl. After an extended stretch of live dates, he issued his self-produced third album, Moonlight, in early 2015, expanding his instrumental contributions. The nineteen-song Savage Times, released in early 2017 as a limited-edition box set of three 10-inch records, traversed punk, disco, and solo guitar passages. Following a hiatus during which he launched his own skate-design venture, El Khatib resurfaced in 2020 with Flight, a taut, riff-heavy set recorded alongside co-producer Leon Michels.