Oman Radio 90.4 FM welcomes Dust of Soul back to the Sultanate of Oman virtually amongst the 50th National Day celebration under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq. The cultural exchanges and the understanding of different cultures are at heart of the Oman King. And the preparation of the National Day gave a sense of pride, confidence, and hope to the citizens and expats living in the country.
Oman Radio 90.4 FM interviews one of the recognisable local band from Switzerland who has got an incredible dedication to the country of Oman through their songs and compositions. Some already heard them and watched them on YouTube and of course live in the Sultanate: Dust of Soul with Saskia Stäuble and Michael Odermatt – singer and pianist.
They are still in love with Oman which is why they originally initiated “The Color of Oman is Love” – a Swiss Love Song for Oman, and the project “Beauty Has An Address”. The second was a collaborative idea between the Swiss duo and journalists and poets who are expats living in the Sultanate. Both projects are dedicated to Oman.
Singer Dusty, alias Saskia Stäuble, claims she is still in love with Oman and that the duo is planning to continue with their initiative of new projects on the Arabian peninsula. However, the situation around the world is quite challenging at the moment. And as an artist it is the more important to find a way to overcome these challenges. Pianist MiKey, alias Michael Odermatt, says: “We try to stay creative and continue the work on our new album. It is a day by day process to remain focussed and give hope to our fans and people around.”
The beginning of the Dust of Soul story goes back eight years to a trip in New York where singer Dusty wrote her first song: Hometown. It is a song about the feeling of New York, the streets, the art. Back in Switzerland, Dusty was searching for musicians. Tired of searching, she started working in a bar which let to her to eventually meeting with Michael. Michael was ready to try something new and they started working together. This is how Dust of Soul was formed.
The Color of Oman is Love
How about the songwriting process which is at the core of a musician? In the case of Saskia and Michael, sometimes the lyrics are here, but not the melody. Or the melody is here, but not the lyrics. But sometimes there is nothing else but a feeling.
Michael refers to the songwriting when the duo first arrived to Oman in 2016. When Saskia set her foot onto the land, she clearly had the feeling of a strong connection to the country and the people. Right after arriving at the hotel, Dusty wrote the song “The Color of Oman is Love” within 20 minutes. Until today is has been the fastest ever created song for her.

Saskia creates with the flow of the universe. The flow of life. For her this is art. Art is the picture of the flow of life. And Saskia’s picture for that is her music.
Saskia Stäuble
Time has passed ever since, but the legacy of the song lives on until today. This is a phenomenon, because before all that Saskia and Michael had never heard of Oman. It was a friend from Facebook who introduced them to the Sultanate.
When the song happened to the duo, they managed to combine the western classical and eastern Arabian scales for the first time. Not only in Oman, but also in Switzerland it was very special for the audience to listen to that combination which had not happened before in their songs. It is a wonderful transformation of art, feeling, Arabic tunes, classical tunes, all together in this song.
Now that Oman is celebrating the 50th National Day anniversary, the impact of that song since its original release four years ago is still huge. It became a symbol that love is the strongest emotion around the world. “We have to stand together and work together. Especially nowadays during the pandemic crisis. It is the message to not split the people, but be friendly, be kind. Try to feel something, even if it is that hard without nobody around you. Stay in love”, so Saskia.
Independent artists
Oman has a lasting impression on Dust of Soul. They love the country and are proud on their achievements and friendships. It is hard knowing that there is no way going there and meeting with their friends at the moment.
But aside of being a musician nowadays there is a lot of work to do: As music is the professional life of Saskia and Michael, they are mainly doing concerts and creating new concepts for projects such as music video shoots in different countries. Dust of Soul is actually very much known for their own style of shows, as well as their unique way of promoting and marketing them. Furthermore does their job include the work at the studio while producing and releasing singles and albums. But it does not stop there: they are designing their entire appearance online and on all social media platforms. This includes the development and the craft of a graphic, print, and web designer. From the writing of lyrics for a new song to a recorded, produced, promoted, and published final product – in the case of a musician: a song, a music video, a poster, a promotion concept, and a live show concept.
Nevertheless for Dust of Soul it all comes down to the vision to put out the music they feel within themselves and bring the message onto all the different platforms and to live events.
Dust of Soul
Encouragement
What is to expect from Dust of Soul in the future? How about the message to the people of Oman on this important milestone which is the 50th National Day celebration? Dust of Soul leaves Oman with the message to honour their respect for one another, their love, and their trying for something new. Dust of Soul joined many art events whilst their staying in Oman and they were thrilled to see all the new waht Omani have been creating and working on, is it art, science, food. So they continue to encourage the people of Oman to keep the positivity and this strong energy to create and push things forward, even if it looks that dark. It is a strong gift the Omani people have in their hearts.
Dust of Soul is planning to travel to Oman soon for more concerts and shows. For 2021 and 2022, Oman is on Dust of Soul’s tour plannings. They continue to share all their work and creations on their strongest of social media platforms which is Facebook. But also are they keeping up their community and followers on Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, and Snapchat.
Just today, Dust of Soul has been accepted as an Official Artist which is a milestone achievement for the independent artists. Nowadays, as an independent artist, you have to do more than 20 jobs at once. And all of them are important to keep the work great.
The key for the Sultanate of Oman and the celebration for the 50th National Day is moving towards with modernisation His Majesty is encouraging. Each and everyone of us to realise the power of love and the peace that turns the world around. The thought of goodness will bring human future to brightness.
Dust of Soul will always believe that beauty and harmony will achieve by connecting all humanity and working together for the betterment and success of the whole nation, the Sultanate of Oman.
Oman Radio 90.4 FM
The radio show “Inside Oman”
Listen to the radio interview stream of the show “Inside Oman” with Dust of Soul.