Using dance, multimedia, and live instruments, Final Veil delivers experimental electronic music with a prominent Middle Eastern influence.

Cora Camille formed Final Veil out of her great love for middle eastern and experimental fusions of world music with modern club music.  Camille began her study of classical Egyptian and Lebanese dance under the instruction of Diana Wolf of Simone’s Seventh Veil in St. Louis, MO when she was a teenager.  Never letting go of her passion for belly dancing while attending the University of Missouri, Camille opened her own belly dance studio  in Columbia, Missouri to teach group classes and private lessons which helped supplement her income as a college student.

The power and beauty of Egyptian music sparked Camille’s initial interest in the dance and led her to pursue learning to play Middle Eastern music.  This pursuit landed Camille in London, England, where she studied dance and rhythm with internationally-acclaimed percussionist and producer Hossam Ramzy.  It was Ramzy that introduced Camille to his long-time mentor and fellow musician friend Wadie Nossier.  Nossier, a former instructor from the Cairo Music Institute and a world-renown oud-maker, taught Camille Egyptian music and how to play the oud.  At the end of Camille’s stay in London, Nossier bestowed the honor of personally crafting her an oud for performances before she left England to return home to the United States.

After returning home to the U.S., Camille came up with the name Final Veil and began looking for musicians to help her fulfill the dream of playing live Egyptian music.  After trying various musicians and line-ups for Final Veil (at one point even having a six-piece band), Camille decided to combine her love for Egyptian music with her equal feelings for Electronic music.

After a couple of years of doing live performances with d.j.s in club and festival settings, Camille paired with XJN.  XJN (Christian Oncken) is a DJ and producer from St. Louis, MO.   Christian became involved with live electronic performance in 1995 eventually learning to build, then code and design his own electronic instruments and effects. He learned to DJ at college radio station KMNR in Rolla.  After moving to St. Louis in 2000, he helped create the live house band Urban Jazz Naturals which combined live production and sequencing techniques with live musicians on stage.

Rick Costa aka “Graybeard” provides the live percussion for Final Veil performances.  Costa is a trained percussionist focusing on world percussion; he is an educator, a composer, and a performer. He specializes in Middle Eastern instruments such as Riq, Tar, Doumbek. He has traveled and studied extensively with middle eastern percussionists and is currently mentored by Raquy Danziger.

Chris Stout is the electric bass player and secondary vocalist for the band.  His experience with various rock and metal bands lead to the powerful, driving bass lines that Final Veil provides.  His martial arts skills have been featured in Final Veil videos, and his blend of eastern and western artistic influences complete the woven sound textures of Final Veil.

Simon Drew first started playing drums while living in Cairo in his late teens, as part of a jazz Trio playing weekly at the Nile Hilton. He then moved to Senegal and dove into West African percussion, studying under Doudou Ndiaye Rose. Back in the States, Drew has drummed in various genres, including country, jam, Americana, and Rock. Late of The Trophy Mules, Drew drums for Final Veil and STL based Glass Mattress.

Final Veil has released three albums on Revealed Recordings.  The first album is self-titled and the second album is titled “Arabian Daze.”  A third album titled “Dreaming of Cairo” was released in 2016 which features a collaboration between Cora Camille and internationally- acclaimed middle eastern percussionist and composers Hossam Ramzy and Phil Thornton as well as several guest musicians in Cairo, Egypt.  Final Veil remixed the songs from the collaboration and the remixes are available on the album along with the originals which lend the signature style of the band to the project.  All three albums are available on iTunes, Amazon.com, Cd Baby, and other distributors.