Zamman is an instrumental psychedelic Egyptian belly dance surf rock band founded in 2017 by drummer Paul Michlik (formerly of the Nihilists, founded by Queensryche guitarist Parker Lundgren) and guitarist Rich Mansor, a San Diego native. They recruited Iraq-born keyboardist Rafid Alshemaly and, on the recommendation of percussionist Frank Lazzaro (Middle East Ensemble), Tunisian born bassist Walid Toonsee joined, as did percussionist Brian Dyson (9Wind).
According to Mansor, "Our general influences usually can be categorized from a mixture of traditional Egyptian and Lebanese-based 1960s and '70s golden era music, mixed in with traditional surf and spaghetti western music of the early '60s."
The group often performs with belly dancers such as Rachel Rene George, who also plays finger cymbals and zills. “The dancers like to perform something they already know, to win their loyalty you have to give them something they are familiar with, but done in your own way. We take songs from the World War II era and modernize them into our own style. We make it a lot louder, a lot more live sounding – we are a rock band at heart so I describe it as being knocked out by Mike Tyson – we like to come out hitting hard.”