Can you please introduce yourself more to your fans? Your full name, your origins?

Yasmin: My name is Yasmin Tayeby. My dad’s Egyptian, my mom’s American, and I grew up in Cairo. Right now I’m a senior at Berklee College of Music in Boston, but have been going back to Egypt every summer and winter.

When did your musical career start? Also why and how?

Yasmin: Technically, I’d say my music career started before I was even born! My mom’s a musician and I’ve been surrounded by music since day one. But realistically, I started playing piano and singing at 4 which led me to both the violin and guitar. I’ve always loved it, and while I can’t remember if at 4 years old I voiced it, I do remember begging my parents to let me play the violin when I was 6. After that, the singing/songwriting thing sort of came with age, and I realized that it was what I wanted to do with my life, so I picked up the guitar when I was 13.

Besides being a vocalist, what instruments can you play?

Yasmin: Well, I guess I just shamelessly listed them all above!

What music genres do you play, and why did you choose these genres?

Yasmin: I’ve always had problems putting the songs I write into a genre, but I guess I would call them acoustic-pop? Or alternative? Some sort of cross between those… But I cover everything from classic rock to top 40. For the most part, the songs I cover/write are songs that tell stories. I love the feeling of listening to a song that really speaks to you. Brandi Carlile is one of those artists whose songs, no matter how many times I’ve heard them, have the power to make me stop whatever I’m doing and listen. I try my best to come up with lyrics/melodies that really connect with people.

Why did you choose to perform as a solo artist?

Yasmin: I haven’t always played as a solo artist, but after playing with a couple of different people and having us part our separate ways for different reasons (moving, graduating, etc…) I just found it easier to be a solo act.

Did you join or establish any bands before you decided to perform as a solo artist?

Yasmin: Yeah, my very first “band” was made up of my best friend Laila and eventually, we forced our poor friend Andrew to be our drummer. He was into hard rock and all-black fashion while mine and Laila’s 13-year old lyrics consisted of “If only, all the words were true, and the birds did sing every morning.” We called ourselves Dyce for some reason or another! So…that didn’t last too long. But in high school, I teamed up with my friends Lizzy and Mallory and we were actually pretty good. The name we finally decided on was March to June (their birthdays were in March, mine was in June, and it also sounded really cool and witty!), and we played a bunch of shows around Cairo and won Battle of the Bands one year.

Can you tell me please about your influences?

Yasmin: I mentioned her before, but Brandi Carlile is a huge influence. She’s not very well known, but everyone should look her up. There are the obvious influences like The Beatles who I’d say affect almost everyone’s music, whether or not they realize it… Then there’s Dido, John Mayer, Patty Griffin, Adele, and very recently City and Colour.

How many albums did you release, and do you have a label?

Yasmin: I’ve only released one EP professionally, but I’ve released at least a dozen songs online independently. The people I recorded the EP with used to head a label that was under Sony, but they sold it a few years earlier. So, as of now, I’m label-free!

What important concerts did you perform in?

Yasmin: The first important gig I ever landed was Vermont Congressman Peter Welch’s birthday party. It was during the Bush administration, so I performed Pink’s “Dear Mr. President.” It was a really cool experience playing such an honest song to all of those people who were affiliated with the government. Scary…but cool nonetheless! Another great gig was playing at the Pharaoh’s Rally for Nile FM’s Homegrown Talents at the Pyramids a couple of years ago. Later on this spring, I’m playing at South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas which is the biggest music festival in the States. I’m really excited about that, and I’ll also be playing around the city all week long.

As an Egyptian female musician, did you face any troubles? And if you faced any, how did you overcome them, or not?

Yasmin: In Egypt, I think less than being a female, I’ve had troubles with the whole half-American thing. Because my mom is American, we spoke English around the house growing up and I also went to CAC, so my Arabic is shaky. People come up to me and ask why I don’t sing in Arabic, or why my spoken Arabic isn’t better. As for the speaking, I’m trying to improve! But at this point, I think I’ve really defined my sound, and my broken Arabic may sound a little strange if I start incorporating it into my music.

What’s the message that you want to deliver through your music?

Yasmin: I want my music to be relatable. I want the stories I tell through my lyrics to get through to people no matter where they’re from, what they do, or how old they are. The best concerts I’ve been to, and the best songs I’ve heard, have been the ones where I’ve literally been awe-struck by how directly it seems like they’ve spoken to me. Then, looking around, seeing everyone feeling the same way-that’s one of the coolest feelings in the world. There have been a couple of shows I’ve done where I’ve looked out and seen people I don’t know singing my lyrics. Goosebumps immediately! Just seeing that effect that I’ve gotten from my favorite concerts/songs on one person is crazy enough-I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like seeing an entire concert hall affected like that.

Any future plans in your mind?

Yasmin: Definitely. I’ve got two plans in mind right now. Plan A, my first choice, is to move to New York and try to break through in the States. I’ve got several projects going right now and if any of them prove to be successful, then I’ll follow through with that and see if I can take it further. Plan B is to move back to Cairo (at least for awhile) to work on concert promotions. I’ve already started working on that over the past few months to make sure I have something to go back to in Cairo while I figure out what to do with my own music.

A word to your fans?

Yasmin: You guys are great! I read all your comments, emails, messages, and appreciate everything that you say. I do get a lot of people asking when I’m going to be in Egypt, and when I’m going to start doing more performances. I’ll definitely be there over the summer, but after that if I do end up moving back for awhile, I promise to put on A LOT more shows! 🙂

Ahmed, can you tell more about how it all started?

I started playing drums at the age of 16 and my first experience was with Metal music, with all its variations like Rock, Black and death metal.

On the other hand my cousin Tamer Tawfik was a big reason for me to be a musician, he is an opera singer and he has always pushed me to listen to different kind of music like (Opera , Jazz, Latin, Tango and even Rock music.)

I’ve been in love with music ever since I was a kid and my mom was the first one who noticed that I’ll be a drummer because I’d stroke anything with spoons and forks haha, I don’t remember that exactly but she told me the whole story about it later. Finally I got my first drum kit when I was 16 years old, I started playing to all the songs that I know, like Hey You by Pink Floyd, Fade to black and Master of Puppets by Metallica and finally Trust and Symphony of destruction by Megadeath, then my cousin Tamer told me that he got an album for a drummer called Dave Weckl, I listened to him and I was shocked because he had a lot of variations in the same song and he is so creative with his grooves, from that moment on I decided to take drum lessons, to be able to play like him. My cousin recommended Mr. Muhammed Saa’d for me, he is the drummer of the Cairo opera house orchestra. I went to Muhammed and started my first drum lesson, but after 2 lessons Muhammed told me that we wouldn’t be able to keep going because he is very busy with his masters and studies, so I decided to keep going on my own with books & CDs.

4 years later, I went to Mr. Amr Yousef and he changed me completely. I started listening to Latin, Jazz and Fusion. I took 7 lesson with him. I don’t know why I used to take few sessions with every teacher. After this I went on my own way with more books, DVDs and CDs till this moment. One day, I went to watch Amr Yousef’s performance with Sahra, and I was attracted to the band’s trend with all its energy and variety in rhythms and styles, but due to some issues between Amr & Sahra, he left the band and he recommended me to them and of course I was very happy with this step because it would make me take out all my energy and ideas for the drumming. Now I am still with Sahra.

Why did you choose to play the drums?

First, it’s a gift from Allah. Second, I loved the beats and the rhythms more than anything because they gave me power more than any other instrument, but for sure I can’t deny that I am in love with the Guitar, Sax and Piano. Third, it looks so sexy on stage, haha, I am really in love with the view.

Ahmed, what genres of music do you play? and why did you choose these genres?

I have no specific kind of music but the kind I like playing most is Fusion because it lets me play different kind of beats and music at the same time, and I hate to be limited to one genre, because I like to play different variations in my music and in my drumming style. So let’s say world music, but sometimes when I’m home I like to play some death and thrash metal stuff for some bands like Lamb of God, Necrophagist, Decapitated, In Flames, Testament and Pantera. I know that I am crazy, but I really love this music.

What troubles did you face at the start? How did you face them?

Hm, my real troubles were all about drums, not my parents or my friends at all. Let’s begin with the sound: I wanted to get the sounds I heard from Dave Weckl especially and my favorite drummers in general, and for sure at that time I didn’t know anything about the kinds of woods or how to tune my drum kit, but after a while a very good friend of mine talked to me about these things, after that I got the Dave Weckl’s teaching video “Back To Basics.” On the other hand I had a very big problem with practicing and it was all about speed and goodness! I wanted to be a very fast drummer and very good too as quickly as possible, which was a very wrong idea of course, then I understood that I must take my time practicing and listening to many kinds of music to be that good, and I am working on it until now. 

Tell me about the bands you played with, the bands you are currently in and the first band you ever played with.

Man that’s a lot, but okay let’s start with the first band I played in, it was “HELIUM” we covered lots of artists, like Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Alice cooper, Annihilator and MEGADETH.

**Note: IT’S A CRAZY BAND.

I played with many local and international bands and projects. Let’s begin with the local bands: (Nagham Masry, The Riff band, Rashad Fahim, Salalem, Limousine, Sirens, and Forgotten Notes) and different international projects such as Music Matbakh, Darrell John Kennedy and Ruba Sakr who’s a singer from Jordan, and I have recorded an album with Yacoub, a bassist from Jordan.

My current bands are: Sahra, Eftikasat, The Percussion Show and The 19th band, who have a very strange formation, which is:

Guitars: Ousso and Marwan shaaban
Bass: Hameed Sabry.
Vocals: Amr Yehia, Adham Roshdy, Shehab and Shady Ahmed.
Drums: Me.

What was your feeling when you were on stage for the first time?

To be honest I don’t want to remember that day again in my life, (laughing) Look, it was a very strange feeling, I was so afraid, my legs couldn’t carry me, my blood pressure was dropping, but I can’t deny that this feeling went away after the second track we played, when the people began to interact with us, oh man that was a very hard day, thank God that day passed.

Did you ever expect that you would reach that level and be one of the best drummers in Egypt?

I didn’t expect this question from you, but anyway I always practice to be a good drummer, because I want to have my unique style in drumming, but to be honest I didn’t expect this position in this period of time, Thank God. 

How do you see the music scene in Egypt in general and the rock and metal scene in particular?

I am so happy for the evolution in the music scene in general, we now have many bands in Egypt playing different styles of music, and of course I am so happy with the efforts in festivals like Cairo Jazz Festival and S.O.S. Music Festival, and no one can deny all the efforts done by El Sawy Culturewheel. As For the rock and metal scene, I don’t know how they’re going now because I am so far from it with the bands I am in now, but I remember the last 2 concerts I played with Sirens and I think the metal concerts are much better than before, the respect for the musicians is much better and the organization of the concerts is very good and the venues are better than the old ones.

Who is your drummer idol?

Actually, I have some idols in my life which I really learned a lot from, the first is (MIKE PORTNOY) the drummer for (DREAM THEATER), he is my rock drummer idol and as for the other styles of music like Fusion or Jazz or Latin they are (Dave Weckl), (Dennis Chambers) and (Marco Minnemann)

What are your plans for the future?

Hmm, my plans for music are to practice more and more to be a very good drummer and musician and I hope that I can play in any of the international festivals. As for my personal life, I want be a helpful person and to be successful in my work.

What would you like to say about the music scene and to your fans?

For the music scene : “I am very proud of the current bands in the scene, you guys are really awesome and never stop it, never ever, and keep on going with more stuff and more different kinds of music.”

For my fans: “I am very happy to play to people like you, and to anyone who wants to be a musician or a drummer, never give up and always remember that PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.”

Rock Era was there in the back scenes and had an interview with Ahmad El-Wahsh the owner of Wave Studio and Production House where the album was recorded and given a label.

Wave. How did it start and when?

Ahmad: The idea came two years ago as a jamming studio for the underground bands, since I’m a musician and in the underground scene, then the it turned to one of the famous places for jamming, both for underground bands and commercial ones. Even Haifa and Amr Diab and Shereen come to jam here, especially after being one of SOS sponsors for like 3 volumes, and this proved and showed everyone that we support underground bands.

What difficulties did you face while establishing “Wave”?

Ahmad: Actually it was all about the license and the paperwork, it’s really hard to have a full legal studio and a musical organization, plus it needed time, effort and money which was really exhausting for us. 

How did “Wave” turn from a jamming studio to a musical organization and a label? Was it planned from the get-go?

Ahmad: It all started because I play in Sahara band and we always had a dream of recording an album. We found out that recording in other studios would cost us A LOT, which is why I decided to buy the needed equipment and establish a control room for recording, we then looked for many producers but unfortunately they were all interested in commercial music, so either they refused the whole thing or put conditions to the extent of interfering in our music. That’s why I made Wave a music production house. You can find many producers for underground bands but after the album is released you’re STILL an underground band, because the tools these companies use are not enough. Imagine that an album is released and there is not EVEN ONE AD telling you about the album or telling you about a song from it. That’s why we wanted to market our production in a commercial way, so we signed an agreement with companies for ringtones to market our productions through TV, newsletter and magazine ads and with the FM radio stations, which also helped us broadcast our production on the radio. We are not making albums to have a memory, we are marketing business, and it’s our responsibility to get bands heard.

So no, it wasn’t planned for us to turn Wave to a production company and a label but I thank god for it, this is very good for a 2-year-old project

Let’s talk about “Wyvern.” How did you get the idea of recording and producing for an Egyptian metal band?

Ahmad: Wyvern members are all my friends, so we thought about producing an album for them especially that I love the band and I love their music myself, besides they have a very great fan base, and since all the tools were available for the project as a studio and a label, we decided to start immediately. Wyvern was one of the fastest and the most high quality albums recorded in the studio and this was of course because we felt at home there.

What do you expect for the album?

Ahmad: In fact I expect and wish a lot, because our dreams are endless and I feel we will gain the fruits of our great efforts. We really put too much time and effort in this great project and we made it right, so I believe that even people who don’t listen to metal will like the album if they gave it a listen.

How do you think the Egyptian society would accept this album as the 1st Egyptian metal album?

Ahmad: I think that anyone who attends Wyvern’s concerts or even metal ones in general would see that the audience really loves the band. When Wyvern performed in the S.O.S in front of 25000 people, their reactions were great. I really wish that people would appreciate this project because we really put our hearts into it. Wyvern’s album is metal but they added some original touch which will make them closer to people, even the ones who never listen to metal. The whole thing is unique and I believe it will attract many listeners, god willing.

Are there any rock or metal bands beside “Wyvern” that are going to record with “Wave”?

Ahmad: So far there are no confirmed deals. We are working on a hip hop project and it’s almost done and I hope it will be good. It’s full of new ideas. We are talking to many bands who saw our work and started to talk to us about their albums. To be honest, I wish that this will continue, I want people to believe in themselves because we have many underground bands with really amazing music but they just need to have some faith, so I guess with the release of Wyvern’s albums, things will start to turn around.

Will wave specialise in recording for rock and metal bands? If so, will it be strictly for Egyptian bands?

Ahmad: We record all styles of music, but we are not into commercial music and we are not planning to go for it. We have recorded many things: Sahara, Wyvern, Hip Hop, Flamenco and even Jazz. The 1st album recorded in Wave was by a Jordanian band called “Zaman EL Za’tar” and it’s a great band. I guess this answers your question about the genre and nationality.

Is there any message you want to deliver to people?

Ahmad: I have two messages in fact. To the underground musicians, I want to say: “Trust yourself and believe that any given effort will come back to you and you will gain its fruit. Don’t ever think that you are just an amateur, you are a professional, ever since you decided to perform in front of everyone, all you need is just some faith. Don’t stop at concerts, as long as people have come and paid money just to see you and listen to your music, then you can make you dream come true, so don’t ever give it up.”

To the fans and audience: “I know that you really gave up on this misery because every day we find 20 or 30 new singers and bands who do the same thing over and over again in the music and in the videos. Don’t worry, all that will have to change one day because there are some really good musicians who work hard and all what they need is your support, so support them, try to listen to their work, and I’m sure you’ll feel the difference.”

Who are they? What do they aim for? Rock Era made an interview with Adel Samakia, the drummer and the leader of the band to find out.

How did the band start? And who founded it?

Adel: The band was started in late 2008 when Salim ex-bassist of Davinci, who got tired of covering, contacted an old friend of mine searching for a drummer to jam with. The main concept of the band at the time was to stick to original songs.

How did you choose the name “Greenish Red” and why?

Adel: Our Friend Safy from Serenade chose that name for us. Basically, most of the things we deal with contain both colors Green and Red, For example Water Melons, the table of the coffee shop we were sitting at, our studio. It was a fortunate observation.

What genre of music do you play, and why did you this genre?

Adel: That’s a hard question, we blend many types of music; jazz, blues, funk, rock, and sometimes oriental music, but I’d say we’re mainly a Jazz band. By the way, we weren’t supposed to be where we currently are. It was supposed to be a Rock band, but we were all fed up of traditional rock and metal bands, even though I still play with some. We decided to compose our own music, which you will listen to and, hopefully, enjoy at our first gig at the Bib Alex competition this summer.

What was your aim when you established the band?

Adel: When we founded Greenish Red -it hadn’t had a name yet- we were concerned with composing original stuff, you know? We wanted our band to produce something different from what you’d hear in a regular concert; a lot of covers, a few regular originals. This wasn’t what we wanted.

Did you have any problems or troubles while establishing the band?

Adel: Any band has problems starting off, at the very beginning Salim and I jammed alone, that was really enjoyable by the way, the first problem we had was choosing a guitarist, that is after Karim, our old guitarist, who composed for us had to leave. So, we faced another problem of finding another guitarist who played jazz. After Mustafa settled, we had the problem of having a soloist, we asked a couple of saxophonists and a few violin players before we settled on Aliaa El Azzazy from Alexandria, but that didn’t work out due to the distance and travelling issues. So, we decided to go on as a trio till members join the band.

As a trio band, tell me about the members. What do they play? And how did you guys meet?

Adel: Now that’s a question I’ve been waiting for since the beginning of the interview. An old friend of mine, Sherine Amr from Mascara, introduced me to Salim, who is a friend of hers as well, so we’ve got Sherine to thank for getting us together. We now are, as formerly mentioned, a trio.

Adel Samakia (myself): Drummer and Percussionist
Salim Asar: Bassist
Mustafa Magdy: Guitarist

The best thing about this band is the wide variety of our musical preferences. For example, Salim likes funk, rock ‘n roll, hard rock, jazz, a bit of metal. I like Jazz, progressive metal, easy listening. Mustafa likes blues, jazz and psychedelic music.

What inspired you to play these genres?

Adel: As you might have realized, we all share the love of jazz, in addition to mixing and matching other genres.

What is your dream performance? And why?

Adel: Montruex Jazz Fest Switzerland, because it’s the biggest Jazz Festival in the world, hands down.

Describe the relationship among the band members, and how is it going so far?

Adel: The three of us are very close friends. I’d known Mustafa 2 years ago through college, and Salim since September 2008, Mustafa and Salim have known each other since late May 2009, but those who knew us knew what to call our jams; the laughing sessions.

How do you see the future of “Greenish Red”?

Adel: Well, the three of us are very dedicated to each other, we want to stay together for as long as we can manage. Answering the question, we want to be a band that pleases its fans.

What would you like to say to the audience and to your fans out there?

Adel: I guess we still don’t have a lot of audience and fans since we haven’t performed live yet, we have anticipators, and as for them we wish that they like us after the live shows.

What do you think of Rock Era magazine?

Adel: Nice question. Rock Era is a new approach for underground music in the Middle East. Personally, I haven’t heard of any similar idea around. Another good step would be to fix the misconception of rock and metal music in Egypt and all the Arab world.

Adel, how do you see the music scene in Egypt, and do you think it’s making a progress?

Adel: Okay, this involves me and you and 90% of the readers, who are mostly musicians themselves. Since the past two years, the music scene has been simultaneously progressing and regressing; progressing as more people are attracted to underground music, mostly metal and rock, and many of those people who are learning to play music, thus, bands are increasing, which is more competition for better music. On the other hand, most of those bands remain underground because of the whole process of picking and choosing bands according to cultural centers. And this picking and choosing process is mostly unfair, I myself have been exposed very unfairly to this in a cultural center in cairo, and sadly, cultural centers are mostly the main venues that new bands rely on.

Thank you, Adel for this nice interview.

Adel: You are very welcome, Yasser.

Interviewed by: Yasser Mohamed and NJ Bakr

Firstly I would like if you introduce yourself to your fans?
Rania: Rania Mohamed Sha’laan, originally from Cairo…

Tell us about your start, please. How did it all start with you?
Rania: I started in the year 1995, I was on a visit with family to Dr. Tarek Sharara, one of our friends, and he had a show on the radio, and he asked me to come for an interview and sing a few songs, and at the time I had no Arabic songs written or composed of my own, so I sang some English songs I had…and in the year 1997, I heard about Fathy Salama, so I went to see him and attend his concerts of course, and I asked him to check out my voice and he did, so he made me sing a song with him in the Opera House in the year 1997, in the small hall, and I continued to sing with him until the year 2003, then I started to have my own concerts with my own band here in El Sawy Culture Wheel.

Where did you start to learn music?
Rania: I was my own teacher at home; no one gave me any lessons at all.

What genre of music do you exactly play?
Rania: You can say that I play what I call “Arabic or Egyptian Blues and Egyptian Jazz, I call it so because it doesn’t have a certain name, because as you’ve seen in the concert, I played Latin, Oriental and Western music…I actually play what I like and what I love because I hate to be labeled under a certain genre, because if you play Blues music, you will be known for playing Blues music and you will have to play Blues all the time, I love to play what I want and what I like, if I love something Japanese I would play it, like what you saw in the song I played of Ahmed Fouad Negm “El Tuba”. The scale I played in the end of the song was Japanese; I am not limited to something in particular.

What about the idea of the solo concert, how did it come?
Rania: Well, I was supposed to perform with my band as usual but they couldn’t play with me due to some personal reasons, so I had to go for a solo concert.

Would you go for a solo concert again?
Rania: Definitely! I really enjoyed it, and I established great communication with the audience, as you saw I was talking with everyone like I was in my own home not on stage.

Do you have any albums ready to be released soon?
Rania: Not really, I currently don’t have a producer and I am looking for one.

What about the video clips?
Rania: As you saw in the concert, “El Bondo’ya” (English: The Shotgun) is the only video clip I have until now.

What about your favorite poets?
Rania: Amir E’id, Salah Jahin, Ahmad Fouad Negm and Ramy Ali are really my favorite poets and I love to sing their poems and lyrics, I also sing some of my own lyrics of course.

Any projects or any plans for the future?
Rania: I intend, God Willing, to perform and play my songs in other countries. And I don’t really want fame but I want everyone outside Egypt to listen to the songs and the real Egyptian lyrics and music and love it as well…Like you know you can see a microbus driver listening to the song “Hotel California” and he wouldn’t even know what the lyrics mean, but he loves it or whenever people see someone, ANYONE, with a guitar they ask him to play “Hotel California”. And I want to spread my own music like this. I don’t want to be famous as much as I want my lyrics and my own music to be heard everywhere, even if they don’t understand the lyrics like I told you before, I want everyone to listen to the Egyptian music and the Egyptian lyrics.

What is your global message through your music?
Rania: I hate violence and I call for peace through my music and my songs and my motto actually is “love”…everything could be sorted out and solved through love.

Thank you for your time and for such great interview.
Rania: Thank you!

Interviewed by: Yasser Mohamed. 

Ousso, everyone knows you by this name, can you please introduce yourself more to your fans out there? What’s your real name and origins?
Ousso: My name on the ID is Mohamed Lotfy but nobody calls me Mohamed at all, even my own family, and actually I was called “Ousso” before Mohamed and before I was born because my mom wanted to call me Osman but it didn’t happen…but I remained Ousso…I’m purely Egyptian, went to a French school (Jesuit) then commerce, the English section at Ain Shams University.

There’s something everyone is wondering about, Ousso, how and when did your musical career started?
Ousso: I started my musical career at the tender age of 18, I used to play in rock bands like Implosion (Cover Rock Band) and another anonymous band, a trio where I used to sing and play guitar (Beatles/Doors/oldies), then after the so-called satanic issue, I had no choice and no one to play with, so Mr Nasser Begato (Double Vision studio owner) hooked me up with Samira Saiid’s band, and from there I started to get into the Egyptian professional mainstream scene and started recording movies soundtracks/commercials/pop songs and playing live with pop singers, and parallel to that with other Rock/Jazz/Blues/Fusion bands.

Why did you choose to play guitar and how did you learn to play it?
Ousso: I’ve always been obsessed with music, specifically classical music when I was a child and I mean since I was 1 probably as my mom noticed and told me that I would stay quiet and listen to classical music for hours, and then I played keyboards at the age of 9, when I turned 12 I saw “Slash” from Guns N’ Roses and my obsession with guitar started, my mom got me an acoustic guitar and I used to spend like 12 hours a day, if not more, playing anything I could get my hands on, starting from Pink Panther to Slash solos, TV commercials, classical phrases played by any instrument, pop songs, blues licks, then I got some books and started teaching myself basic notation, theory and harmony, started composing and improvising until the age of 20 I started taking lessons with pianist “Rashad Fahim” for like 4 years, and he taught me jazz harmony/musical theory along with other books and instructional videos/tapes, and I would apply everything to guitar.

What bands did you join? And what bands did you form on your own?
Ousso: I’ve played with Implosion (heavy metal rock band in the 90’s), my anonymous trio band (drums, guitar, keys) and I used to sing Beatles/Doors/oldies songs, then Hassan Khalil jazz band in 98, Ahmed Rabie band, Yehia Ghannam band, Hossam Shaker band, then I formed “Nagham Masry” with Sherbini in 1999, and the “19th Band” in 2008, joined “Eftekasat” from 2002 to 2008, “Junk Male” from 2003 to 2008 , “Sweet N’ Sour” from 2003 to 2004, “Music Matbakh” from 2007 to 2008, along with lots of anonymous jazz/fusion bands in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Concerning Eftekasat, why did you leave the band despite its success?
Ousso: I quit Eftekasat because of personal and technical problems that got accumulated over 6 years, as well as personally feeling that I’m no longer enjoying the music nor the chemistry of the band, which killed me, and started to affect my mood on stage and my musical input with the band, although we’re still friends and on good terms but it happens.

Can you tell us more about Nagham Masry?
Ousso: Nagham Masry is MY obsession and love! I’ve worked hard to present a different sound of precious Egyptian lyrics that have a deep meaning, that’s so Egyptian yet different and decent. I’ve done lots of experiments with this band, like playing an electric overdriven solo in Beit el Harrawy back in 2000 to a crowd that came to listen to Egyptian poetry right after the satanic lie of the media and the government, I wanted the normal listener to get used to Rock riffs/Jazz harmony/Funk grooves along with very Egyptian poetry and I wanted them as well to get used to accepting a long-haired rock guitarist who was still VERY EGYPTIAN! Nagham Masry is that precious project that won’t compromise and that’s why we don’t play that much anymore. That’s also why it’s taking so long to launch an album although we have more than 25 original songs ready.

Have you ever considered performing as “A solo artist”?
Ousso: Of course I thought about it and actually I’ve done it several times on different occasions.

The great S.O.S Music Festival that you started, why did you start it, and why did it end?
Ousso: I initially started S.O.S to push originality, to encourage the Egyptian bands to compose their music and have confidence in their abilities, to explore themselves regardless of their respective style or language. I wanted to give all the bands the chance to play before thousands that came to support them and only them! On a huge stage with a PA system built especially for them, not for some pop star when they’re just an opening band. I wanted them to experience that feeling that usually takes years to achieve, I wanted young bands to be encouraged and give them a push to work and develop knowing that there’s a place where they can actually present their music and gain thousands of fans in less than an hour, and get media exposure throughTV and radio, I wanted music fans with different tastes and background to stand next to each other and respect different opinions and tastes in a civilized atmosphere where a family could enjoy an outdoor garden and sit on the grass safely, I wanted to correct that social look that music concerts and musicians are a bunch of losers, and more.

Will the S.O.S Music Festival return?
Ousso: S.O.S is not over, the last one was 3 weeks ago, and right now the main sponsor is out because he has a different target. He’s under the impression that S.O.S is targeting ONLY ONE CLASS! Which really just goes to prove that he doesn’t know what S.O.S is talking about in the first place! But anyway, I’m in the process of presenting it to other sponsors and Insha ‘Allah things will be back to normal.

What music genre have you always wanted to play?
Ousso: I’ve never had a specific music genre that I wanted to play, it depends on the mood and I like all kinds of music and like to play them my way, even House music, I did work on several house tracks introducing funk guitar lines and solos, so to me it’s all music.

This is something I am very curios to know; since you are a guitar idol to everyone, who is yours?
Ousso: I love Slash! but I like lots of others as well, though not as much as Slash because I grew up listening to him and I love his way of soloing that’s very emotional and free of patterns/complicated techniques and all those things. He just plays, but of course I’m a big fan of Pat Metheny, Greg Howe and George Benson.

Who is the guitarist that you want to perform with, both abroad and locally?
Ousso: From Abroad, again I would love to perform with Slash, my idol. From Egypt, I actually do play with most of the guitarists and we’re friends, always jamming and performing together, and I mean those who are into music and want to have fun, not those who want to bet ‘who is faster? Who is more complicated?’ And I’ve seen a lot who fight through music. I really hate that kind of people, they turn me off, and I always avoid them.

How do you see the music scene in Egypt in general and the rock scene in particular?
Ousso: The music scene in Egypt is actually growing and developing, albeit very slowly, and I’m afraid that a lot of musicians are being very lazy not taking music seriously and not practicing enough to develop their skills. I’m sorry to say it but there’s a lot of drug abuse involved and many musicians are taking it as a fad and I don’t understand this attitude of ‘I’m the best! I know it all!’ I personally think that I’m very overrated in Egypt! I still have a loooot to learn! And this “the best guitarist in Egypt” that I always hear is actually “WRONG!”, there’s no such thing as the best, in music everyone has a style and a personality, and I’m afraid that a lot of musicians are falling in that trap of ‘You’re the best’, we all have to practice and learn.

About the rock scene, well honestly I’m not following it that much because I always feel weird when I attend rock concerts in Egypt, although I’m a rocker! I feel that it’s full of exaggerated attitude that turns me off personally not to mention lots of aggression and out of tune guitars (not all but a lot), but there are lots of great bands like Wyvern, SimpleXity, Idle Mind and more.

What’s your dream about music in Egypt?
Ousso: My dream is to see lots of festivals, venues, concerts, live music clubs, music schools, great musicians and interesting musical projects.

After all of your great achievements and success, do you think you have reached all you wished for or are you still not satisfied?
Ousso: I honestly can’t say I have great achievements and success, I wish for a lot! And I’m definitely not satisfied at all, I have to focus on my music a lot more, but unfortunately I’m doing lots of things that are distracting my musical development like S.O.S and lots of other projects but I hope that very soon I’ll have to hand it over to someone trustworthy and under my supervision and try to get back to be a full time musician.

Any future plans on your mind?
Ousso: A lot, but I prefer action to talking, so we’ll see.

What do you think of Rock Era magazine?
Ousso: It’s a great magazine and I wish it good luck and more success.

What would you like to say to your fans out there?
Ousso: I would like to thank you for all the support and I want to say that I’m so sorry that my musical input is much less than before, but I promise I’ll be back with new projects that you would hopefully like and enjoy.

We really would like to thank you for this fruitful interview.
Ousso: Thank you.

Interviewed by: Yasser Mohamed

“Circus” how did you come up with such name for the band?

Circus: Well, we were considering several names and really funny ones were upon the list as G-string, but then we thought of choosing a name that reveals the nature of the society we are living in, where it’s a huge chaos with a lot of deep inner feelings hidden behind one smile and a show that has to go on day after day no matter what happens. And we intend to show it in our music as well.

Why haven’t we heard about Circus before the rock festival? Was this your first concert or have you performed before in other concerts?

Circus: We’ve actually performed in minor events like universities and within more than one occassion we did street jamming before anyone else thought of doing it. And in the ESK talent show as well, but we were always determnined to not perform in a major event unless we are ready for it as we believe its not by the amount of concerts you perform neither by how big the audience is; its by the amount of influence you can give to even just one listener.

In the rock festival your setlist had a great variety, what genre do you play exactly?

Circus: We can’t name one genre describing our music as its just like we mentioned before its a choatic influenced music; where everyone of us plays what he feels, but if we had to name a genre we would say its a merge of funk rock and alternative rock. 

“Profile” is known that all the members of “Circus” already play in this band exept Bassem your bassist, so can you please tell us about the point and the idea of 2 bands with almost the same members?

Circus: Profile and Circus are two faces of the same coin where we can free our composing capabilities in Circus and enjoy playing amazing acoustic rock covers in Profile.

What was your reaction when you won the 2nd place in Andromida’s Rock Festival?

Circus: We were extremely overwhelmed as it was such a tough competition and most of the bands were so good and there was so much effort put from everyone. But at the end of the day what counts is feeling satisfied about what you are delivering to your audience and we achieved that.

Circus already have some originals, are you planning for any album release soon?

Circus: There are no plans for a complete album release anytime soon but we are intending to record our current tracks specially our single “DILEMMA” and also developing our uncompleted tracks as we have so much in our pockets yet to come.

Are you planning for any summer tours?

Circus: There is definately gonna be a concert before the end of this year and probably we will continue street jamming and focus some on recording our tracks.

How do you see the future of Circus?

Circus: We expect a lot from our originals and we are confident we can do better for we believe. We haven’t thrown our wildest tricks yet.

A word for your fans would be…

Circus: Music is not only ours but yours as well… so we would love to have everybody’s feedback.

Sincerely yours, CirCuS
And thanks man, rock on! m/

Azraq Samawy, many people in the music scene are wondering about the reason of choosing this name, can you tell us about the story behind it?

Well, the blue color is one of the most beloved colors to most of people, and it’s also a color that relates to fancy and psychedelic background which we are trying to implement in our music and lyrics. We’re not talking about realistic issues in most of our songs, but our songs draw spiritual and fancy pictures so I guess this color reflects that.

Why did you choose to play Progressive Arabic Rock although that most of the rock bands always compose their songs in English?

Progressive!! It is an honor to be described as a progressive band but I guess progressive music means that we are playing music which has never been played before, I mean like King Crimson for instance… the presented music that was not available in their time, I guess we play rock, just rock with a psychedelic Pink Floyd-ish influence and other oriental and groovy influences, as for the language, I guess the core and target of playing music is to have fun, and doing this requires communication between the band and the listeners, for best communication and a wider base of listeners we should be speaking our native and mother tongue, the challenge is to present music that will be in harmony with this lyrics, and I guess we fulfilled this. As I have listened to many bands who presented Arabic Lyrics on rock music and it was Just (Konafa Ma7shia Torshy) to me, which left a background for listeners that Arabic and rock cannot be combined or harmonized… Well it could, and I guess we presented this in a good way.

Actually some musicians say that Azraq Samawy play “Contemporary Egyptian songs” not really Progressive Arabic Rock music, how would you response to that?

WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHY?! I mean if we analyze Rock we will find (Rock Beats, scales, attitude, sounds, lyrics, etc…I guess we have enough heavy beats and rock guitar riffs, organ, influenced enough to generate Rock Music , there is nothing wrong with (Contemporary Egyptian Music) But logically we are not doing this, and the biggest proof is this interview from “ROCK” Era Magazine, and we also won the Andromida “ROCK” Festival, so we most certainly do Play Rock Music!

Azraq Samawy plays only their originals, how many albums do you have and what’s your lyrical theme?

well unfortunately we are all not professional musicians, we all work in different places and professions so we do not have the enough time to make a lot of music, we have about 14 Tracks which is about an Album (not recorded yet), but we are trying to have more, about our lyrical path as I have mentioned before we are trying to build up psychedelic theme, use less overused ideas and phrases.

Azraq Samawy have got some reviews saying that your music and lyrics are kinda depressing and disappointing though your music is very great, how would you comment to that?

I would say that we are all living unpleasant realities that influences your best way to communicate with people, which is Music (to me), it is Facts, let me give you an example we have a track called (Salah El-Deen), it is a fact that people manners and attitudes do not deserve a Salah El-Deen (as a sample of good governmental Authority) and that we have to be better to deserve what is better, we have to change ourselves to deserve a new Salah El-Deen, and this is reality, not disappointing or depressive, it is a simple actual fact, that is mentioned in the Holy Quran.

Andromida’s 1st Rock Festival, you have won the 1st place, how did you feel about that?

Felt great, felt Like we are the best, felt like achieving something you like, felt like team work, but I believe that there are some other competitors that if have shared in the competition we would not have gone this far.

Did you really use the prize’s money to start establishing your own studio as everyone said?

Yes and we are still in debt, the prize covered 50% of the cost but it really supported us, I mean without it we would never thought about the studio.

As you play Progressive Arabic Rock have you tried to find a label or a producer, especially that your music can reach everyone easily in Egypt and the Arab world?

I will start this by blaming all music audience, consumers, listeners; I mean no independent underground band regardless to the genre it presents made it to success regarding selling records.

It is a vicious circle, that we are in, no buyer no money no producer, and the only blamed is the audience (as they always attack the wide spread music industries of these days), I think our culture supports to buy a pop star Album rather than trying a new material, our culture supports buying a pack of cigarettes than trying a new band’s release, But we will have a self funded production released by the end of 2010, whenever our financial situation Allows.

As a very successful band that includes very experienced musicians, what advice would you give to the young new bands out there?

Play Music for fun, but do your best to get the best of it, play as tight as you can.

Thanks for your time reading this, hope that we present music that achieve the goal of having your attention and admiration.

Thanks!

Let’s get more involved about the festival…
Amr Hassan: Sure…

Are you considering taking this festival international?
Amr Hassan: Yeah! I was talking with Deep Purple’s Agent to join our festival, but as you know these people has a annually arranged schedule. So when I asked him to be in Egypt next October, he laughed and said let’s think of 2011! Of course the festival will be with another layout and the crew doesn’t have enough experience. And as I mentioned before; if I’m doing something, it should be perfect, and people shall witness something real good!

What problems did the refused bands faced as they sent their demos?
Amr Hassan: They weren’t actually problems. While listening to a band you get a good feeling about them, and you don’t get that feeling for another band! You could find a very good band but their vocalist destroys everything they have. And I have seen many good bands whose vocalists ruin their work. So in the festival; we chose the best 16 bands, maybe some bands felt disappointed because we did not select them, but everyone is welcomed to apply again! For example, Divine, did not apply in the first festival, and in the second festival, they became the winners! And as I am one of five juries, I believe that we have experience enough to judge! Another example; when Kayan band came up everyone objected. But I really like their idea and we gave them a second chance, but seriously, there was no band better than Kayan to be chosen!

A lot of people were wondering if Andromida gave prizes for bands that have their same style. What’s your comment?

Amr Hassan: On the contrary; people argued with us because a band like “The Public” did not win. And others said that we are jealous of “The Public”, that’s why they did not win. And let me ask you something, does Divine has our same style? They play heavy metal. The Jokers, Circus and Synergy all those bands don’t have our same style and yet they won! In the 2nd Vol The Public got the third place, and they were so close to getting the best original prize, but they did a mistake, in which we gave them second chance but it was useless!
In fact, we were thinking to give them two prizes but this is out of El Sawy Culturewheel rules – our second partner in the festival. The Public lost some scores because of really strange things such as; presenting an instrumental track but suddenly finding lyrics and this conflicts with the festival rules! But for the second time it was real good, and they won.

Do you think the “Satanism” issue still affects the Egyptian rock scene?!

Amr Hassan: In 1997, there were only Christians and Muslims in Egypt, and they were friends with each other. Because we are Egyptians and this is our identity. Egyptian Jews lived with us too. But then the internet was introduced. And many strange online chat rooms started on Paltalk through a group called “Diaspora Copts”. And if we talk more religiously rational; you will never find people as religious people as Egyptians. I have traveled abroad and no one even visit a church!

People’s opinions differ between whether Egypt is a secular or a religious country; I believe that we are not even close to either!

Amr Hassan: I see that the main reason is the internet indeed! When Paltalk started you cannot imagine what “Diaspora Copts” did. They are like terrorists not Muslim Brotherhood, because M.B gave advice, not starting a war, and you have to know there are two parties of Muslim Brotherhood; the first; are so peaceful and just advise, the second one are banned and looking for blood! And for example; they threw a bomb in Tahrir sq and 17 person died and they were all Muslims, or throwing a bomb in front of a school in Misr El-Gedidah (Heliopolis) to murder the ex-minister “Atef Sedky”, and sadly a young girl died called “Shaimaa”. And another murder happened targeting the ex-minister of information “Safwat El-Sherif”, and we all know that those people are bribed from abroad to do these terrible murders. But the real Muslim Brotherhood and Sunni people what they want is to let all people understand and apply the Islamic Shariah.

But if the Islamic Shariah got applied, won’t that ban Andromida and the rock scene in Egypt?!

Amr Hassan: Better than to be against God’s precepts! And if you care that much then go and play in anywhere else!

Yeah! But if I am able to work my own way and not harm others…

Amr Hassan: Exactly! If anyone follows the Ten Commandments correctly; like; not to kill, steal or commit adultery then all those strange parties as Muslim Brotherhood, Diaspora Copts and others will disappear because they will not even find someone to talk with. But they work on some uneducated people to control them and they do it, like in the Egyptian movie “The beginning” there was a scene saying; “He is democratic, so he is an atheist!” *laughs*

Okay, let’s now talk about Andromida and its members…

Amr Hassan: Okay; like?

Um, how many musicians participated in Andromida? If we can name some.

Amr Hassan: A lot actually, besides the current members we can say about 10.

Tell us more about Mr Yasser Shaaban and Mr Ihab El-Qalie and their role in Andromida…

Amr Hassan: Well, Ihab was the one who started this project for 16 years (1987– 2003). Yasser joined in 1991 till 1995. And for now; Yasser joins as a guest, but actually Yasser in the time that he was with us, he was so effective because there was no one like him – and till now, I think – he has a very unique voice that none of the others have.

What conditions did you chose for the new members of Andromida?

Amr Hassan: There were no specific conditions for new members, and all of the members came through me, in which days Ihab didn’t know Sherif El-Sharkway or Yasser, so I got people to know each other. What I really care about is their character. And I prefer to do things that last, so character is more important to me than their level or how much professional are they, and of course, their love for the project too. Some people joined but they weren’t like that, so they come and go – join for a concert and that’s it. It happened a lot indeed, so there are no special measures. First the character, and then the level, and we’re just very normal musicians, maybe we have good experience, but our level not that brilliant, I think!

And of course, this is modesty…

Amr Hassan: No really, I mean it; I never said I am the best musician to consider myself the greatest!

But in our music scene, everyone knows that Andromida are one of the most professional and experienced musicians…

Amr Hassan: No! As a musician you have to be like anyone. And you have to know that we are all equal, the one who is playing and the one who is watching. But if you think that you are better than who is watching you on stage, then God will never give you a good return. As simple as that!

And when the band reunited in 2002 how was people’s feedback?

Amr Hassan: Actually, we get back to stage by coincidence. Mr Osama Kamal of 90s Rock-in Festivals, asked us to play in the Telecom Egypt event as a celebration of free internet access and it was a huge official show with ministers and stuff, and we said “why not? Guys let’s play this one and that’s it” *laughs*

And this is the fate… *laughs*

Amr Hassan: Exactly! *laughs*Actually we had a really good show and sound on stage that time, it was about 30 minutes or so. We were not the same members, it was Amgad, Sherif and I, plus a female vocalist called “Mona”. And we had a different style, so we had a good feedback and our sound on stage was good as well, so we determined to continue.

Previously, Yasser was the lead vocalist, but now we all sing. And by time, when we felt that there is some progress, we gave a demo to Cairo Opera House, and they accepted it. Then we got a concert in July, and the stage was full with audience, they missed us, I think! The concert was very good, so the Opera putus in their schedule, which are four concerts per year. So this is how we got back to stage. We then had many disbanding issues, and we even planned a concert entitled “Goodbye”.
And then Ihab traveled, so we asked Sherif Watson to join – we saw him before at Cairo Jazz Club and was very good. Ihab and I asked him to play two songs, then Ihab traveled and we said this was our last concert and then no Andromida was no more, so we asked Sherif Watson “Do you want to replace Ihab?” he accepted, as it was a chance for him to make a career and name, and that helped me for Pink Floyd’s way and Sherif was in the same mood too.

I thought of Pink Floyd since 1993 and it happened in 2004, when I felt that I am capable to play Richard Wright sounds, and Sherif has a very unique imagination in Pink Floyd sounds, so we were playing just a few songs for Pink Floyd not a whole concert.

And for singing with you…

Amr Hassan: Look, I am not a singer, but there are some songs, that I really feel for when I sing. I cannot consider Sherif ElSharkawy as vocalist, but he can sing, and others that are not appropriate, so each one of us is the same.

And maybe Sherif takes the singing issue seriously way more than I, but I still cannot consider him a singer, because I feel he still needs as many vocalist skills as I do. But there are some songs that you really feel when you sing them, and if the audience still accepts it, then its fine. And of course, from time to time we say that we need a vocalist but then we realize no we don’t! Just get a guest, so we go between yes and no. For someone to join he has to really feel it, not just that he is going to perform with Andromida, no, he has to feel it, and if it wasn’t only for a good vocalist, there are many I know I can ask, but for someone to understand our music and feel it, and understands why he is not going to sing this song, just like that.
RE: A lot of people observed the appearance of the old members; is it a preliminary step towards the old Andromida?

Amr Hassan: No! When Ihab El Qalie joined us he was just on vacation – because he works oversea, in Ras Shoqier. And for Yasser, we are always in touch, and he joins us in the Festival as a jury. He is essential for the festival, but Yasser’s style now is more into hard rock, and we are now into Pink Floyd, Camel and progressive music, but Floyd is not Yasser’s style. He was raised on Deep Purple, Yes, and this kind of music which is not so similar to our style but when we play something for these bands, we ask Yasser directly.

As your vision for the Egyptian rock scene future; is it auspicious?

Amr Hassan: It is so auspicious indeed! As you see in the festival, we really have good bands. The Festival exudes many brilliant bands.

RE: The festival itself is something we really are proud of, that is the real music scene that we have…

Amr Hassan: Exactly! It was an idea that came to my mind. I thought that we had to do something for all these good bands, and give them good opportunities and facilities, and will not let them face these bad situations that we faced before. Musicians now will find an appropriate set-up. Previously we played in the desert, you find nothing, and no one was dealing with us as we deal with people nowadays. So I thought to represent our bands, and in the end it is something to face the media with, previously if something happened no one knows anything, but now if you are going to click with your fingers, everyone will shoot you and everyone will talk.

What do you think, is missing the magazine to be worthy of the level of the current teams?

Amr Hassan: Nothing! You are very good. I don’t see anything wrong, and the idea is brilliant. I see the interviews with bands and everything and I really like it so much. It is really a good magazine. And you write the questions in a innovative way, which makes people talk freely, so I see no problems indeed.

Oh, thank you so much we are honored to work for the Egyptian music scene. Well, any promise for your fans for an album…

Amr Hassan: Well, we were supposed to play an original in our last concert (2nd Rock Festival) but it is Finale wasn’t complete. And everyone has to know that we face a big problem, Andromida band plays Pink Floyd’s music in a specific way, so when I play an original it has to be in the same level, and I have seen many people even outside Egypt witness that we are really good to play Pink Floyd like; I was in Italy once and there was an American guy told me that “Hey, I have seen a really good band in Egypt called Andromida” so I was going to say; “Are you kidding me, I am in this band man” *laughs* So I see many good comments, so when I present an original it has to be in the same level, not in Pink Floyd’s level, because they are masters of course, but you have to listen to this original in a concert and then the tune would stick in your head because you really liked it and felt it. But the current problem; you have the band it contains a physician: Dr. Sherif El Sharkawy, and Prof. Ahmed Anwar who works in two or three universities, so people have no time to stay together and compose something, and we all have to stay together to make something really good, and to proudly say that we are Andromida. So if we have no time, I am not sad to play our tribute for Pink Floyd, I can simply create another band that play originals, but for Andromida the band has to stay all together for lyrics, composing, arrangement and everything to present something unique.

How about an advice for the young musicians?

Amr Hassan: Egyptian bands are divided into two; the first who play to show off and play for girls and this is complete nonsense. The second who are respectful bands like; Simplexity, Jokers, Circus, Azraq Samawy, and others who deliver real art, because these guys who will be masters after all. But you know what the real problem is? The young musicians are always in a rush, even to compose originals. To be honest I did not see a band that I really consider it has an original track. I have heard a lot, but I think Simeplxity and then The Public who has the brightest originals.

So it is not about to start originals or covers.

Amr Hassan: As they prefer, in which Simplexity, most of their songs are originals but they are really amazing. Azraq Samawy is a master-piece, and Massar Egbari too. But I am commenting on many bands, even international bands such as; Deep Purple and Scorpions started covers and still, like; Deep Purple playing “Hey Jude” and Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Scorpions, so you have to get some experience from covers first before starting doing your originals.

We have a huge problem to understand and differentiate between a cover and a tribute, like no one can say that Andromida are a cover band.

Amr Hassan: Yes! And by the way, Pink Floyd songs that we play are in the frame of Pink Floyd, but many riffs and details we change through, even if Pink Floyd listen it they will make us a Chapeau! But of course it has to be framed as Pink Floyd. We do not copy/paste, which rarely happens, but many people attack us that we do copy/paste and we have no imagination and we are not able to compose, so we just say “okay, compose and show us!” We just make festivals and we see you, and at the end you come to us and ask us to join! Like when Divine band won, someone came and had a fight with me, and he was wondering “why they won although they play heavy metal” so I did not give him a comment. But after about two weeks he sent an apology message saying sorry that he was upset because his band did not win!

A band is a respect party more than just performance on stage.

Amr Hassan: Well, the band is all about characters. Andromida band is not that young. We don’t jump on stage or something, but we do have a charisma, while I am play on stage, I see people looking. I do not know why, in which I do nothing, I just play music, Ahmed Anwar (bass) he does nothing on stage, just plays, in which he is the most on popular in the band, he is not even a rocker, he is more into Jazz music and for Sherif Watson, his guitar is his personality, and people like to watch him too.

So this is the band’s behavior, you can see many bands are so professional but their personalities are bull-shit, and that makes you think “Enough, I won’t see you anymore” The way to talk to your fans is even a way of art, and you have to be simple, and talk wisely and nicely, but if you see someone is showing off and on stage “Hey guys”, “come on”, “and this f**kin’ song” he will just find an idiot audience just like him and wondering for his nice accent. No dear we have a better accent, before you born, so it is not about showing of. Sometimes you have to talk in English when you have a foreigner guest to understand you, like presenting the band in English, but names will be in Arabic at the end. But if I will present something related to Egyptians; I will say it in Arabic and I will care only for the Egyptian audience, and you have to respect your country, identity, and nationality as well! And by the way, for whom of the people “hey guys” and “hello” these who are the real copy/paste bands. Yea I sing in English okay, but I talk to people in Arabic not in English all the time, and not act in English. And I cannot even understand, why should I do this, in which my audience are; Mohamed, Ahmed, Mena, Botros. So what a nonsense!

Finally, we thank you for your time and such a fruitful interview and we were enjoying our time so much with you.

Amr Hassan: Me too, and thank you so much.

Interviewed by: Mena Ezzat and Yasser Mohamed

Tony, could you please introduce the band to our readers? The origin, the current line-up members and the instruments they play?

Tony: TristMoon is a Lebanese metal band. The current line-up of the band is as follows:
Sako Helvajian: Vocals
Serge Keshishian: Lead Guitar
Gary Kabakian: Bass Guitar
Adel Youssef: Keyboards/Synth/Piano
Tony Tarazi: Drums

How did the band members meet each others?

Tony: TristMoon started with a group of friends coming together with their instruments and their musical vision. The original band members were close friends before they started the band.

How did you come up with the name TristMoon and why did you choose it as the band’s name?

Tony: The band wanted a strong name to reflect nature and man’s cruelty against it. The band members searched long and hard for a suitable name. “TristMoon” was the name that felt the best suited for this theme, and the best reflection of the musical style and inspiration of the band. TristMoon is a combination of words from two different languages: Trist from French, meaning sadness and Moon from English, representing nature.

What genre exactly does the band play and why did you choose this genre?

Tony: TristMoon is a melodic black metal band. TristMoon did not make a conscious decision to play melodic black metal; the genre sort of came out from the musical and lyrical themes and from the natural direction of the songs.

Tony, I knew through the band’s official fan page on Facebook that the band is preparing for an album, can you please tell us about it?

Tony: TristMoon is done recording its debut album and is now in the mastering phase. The songs on the album have taken a long time to be completed, and have gone through a lot of modifications over the years. TristMoon members are perfectionists when it comes to music, and the songs have gone through stages to become what they are on the album. The recording process was hard work, but very enjoyable because the band wanted to record the songs in the best and most authentic way possible. The result is fresh and strong material that will ensure that the fans enjoy the album, and look forward to more music from TristMoon.

What’s the message you want to deliver through this album?

Tony: The album will highlight the synchronization between musical skills and musical potential and their actual translation into music. This album will come as a confirmation that metal music is still alive and well in Lebanon and the Arab world; despite the strong competition from other musical styles, metal bands are still inspired and able to produce good albums that have substance both in terms of lyrics and music.

How are you going to release this album? Did you sign with any label?

Tony: The debut TristMoon album is still in the mastering phase, and we are working towards signing with a label once the final version of the album is complete. The album release would be the next step after signing with a label. As for details about the album release, they will be revealed in time.

Tony, during this summer many metal and rock bands in the Arab world released some albums, for example the Egyptian metal band Wyvern and now we have TristMoon, do you think that this is the start for the underground rock and metal scene in the Arab world to grow and show up?

Tony: We don’t think that the Arab metal scene is waiting for albums from new bands. The Metal scene in the Arab world has been in existence for a long time and there are many well-known bands that release new albums periodically. However, the role that our first album will play in the Arab world is to boost and strengthen the scene with a new style and fresh material.

As an underground metal band, what difficulties did you face while establishing the band and how did you get over them?

Tony: We had some difficulties in establishing and finding our style and the right members (musicians) that can play our style. After a lot of research and hard work we overcame these difficulties and now we know exactly what our style and direction are. The hard thing about being a metal band in Lebanon is to find support for the music we play, whether moral or financial support, and the difficulty in signing with a label here: the Lebanese and Arab record labels are not interested in signing with metal bands because they can make more money from the more mainstream music styles.

What did you feel when you all went on stage for the very 1st time?

Tony: Being on stage is always a great experience. The first time TristMoon played live the band members were of course nervous about the response they will get from the audience. This is no longer a concern because at every concert the fans call out the name TristMoon and cheer long before the members have taken the stage.

Describe the relationship between the band members.

Tony: TristMoon members share almost the same spirit and the same ambitions in music. Each member has his own lifestyle, but when it comes to the band, the members come together as one to create the music, make the decisions, and do what’s best for the band.

What’s your dream show?

Tony: Our dream as band is to participate in international festivals such as Dubai Desert Rock Fest and Wacken, and share this experience with international bands.

What are your plans for the future?

Tony: TristMoon’s future plans consist of releasing the debut album, composing more music and broadening the band’s horizons to become international.

Tony, is there any message you want to deliver to your fans out there?

Tony: TristMoon’s message for metal fans is to remain loyal to metal and not be carried away with other commercial music styles. Metal in Lebanon survives through you! Thank you.