• “Anam Cara” is a Gaelic phrase meaning “soul friend” — a concept rooted in deep spiritual kinship and connection. Why that title for this record, and what does it mean in the context of what you were creating?

I originally had a Celtic mythology theme for this album, but drifted from that during the writing process but the phrase “Anam Cara” sounded right for the album. Music to me is like a soul friend.

• You’ve described this as your most experimental release yet — and Sun Raven’s sound already spans atmospheric prog, post-rock, sludge, jazz, and psychedelia. Where do you feel you pushed furthest into new territory on this album compared to your previous two records?

The first two records were more rooted in metal music with elements of progressive, alternative, ambient. I felt like I had gone as far as I could creatively within that style. For “Anam Cara” I wanted it to be more difficult for the listener to define a certain style and just wrote with almost total freedom but still having elements that made it sound like a Sun Raven album.

• Sun Raven is entirely your own vehicle — you write, compose, produce, and perform everything yourself. What does that total creative solitude give you that a band environment couldn’t — and is there anything it takes away?

I like having the freedom to create what I want without having to compromise for other people. Part of the reason Sun Raven is a solo project is because I haven’t been able to find like-minded musicians that live nearby to work with. Sun Raven started as a band with a vocalist and bassist but the creative process wasn’t working with those other musicians so I decided to do everything myself and make the music purely instrumental.

• The album draws comparisons to artists as varied as John Carpenter, Mogwai, Russian Circles, Tool, and Godspeed! You Black Emperor. When you’re composing instrumentally without lyrics to anchor the listener, how do you guide the emotional and narrative journey of a piece from beginning to end?

Song titles play an important role to set the mood of an instrumental song, I think they give the listener a visual starting point. Having an underlying melody is also important, even if the guitar part isn’t playing a lead guitar melody, having strong melodic notes within a chord progression creates a memorable song without a vocalist.

• “Anam Cara” is described as the perfect soundtrack for creative thinking — dense, hypnotic, and cinematic. Do you compose with a visual or narrative world in mind, and if so, what did the world of this album look and feel like to you while you were building it?

Sometimes I have a theme for a song and that will influence the type of instruments, chord progressions, time signatures I use. Other times it will just be a spark of inspiration that seems to come out of nowhere and I feel as if I am more of a vehicle for this creative process and I try and flow with it as much as possible.

• Three albums in and the project is still evolving rapidly. What does the horizon look like for Sun Raven — and is there a sound or a concept already forming that might take the project somewhere new?

I feel like I have hit a creative peak with this album and Sun Raven. There will probably be another Sun Raven album in the future but for the near future I am focusing on a new project that I hope will also become a band with other musicians, it’s called Evahfar and it will be the first public project to feature me on vocals as well as performing all the instruments for the debut EP. It’s sound is based in Alternative Rock with Jazz and Folk influences. I am really excited about it.

Anam Cara is a Gaelic phrase meaning “soul friend” — a term for someone who sees and accepts you completely, who meets you in the deepest part of yourself. As a title for an album of this scope and interiority, it is exactly right.

Anam Cara moves through its ten tracks with the logic of a dream — hypnotic, dense, and cinematically assembled, blurring the lines between atmospheric progressive rock, post-rock, experimental music, jazz, psychedelia, and the sludgy, distortion-heavy weight of heavy alternative. Heavy guitars coalesce with dream-like reverbs and beautiful, expansive soundscapes, creating something that sits comfortably alongside the work of John Carpenter, Mogwai, Russian Circles, Tool, and Godspeed! You Black Emperor — while remaining unmistakably Murray’s own.

The compositions achieve a strength greater than the sum of their parts — each piece built from interwoven inspirations that interact and evolve rather than simply stack. The result is the perfect soundtrack for creative thinking: music that fills space without demanding attention, commands attention without demanding anything in return, and rewards both passive listening and deep immersion with equal generosity.

Each track carries its own resonance — from the opening “Bridge Between Worlds” through the title track, the blank-slate meditation of “Tabula Rasa”, the prismatic “Kaleidoscope”, the ancient mythological pull of “Eiocha”, the shifting atmospheric weight of “Change of Season”, “Shadow of Truth” and the precise moment of “Kairos”, to the emotional declaration of “U R Everything” and the graceful departure of “Leaving Orbit.” Ten pieces. One continuous, coherent world.

Sun Raven is Stephen Murray’s creative universe — a project built on the freedom to go anywhere the composition demands, unconstrained by genre, expectation, or collaboration. Murray handles every element himself, shaping each track from initial idea to final mastered output with a composer’s instinct and a producer’s ear.

Anam Cara is his third full-length release and the point at which Sun Raven’s experimental ambitions find their sharpest and most confident expression. The sonic palette is broader than anything he has attempted before — progressive and post-rock at the foundation, with jazz, psychedelia, and experimental music woven through every arrangement. Heavy where it needs to be. Beautiful where that serves better. Always in motion.

Aptly named The Next One (since the first one was entitled The First One), the forthcoming album sees Brown continuing his journey of sound discovery and he invites his listeners to open their minds and walk the path with them. Largely self-taught, the production levels Brown produces are quite high quality and his composition borders on classical, which means he must have researched quite a bit to put these albums together. Listening to his earlier singles, “Meat Grinder Variations No. 1” and “Approaching Equinox,” it’s clear that Brown has that sound scientist (or mad scientist) spark and curiosity that has made so many of the greats in progressive and experimental music.

My albums are meant to be like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: “You never know what you’re going to hear.” If one tune isn’t your favorite flavor, try a different one.

I blend music genres, geographic regions, languages, instruments to make unique music with emotion and feeling. Some songs invoke fun or playfulness, while other songs are closer to rock or jazz, and others are entrancing psychedelia, an auditory space to explore or be enveloped within.

That’s certainly the case with The Next One, which, in its four preview tracks, covers everything from funk to new wave to new age to true ambient music. The box of chocolates is on full display and no matter what fans choose, the selection will be high quality and interesting, with different textures and flavours throughout each piece.

I write music to capture the sound and feeling of being in a new and unfamiliar, or perhaps mysterious, but always unthreatening place. I try to invoke feelings of being in a new space, real or imagined, for the listener to think “That’s interesting!” or “I hadn’t thought of that before. Cool!” I want the listener to enjoy experiencing music that is new and interesting, with no pretense or lessons; just the listener observing and coming along for the ride.

A fan just as much as an artist, Les Brown invites his audience to tinker with him and find the fun and experimentation in sound. The Next One is the next one in a trilogy of albums, so Brown is still just getting warmed up!

Independent Music Promotions Inc.

King Analog kickstarted his self-titled record with Transporter, a heavily psychedelic tune with spacey sound and high energy levels. It says a lot about the journey he’s taking us into, with its insanely jazzy interesting drumming and detailed guitar work, in a dynamic changing structure that powerfully progresses into a more extensive and heavier direction that I dig, such a promising start. Overdriver comes next pushing King Analog‘s boundaries further and building on its predecessor’s energy, starting with shreddy effects before exploding with pounding drums, deep-hitting bass, and carefully crafted riffs and guitar melodies that bound it all together in a seamless everchanging flow, all overlapped by subtle “guitar hero” moments that are guaranteed to keep you hooked and entertained till the end. Demonstrating King Analog‘s progressive diverse writing Elixir comes next. It has a slowly cooked buildup that prepares the listener for its relentless progression, taking us on a ride towards a sound that only gets bigger gaining layers and complex arrangements as we move forward. With a strong groove and eargasmic arpeggios, Escape Velocity kicks in before dramatically turning into a bluesy mellow guitar fest. It sounds like King Analog is powerfully mixing diverse sounds and influences in one big fluid structure, playing around and moving from one to the other with intense shifts and an energetic boosting groove. Rain steered the record’s dynamics towards a calmer, more spacious grounds showing the other side of King Analog. Aiming towards a bigger atmospheric sound, it softly guides us with warm chords, emotional melodies, and heart-hitting licks on a dark bittersweet road that helps introduce a different taste to King Analog‘s mix. Lowrider UFO hits next, highlighting King Analog‘s writing and shredding abilities. He opened it with an aggressive bassline setting up the mood before coming at the listener with full force laying some complex riffs and insanely good solos, all in perfect harmony and with a well-arranged flow that made it one of the record’s most enjoyable tunes. Advent X ends the journey with a psychedelic atmospheric mix, it has an open-sounding structure with lots of space to be properly heard and understood, as each line is taking its time to be fully digested and to build up for the next. The mix between the fuzzy and clean guitars created a haunting mood that felt like being absorbed within fluid soundscapes that I wished it never ended.

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King Analog‘s self-titled debut says a lot about his solid musicianship and seasoned writing. He cleverly steered among his influences and added his own touch to that unique mix, organically creating something that’s his very own. Looking forward to more from King Analog, keep on rocking. Cheers!

First, I’d like to salute you for such incredible rock vibes. Tell me did it all start since your first EP in 2018?

Thank you! In terms of my music career, the first EP ‘A Demonstration’ in 2018 was where it all began. I have been playing guitar since I was 12 years old (14 years in total). I had been writing and recording music for a few years before the 2018 EP, but I didn’t release any of it. Once I had the songs written for ‘A Demonstration’ I really felt like the music should be heard and made the decision to launch my music career.

Although you focus more on instrumentals I noticed there’s singing in ‘Continuity’ was it just like a trial, or do you aim to add vocals in the next releases?

Yeah, it was a trial thing for me to write some lyrics and vocal melodies. The funny thing about ‘Continuity’ is that when I tried to sing it, the key was too high for my vocal range and I couldn’t actually sing it properly! Fortunately, I was able to engage Shaun Marshall, a local Rock Vocalist to sing the song for me in the studio recording. I think in the future, I will have an occasional song with a guest vocalist but the music will continue to be primarily instrumental.

You’re about to collaborate with the keys master Derek Sherinian soon. Tell us something exclusive about your next release. 😉

Very exciting news indeed! I have been playing LTD Guitars for some time now, the track with Derek is the first time I will be using my Fender Stratocaster since my 2018 EP ‘A Demonstration’. I can also tell you the track name – it is called ‘Shakedown’ – you heard it here first folks! It is hard to say at present but I hope this track is released in November 2021 at the latest.

It seems you are into film scoring as well, what indie film you’re about to work on soon?

Yeah, film scoring is an exciting new venture for me, I have done a little bit of film scoring in High School for an assessment task and a new project I have just begun will be the first time I get to do it in the professional world. The Indie Film I’m working on at the moment is being produced by Australian Indie film Producer ‘J Point MC’ and it is inspired by the 1986 movie ‘Highlander’. The music I am preparing is to run behind a scene which involves a sword fight to the death, and a theme song for another section of the film. It is yet to be named and the release date has not been finalized yet. Be sure to sign up to my mailing list at bradydentmusic.com or follow me on social media to stay posted on this one!

Definitely you are doing a great job by working solo, but are you aiming to add any members for your project band soon?

Next year I would like to add some members to the project band, particularly in the rhythm section with Bass and Drums. I have a couple of people in mind but nothing set in stone yet. Stay tuned!

It’s pretty obvious that rock icons have a huge influence on your music. In your opinion, what’s the fate of rock music especially that everything is getting trendy electro-pop these days?

This is a great question! It certainly seems that rock music has declined in popularity, particularly compared to where it sat in the 80’s to Mid 2000’s. I think moving forward, Rock Music will be perhaps more of an underground or specific subculture. I think the days of ‘Rock Stars’ or really big international acts won’t re-occur, but there are advantages of this. For the artists who play this style, I see the relationships between the fans and the artists being more direct and unique. I also believe that if the music and melodies are good, rock music still has the potential to appeal to people who might usually listen to other genres like Pop. With so many rock fans around the world too, I think it will never truly die!

ARTIST REVIEW: BRADY DENT

Well, tell your Rock Era fans, are you planning to release a full-length soon?

A full-length release is a big goal of mine and I am aiming to present my debut full-length album in mid-late 2022. In the meantime, I have a new EP Called ‘Power On’ coming out on Sep 3, so be sure to check that out!

Music videos are an important tool for promotion, still, I didn’t find any, are you planning to film one soon?

Definitely, I have commenced production of a music video for the song ‘Separate Ways’ which is coming out on Sep 3 on my new EP ‘Power On’. There are still a few more scenes to shoot for this video but I’m hoping to release it in October 2021.

Finally, I’d like to thank you for your time, but I was wondering if the COVID effect still threatens our live music scene. What promotional plans do you have for the rest of 2021?

Yes, COVID will continue to present significant challenges in the live music space. Here is Australia, it is possible once vaccination rates increase that some live music opportunities may return and I will be keeping a keen eye on the situation. If restrictions are lifted, some local shows are on the cards. Failing that, there is a brilliant online live performance platform called ‘stageit.com’. Artists can play online for a group of fans anywhere in the world in exchange for tips (usually $1 or $2). I am looking into how to use that platform and may do some performances on there.

Thank you so much for the interview!

Well, this is what we can call a solid-state rock atmosphere, I believe when you check his latest single ‘Hot Shot’ you gonna get a live example of the 80s and 90s era in our modern-day, full of energy and tightness. And if you wanna something more sentimental then I’d recommend Peace of Death, frankly, it’s one of the best rock instrumentals that I have heard in 2021 so far. Brady created an ’80s spirit ballad with modern harmonic scales to create the needed passion to deliver such a message, Peace of Death. Well, now let’s know more about our young artist, he writes, records, and performs as well, in addition, he has one main goal for his songwriting plans which “aims to tell a story with the use of melodies, rhythms and of course, hot licks!” in my opinion his successes in this, I have one recommendation to tell you when you check his music, DON’T CHECK JUST ONE SONG!

Yeah! Because I am really amazed by how each song has its own colour and characteristics, this is really stunning! Frankly, I rarely when I say this, but it’s like I am listening to the next Steve Vai or Joe Satriani. My words come to an end, and it’s now the time to feel the beauty. Enjoy! 😉

What does Instrumental Therapy mean?

Aymen: We’ve been thinking about a name for the band for so long, we had many ideas and got many suggestions but none of which expressed what we were really about. We’ve been looking for a name that reflects what we do. Since we play (Instrumental) tracks, we believe that music can change, and can heal. From here on in we decided that this will be the name of the band, Instrumental Therapy.

Can you tell me about your discography?

Aymen: So far we’ve got 6 original tracks. We worked on the first 3 original tracks on December 2007 (The American Dream, Peace, and The Rise of the Kings) then we played the 4th original (Let’s rock) for the first time in March 2008. Our 5th original (Release) had lines, so we got a guest vocalist in March 2009 concert. Then there was the 6th original (Psycho Therapy) which we are planning on performing in our next gig in July 2009.

Instrumental Therapy changed from a tribute band to an original one, what are the reasons behind that?

Aymen: True, we were concentrating on Joe Satriani tracks till we decided that we needed a new challenge. You can feel the identity of the band from its original tracks; you can be a very good band by covering tracks for well-known artists, but you still won’t have your own musical character until you’ve created your own music with your own feelings and emotion.

Weren’t you afraid of covering a guitar legend like Joe Satriani? What was your reason behind that choice?

Aymen: Joe is a very talented musician, it wasn’t an easy thing choosing him, but that’s the music we loved, and that’s why we chose it. We were ready to put in all the efforts in the world to play his music as tightly as we can. We were even focusing on the sound’s output, so we used our own sound engineer to ensure that we would get the best sound quality in our live shows.

What are the difficulties facing you as a rock band?

Aymen: The most difficult thing is that Egypt doesn’t have variety of known venues to perform real rock concerts, I guess the stage is what a musician lives for. Here we just have three or four places where we can perform rock concerts.

Have you guys signed (or thinking of) a record deal with any music label?

Aymen: We are not signed yet, and yes we are thinking about that.

Have you guys performed any concerts outside of Egypt or are you planning to hit the western world?

Aymen: We still haven’t performed outside of Egypt, we are working on more original stuff to complete at least a one hour setlist.

What are your plans for the future?

Aymen: There are different directions, one of them is to perform concerts outside of Egypt, another direction is to concentrate on recording our 1st album.

How did the band start, when and where?

Aymen: The band was formed in 2007 When Ayman (who was a member in a blues band called Blues on the Rocks) wanted to make a new musical project which basically covers Joe Satriani’s great hits. After some music sessions with some talented musicians trying to start that new project, it didn’t go so well at the beginning. This is because some people weren’t interested enough, some weren’t responsible and some were very good but there wasn’t what we call chemistry or spirit between us. So the idea was paused for a while until Ayman met Mostafa (Drummer) by chance. After a few months, Ayman talked with Mostafa about the idea of covering some Joe Satriani tracks. Mostafa was good enough to go through with the project and he liked the idea. Mahmoud El Masry (X-bassist) who was the bassist of Blues on the Rocks band was ready to join the band as he was a big fan of Satriani, so he accepted Ayman’s offer to join. The band wasn’t ready yet as the project needed another guitarist, and Omar Osama’s touch was strong enough to start the project.

Tell me about your current and former members?

Aymen: The current members are:

• Ayman Moharram: Lead Guitarist and Composer
• Omar Osama: Rhythm Guitarist
• Mostafa Taha: Drums
• Sherif Roshdy: Bass Guitarist
• Ashraf Magid: Keyboardist

Guests:

• Mohammed Emam (Vocal – guest)
• And the former members are:
• Mahmoud El-Masry: Bass Guitarist
• Feras El-Rifae: Bass Guitarist

Do you suffer from any accusations towards the rock & metal scene nowadays in the media? What do you think could be a solution to that problem?

Aymen: We can’t say that we are suffering, we feel the atmosphere is better nowadays, people began to understand what rock and metal is all about, you can hear rock and metal music in T.V. programs and radio, but the problem still exists, some irresponsible individuals can be pinned down as the reason. I guess we can solve it when we begin to respect the music and respect others too, you know what I mean. I mean you have the right to enjoy the music, but you don’t have the right to harm others.

What are your favourite rock bands in Egypt and why?

Aymen: There are many talented bands here in Egypt, Andromida is a good old band, their music is so tight.

How would you categorize your music?

Aymen: I don’t like to categorize our music, we’ve got an oriental touch in some tracks, we’ve got an all rock spirit in other tracks, some are heavy, to feel the real metal music, some are lighter. Well, I’ll leave the categorizing to you, that will be fair enough I guess!

Are there any official videos for the band?

Aymen: We’ve got our videos on our Facebook group, and on the YouTube channel, we also have a Myspace page.

Are you planning on entering any music competitions around the world?

Ayman: I don’t believe in dealing with music as if it is a sport, because competitions were made to show the best, and there is no (Best) in music, but whenever there is a chance to perform music on stage, we’ll be there.

Can you give me names of bands that you shared the stage with and bands that you hope to work with in the future?

Aymen: We shared the stage with (Amadeus) in our 1st concert in Sakia.

Enraged on 8-3-2008 in Sakia.

Redeemers on 11-7-2008.

Give me a brief summary of your previous gigs and concerts?

Aymen:

• • 1st concert (5-8-2007) in Sakia Culture Wheel:
    • The band prepared a list of 10 tracks for the 1st gig as the they were sharing the stage with a Rock band from Alexandria (Amadeus).
  • 2nd concert (17-10-2007) in Sakia Culture Wheel:
    • After the 1st gig the band’s main focus was to cover more tracks to perform a whole concert, after 2 months the band was ready with 18 tracks adding new artists to the list (Steve Vai and John Petrucci).
  • After the 2nd concert, the direction was changing a little bit, the band began to focus on creating original tracks.
    • At the same time Mahmoud decided to leave the band to focus on his business career, so the band had to stop for a while to search for a good Bassist. Feras El-Rifay (a very old friend of Ayman) offered to join the band, and he got in.
  • 3rd concert (11-2-2008) in Sakia Culture Wheel:
    • The band was ready with 3 original tracks for this gig with new Satriani tracks.
    • The three original tracks: The American dream, the rise of the kings and Peace
  • 4th concert (8-3-2008) in Sakia Culture Wheel:
    • Our band shared the stage with a Metal band (Enraged). We played the 3 originals with some Satriani covers.

5th concert (27-3-2008) in Sakia Culturewheel (New Generation’s branch):

• • The band played a new original track “Let’s Rock”
• 6th concert (11-7-2008) at El Sakia Culture Wheel:
  • The band shared the stage with a Symphonic Power Metal band (Redeemers).
  • After the 6th Concert Tarek El-Sharkawy joined the band as guest on the bass guitar
• 7th Concert (28-11-2008):
  • The band took a part in the Ain Shams annual festival which was in Ismailia city.
• 8th Concert (02-03-2009):
  • The band performed in Sakia Culture Wheel and performed a new original track called (Release).

Is there any merchandise for the band?

Aymen: No there isn’t.

When are your upcoming concerts, album, EP releases?

Aymen: We’ve got a rock/metal concert come 9th of July at El Sakia Culture Wheel, we’ll be sharing the stage with Varden, The Room and Enraged. That’s gonna be a big one I guess. 

What do you think of Rock Era magazine?

Aymen: This is a great effort guys, really we are glad you can come up with this great magazine which supports the bands, we wish you the best of luck.

Is there any message you want to deliver for your fans?

Aymen: YEAH, waiting to see all of you. We miss you so much, we’ll be seeing you 9/7/2009, till then, ROCK ON.