CAIRO WEST MAGAZINE INTERVIEW
How do you think the Egyptian music scene is changing post-Revolution?
Before the Revolution there were a lot of bands such as Wust El Balad, Hazem Namira, and others who crossed-over from the underground scene to the mainstream, and this has continued since the Revolution happened so this is not new. What you have seen are major developments in three areas: graffiti or street art, music, and poetry. The music scene in Egypt now is living off of major developments in the field of poetry, because this is where we get our words. There is a new generation that is finally coming into its own after the Revolution that has seen a lot of major changes and these are the people who are really coming up with the latest in poetry.
That said; there are a lot of positive movements in music that I see happening right now. Audiences are growing, and beginning to ask for something new. They don’ t want the same types of music that they have been hearing for the last twenty years, and they are starting to flock in greater numbers to new and emerging artists. In the past it would have been impossible to imagine filling a venue with 1,000 people to see an alternative performance, but now this is becoming easier.
What do you feel is the most difficult part about developing Egyptian music?
I feel that technically we are still not experimenting to the level that we should. Egypt has a very deep
Dina El Wedidi in studio
tradition of music and up until the 1960’ s we were the leaders in developing the Arab world’ s music scene and need to return to that today. For example, back in the 70’ s there were hundreds of maqamat or scales that musicians used, but now that number has disappeared and almost all of the songs that you hear only work on 20. In all, there have been no major developments in the music scene in the last 40 years, and this is what really needs to change.
We also need to start to see much more support of independent music in Egypt and need to have more involvement from the community. The new festivals that have appeared on the scene are great and are helping us reach larger audiences and provide an outlet for growth and change, but I would like to see a real jump in the music scene in Egypt as a whole. Maybe even have independent artists start appearing on the radio?
When can we expect your upcoming album? Will it focus on your current style of music or something new?
Up until this point I have been working on an album that should come out at the end of the year or the beginning of next year. It is really the same style that you hear in the concerts, but who knows, maybe I will start to work on a few new things and they can be the surprise of the album!
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