‘I think our music will be very catchy for the multi-national audience in Dubai,' says Massar Egbari's Ayman Massoud
The Rhythm & Reels segment of the Dubai International Film Festival this year celebrates the union of cinema and sound with a spectacular line-up of biopics and musicals, complemented by live performances by popular Arab and international acts, from Rima Khcheich, Massar Egbari and Y-Crew to a mariachi ensemble, specially flown in from Mexico.
The award-winning band Massar Egbari, which was formed in 2005, specialises in alternative Egyptian music, fusing rock, jazz and blues with pure Oriental music. Ayman Massoud, manager and keyboardist of the band spoke to tabloid! about the band, its members and their upcoming performance on Friday following the screening of the film Microphone, which features some of the band's songs.
Explaining why Massar Egbary defines itself as an alternative music band, Massoud said that for the last few decades, pop music dominated the music scene in the Arab world, leaving no space for other genres of music, such as rock, jazz, blues and others.
Friends
"These are the genres of music we used to listen to, in addition to Oriental music, so our music is a fusion between our Oriental roots and our rock background," he said.
The five-member band was founded in 2005 by Ayman Massoud, Ahmad Hafez, Tamer Attalla (AKA Toussy) and Hany Al Dakkak, and in 2008, Mahmoud Siam joined the band.
"We are all friends since our childhood, and we all used to play in other bands in Egypt. In 2005, we decided to quit our bands, and start our new project. Our French friend Benoit Fabry, a trumpet player, played a very important role in establishing the band."
According to Massoud, the band's name reflects the idea behind it. "We decided to choose our name Massar Egbari, meaning ‘compulsory direction' as a sarcastic name, because we realised that the social power is trying to stereotype everything in our lives, leaving no space for creation and innovation," he said.
‘Dreaming'
"When you are a kid, and you discover your talent and you start dreaming of it, you face the fact that you have to go to school, then you finish school and you think that it's time for you to fulfill your dream, but you are forced to go to the university," he said.
"This is followed by work, getting married and having children, until at the age of 40 you discover that you lost years and years of your life and you never fulfilled your dream, you were just pushed to do what the society wanted you to do," he added.
When asked about the songs people like most during the band's concerts, Massoud said that depends on the venue and the country.
"When we started to play in Europe, we realised that people there get more attracted to songs with oriental melodies and dance-y Egyptian beats like our song Ghammad Einek (Close Your Eyes) .
"In Egypt, lyrics play a very important role in the success of the songs, so a song like E'ra el khabar (Read The News) and Hawy (The Illusionist) are considered hits," he said.
The band's performance in Dubai is not only its first in the UAE.
Excited
"Actually this is our first time in an Arab country. We played hundreds of concerts in Egypt, Italy, Turkey, Macedonia, Malta and Zanzibar, but never played in an Arab country, so we are really excited about this concert. It's important that people understand the lyrics of the songs," Massoud said.
However, the band members are confident that the multi-national audience in Dubai will like their music.
"I think our music will be very catchy for the multi-national audience in Dubai, as it mixes Oriental music with other genres like rock and jazz. I hope Dubai public will like our music and our lyrics".
As for what songs the band will play, the obvious choices are the tracks played in the film Microphone, including E'ra el Khabar, Mafeesh Haga (There's Nothing) as well as a playlist of original compositions and some traditional tracks re-arranged by the band.
"We would like to say that we are really excited about this concert as it is our first concert in the Arab world, and we hope that people enjoy our music, and we hope that they like the film Microphone, Masoud said.
Free screenings
All Rhythm & Reels screenings are now free for the public to attend, Diff announced on Monday. The Walk at JBR is launched as a new venue this year for the film screenings and live performances. It kicks off tonight with the screening of Mexican classic Enamorada followed by a concert featuring 12 performers from Mexico, the six-member mariachi group Impulsor de la Musica Representativa de Mexico and a six-member team of folk dancers from the Ballet Folklorico Yolitzi Widen de La Laguna. Lebanese singer Rima Khcheich will perform on Thursday following the screening of My Wife's Husband (Jaoz Marti). Friday sees the screening of Microphone and the performance by Massar Egbari and Y-Crew, an Egyptian hip-hop group. Age restrictions apply to the films.
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