Dubai-based extreme metal heavyweights Nervecell started their Psychogenocide Middle East Tour 2012 this month.
This tour opened in Qatar last week and takes the band to Bahrain’s Rocky’s Cafe on Thursday night and the Ratsky 3 in Dubai on Friday, June 29. The tour resumes in Egypt and Lebanon after Ramadan.
Guitarists Rami Mustafa and Barney Ribeiro take Soundbites inside the tour.
Q: Doesn’t it mean you’ve “made it” when you start touring?
Mustafa: When we first toured outside the UAE, I felt we reached another level. It was very exciting. Not necessarily the feeling of “making it”, but we knew touring was an essential step to becoming internationally-recognised. Now here we are touring in Europe, Asia, Middle East and it feels great to make new fans everywhere we go.
Ribeiro: If you’re in a band and you’re serious about the music you write, you’re going to have to tour. Getting your music out there is essential to generating fans around the world and touring has and always will be the only true and honest way to accomplish that. So have we “made it”? Some might say so. Have we achieved our dreams and goals as a Dubai-based metal band? 100 per cent yes.
Q. To those who haven’t been to a show, what are they missing out on?
Ribeiro: I guess if you haven’t been to a Nervecell gig yet in the last 12 years, you’re probably not into metal music at all or just not a fan of the band. As far as missing out goes, you got to be there in the flesh to experience the pure energy and real essence of the band. For a person who doesn’t like the metal genre, I suggest attending one of the gigs with an open mind and hopefully you’ll learn to appreciate the hard work and persistence that goes into playing extreme music for yourself.
Q. Original material, covers or both?
Mustafa: We play original material from our albums. Every time we release a new album, we tour to support it. We are currently touring for our album Psychogenocide. We do cover a couple of songs by our favourite bands for fun at certain shows, which the fans really like.
Q. Which song do you most enjoy playing and why?
Ribeiro: From our new album, it would have to be All Eyes On Them, it’s groovy, fast, catchy and just really great to see the crowd get into while up on stage. The song is about those in higher authority, “the elite” who hide behind curtains in the public eye, while in reality continue to rule and influence the world we live in by manipulating mankind.
Q. How are you funding the tour?
Ribeiro: We’ve been talking of doing a Middle East Tour for years, so together with our sponsors and record label we’ve finally managed to make this plan come together. Getting to work with the right promoters for each country was the main task. If anything, we owe it to the fans who have always stuck around and supported us over the years.
Q. Nervous or excited about heading across the region?
Mustafa: Very excited to have finally put together such a tour and giving our fans in the Middle East a very special treat this summer.
Barney: Extremely excited and can’t wait to re-unite with our Middle Eastern fan base again.
