Egypt recently becomes known with its talented musicians. From Mansoura city, the third biggest Metal centre in Egypt after Cairo and Alexandria, group of Metal lovers shared their Metal powerful aspirations and formed a strong minor community together. Amr Medhat who hit the stage alone in many concerts to play and perform many covers for great Metal bands as Iron Maiden and Metallica in addition, he founded a studio for jams, recording and musical instruments in Mansoura called “Distortion Studio”. After long years of Metal passion, He becomes a member in British/Egyptian project Awaken Within that revives the music of Heavy Metal music in the Egyptian Metal Scene after years of absence and he was announced as a live member in the Egyptian Legendary band Odious. We have the chance to have this interview with Amr Medhat to have a closer look at this long journey of music passion.
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Thank you for allowing me to have this interview, so What did direct you to the path of music and who taught you to play guitar and vocal?
Amr : Thank you for your kind hospitality & attention, the pleasure is all mines, first of all & referring to your 1st question, let me tell you about it, the magic, it’s the sweet affection from what is called music, it’s what I felt & knew through a whole long years since my early tippy days in life! This happened when my parents sensed something so early! a gift in their very young kinder child! A talented ear where I used to grab an xylophone & simply play known kids medleys like Happy birthday, twinkle, national anthem, etc. without a problem, without being taught how to, since then, a passion deep inside was born & grown as time passes, till I picked my aim, sensed my most passionate thing after years of playing piano & keyboard with no aim to learn, those ears got it all! It’s the E. Guitar magical distortion thing that drove me insane! Here’s where it all began, metal came rising with experience, guitar was bought! Now you know the rest where passion driven to the extreme, this reaction became unstoppable with tons of well known metal tracks to cover! To finish answering your question, I’m a self taught musician referring to guitar as well as vocals, no internet, no open world to aim through learning for a young kid holding a guitar back then, just good ears, enough talent, maybe few tabs to work efforts with, above all years & years of passionate time in a room for 2, me & the guitar.. Passion is the key word.
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I am from the young generations who were directed to Metal through older friends or musicians, and young generations are lucky because they have Internet. so I just write the name of the band “tick” I have the full discographies. But, When I talk about Metal passion in 1995, 1996 and those years how did you exchange music and meet and know each other ?
Amr : As I mentioned there was no internet back then, but there was the mother of all music channels, the MTV, I was lucky to watch & keep tracking full rockumentries even watch bands go live streaming for a whole golden era of rock & metal in the 80’s & 90’s! I saw Nirvana doing their Mtv Unplugged the moment it was happening! This felt good back then & meant something nowadays! Guess am old enough but yea I’m lucky! We friends in metal used to pick & find each other like magnet! It’s not that hard to happen as we used to buy, record exchange cassette & video tapes, of metal of course! Yea it’s been the old way & the hard way comparing with nowadays but, it’s always beed said: Old is gold.
Aren’t having solo concerts in Mansoura something challenging, how did you handle that ?
Amr : Yes definitely making a show, a solo metal show for a one man on stage performing metal with a guitar & mic is something totally uncommon, bravery & even weird to achieve in Mansoura! I even ask myself sometimes, did I really do that!! I made more than a dozen shows in many clubs, as well as in many concerts that used to get organized mainly in Mansoura Universityfaculties! I believe I had nearly a rare percentage of true metalhead attendances, in most shows, but I’m so sure of one good thing! I’ve seen how excited, reactive & passion in response they or most of them were truly in! It was in their eyes, their screams! Can you imagine boosting the mood of tons of people who are mostly and barely arabic music listeners only, introducing the passion of metal live performed to their minds, ears & even taste! I know I made it, I made many people turn to be metalheads from the scratch, it’s like message spreading, with passion flowing as driving force! I know deep inside, I might have changed those people’s lives somehow cuz I know it clearly… Metal totally changed mine already !
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I want to talk about the idea of Distortion studio. Why did you decide to find it and set up a professional studio ?
Amr : The idea of making DisTorTioN Studio simply popped up & crossed my mind in a moment of inspiration! a moment I started believing in what I can do, in achieving something out of this talent that already went into the deep! Above all I decided to take a chance in mixing the hobby or what I like to do & what I do the best, with a career that can run business out of, it’s a non usual chance, not everybody can easily have this mix in a successful way, I believe am lucky enough to have it done for 7 years now & counting, thanks god for this! Besides the idea of running a studio is totally a challenging one & resulting from thinking out of the box, resisting the traditional circumstances that the society forces most of us usually to bound by what we get attached into, what we studied, weather it’s our choice, or even been stucked into, I believed it’s never too late to take this chance with even a risk if it’s going to work, or not! Cuz 7 years ago it wasn’t quiet a clear picture that there’s a sufficient material to build a musical scene in a semi small city like Mansoura, but with an eye of prediction I saw it coming, & simply it did, my studio is even like a home of music, where many bands were already formed, musicians randomly meet, get to know each others, pass some friendship phase & resulting in forming bands! Its a very interesting feeling if you ask to watch this happens from the scratch & being a reason that it did, with many well known bands now !
Moving to Awaken Within, you released 1 EP and number of singles then you participated with Paul Martin in his solo project. How did you and Paul Martin form the idea of Awaken Within and how do you put the concepts of the band? And, What was the feedback you received from the audience after releasing Awaken Within music and Chapter II by Paul Martin ?
Amr : Reffering to my English band AWAKEN WITHIN, It all began when Paul Martin from Nottingham U.K.(music producer/song writer/guitarist & brutal vocal) found me & picked me up after watching one of my famous tracks cover on my YouTube channel! He somehow liked the way I do vocals & decided to share some collaboration single tracks! Soon after he decided & offered me to join forces for more valuable efforts & Awaken Within was formed, soon after, our lead guitarist Ryan Thomson from Scotland joined as well, we released a self titled EP for a start to introduce our music, now we’re working on a full album titled “Eye Of Prediction” to be released in 2017. Paul didn’t stop at this, he’s a hardworker & got enough potential to join me even in his solo project & the album “CHAPTER II” was released last year, it gained pretty good success as the music & lines were more enriched & more experienced! It also got reviewed on AudioInferno webzine rated (4.5/5) This meant something good to us after all !
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Being a musician in Egyptor the Middle East in general, what are the problems you faced through you career ?
Amr : The major & common problem that nearly every professional musician in Egypt may face could simply be mentioned in the lack of true sponsorship, you have to work very hard on yourself if you decide to take this path, spend countless efforts, time & surely lots of money to pay your expenses (equipments, studios, recordings, tour expenses inc. travelling, hotels, stage, tour bus & much more stuf!) it’s a tough job with a price to pay somehow for any band wishes to step to the next level! Aiming for sponsorship & getting financially covered sooner or later that would surely ease up things & aid to spend much more efforts, release more albums, & go deeper! After all as long as you enjoy what you do, there’s always a way! & remember, music is a self remedy within itself,… A healer if I have to mention.
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How do you see the Egyptian Metal Scene now ?
Amr : Referring to the Egyptian metal scene now, I mention a one big happy family with wide spread metal brotherhood! It’s an advantage that we individually attach & support each other’s, we work in good & professional steps despite the countless obstacles & routines we always face from the society, sometimes it’s governmental! That’s considering arranging live concerts at 1st place, despite all of this we succeeded & keeping up in steady steps, we brought many international bands sometimes with huge big names to Egypt! We shared the stages we shared the fun! I consider myself one of the luckiest ever to share the stage with the Finnish Doom legends SWALLOW THE SUN during our show as ODIOUS last year in Metal Blast Festival in Al Sawy Cultural Wheel ! This made a good example of how capable, strong & deserving our Egyptian Metal Scene really is.
Moving to talk about Odious and when I mention the name of Odious I mean a part of our Metal National Pride. The rising wave of Metal lovers and Metal musicians in Egypt haven’t the chance to see Odious live, we just heard about Odious, we just listen to their beautiful “Mirror of Vibrations”. When “Skin Age” came it was like a surprise, Odious invaded the whole scene with this canonical piece in the history of our scene, the whole Egyptian Metal media talked about Skin Age, even It reached the international ears. As every Metalhead has a story with Odious, then What’s your story with Odious ?
Amr : Actually, I was surprised when Odious announced you as a live Guitarist, a musician who wasn’t in Odious old line up, even not an Alexandrian musician. How did they contact you? Referring to my story with Odious & how it finally came to all this, there’s a lot to say in fact! Here you mentioned their 1st full album , release “Mirror Of Vibrations” It was my gate to enter their world, when I first listened to it, I seriously couldn’t believe that these guys are from Egypt! Sooner I attended 2 live shows for them performing the whole album! Later me & the band members inc. Shehab Ismail, their manager from Cairo got to know each other more & get closer, I could be considered their biggest fan back then, I was so much inspired by their genius oriental/black unique vibe, never imagined that after six years from this & after the release of SKIN AGE, I received a direct offer from them to join forces as a live session guitarist, it was even above being a dream to cross my mind being the guitarist in the most inspiring ever band to me, & finally here I am! there’s a big fantasy I truly enjoy in my story with ODIOUS! It’s the closest to the story from the movie “ROCK STAR” starring “Mark Wahlberg”, you’re obsessed with some band, you become their biggest fan, they notice how passionate & dedicated you get, they give you the chance in an offer, & here you are rocking the stages with them, it’s an interesting story that sometimes gives me the shiver when I get to remember details !
Having first concert with Odious in the biggest Metal Fesitval in Egypt, at Al Sakkia, and the headliner is Swallow The Sun. What was your feeling while playing Skin Age ?
Amr :Â Yes it’s true, Metal Blast Festival 2016 that happened to be my first ever live as ODIOUS guitarist was literally set to be almost the biggest & most important event ever to strike in the history of the Egyptian Metal Scene! It’s success was beyond expectations in one legendary night at Sakkia! To me the feeling I had on stage performing my beloved SKIN AGE was totally like a dream! A very exciting badass dream I couldn’t believe! I really wished I never wake up from, & it never ends !
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So, What’s next ?
Amr :Â What’s next is, according to ODIOUS, we already are hitting Alexandria so soon in a live show in Marc, On the other hand, according to Awaken Within, as I mentioned working on our soon coming full album “Eye Of Prediction” this year, besides another 2 Ep’s in the solo project of Paul Martin as well, that’s all what comes in si
ght for now so far, but I’m sure, it won’t be all.
ght for now so far, but I’m sure, it won’t be all.
Interviewer : Rana Atef
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