SimpleXity - Makshoof Music Profile

While Makshoof Music competition has closed for entries (you can still load your music though!) and the Judging Panel are listening over the next 2 weeks, we're going ahead and making sure we're getting artists covered. This time it's SimpleXity's Omar El Deeb - front-man of one of the more popular bands over the 4 weeks of the competition - who gets the Q & A session.

SimpleXity have made quite a mark on the Makshoof Music Charts in recent weeks, and as you might have guessed by their original artwork, are a progressive rock band from Cairo. We caught up with Omar about the band's musical heritage, how they got together and some of their opinions on the music scene.

Check out SimpleXity's Makshoof Music submission and please feel free to leave a comment.

Tell us about SimpleXity’s origins. How did you meet?

It all started when Aly (Drums) introduced me to Hatem (Former keyboardist) at university early 2007, Aly was not interested at the time to join a new band as he was already active with another band. I had only been playing for a year and a half at the time and wanted to play couple of progressive rock covers and Aly had told me he knew a guy called Hatem interested in the same genre, that's basically when it all started, Hatem and I started laying down some chords and riffs and got really excited to form a complete band where we could play our own stuff.

We auditioned several drummers and by that time Aly had showed interest in joining. Noor (Bass) joined later after we met him through another band called "Ze KhodZ". He is still a member to this day, they happen to be very close friends of ours. However in 2010 Hatem decided to leave due to his studies and work in Germany. We had noticed Ahmed (Keyboards) in the music scene before so we all agreed on the choice of replacement.

How did you come up with the band’s name?

The band name came from a friend of Hatem's. We really liked it and thought it kinda represents our music. Trying to be simple to listeners' ears and yet complex or rich, rather, to those keen on detail.

Your song “A Lone Wolf’s Dying Will” seems to draw, in parts, from traditional Arabic themes. Is this a conscious decision or part of the band’s musical subconscious?

Sure it is! I am really interested in our musical heritage; I'm trying to learn more to be able to introduce it to our music without losing the progressive rock soul (which I think is very versatile and gives space for experimentation). Noor and I picked up new instruments lately just for that matter. Noor picked up the Oud and I picked up the Baglama. Who knows? Maybe one day we will be able to introduce these instruments to our music.

There also seems to be a thriving music scene in Cairo. What do you think is needed to take the Egyptian music scene to ‘the next level’?

The music scene in Egypt has improved a lot since its collapse in the 90s due to the satanic claims by the government. More and more bands are starting to play their own original music. What we really need now is the support of people in our age groups and musicians of different generations, we need more people attending gigs, checking out new talents, and giving feedback. If more people show interest, more venues will be created and more entrepreneurs can spot opportunities.

You’ve been impressive enough to win band competitions in a short space of time. How much do you practice?

At first we had a steep curve when it came to band activity and started writing lots of stuff, playing more gigs; we would jam on a daily basis at times for several hours a day. We were also fortunate enough to play in large festivals such as the SOS music festival and the Nokia Xpresmusic festival which gave us massive exposure in a very short period of time. Sadly there are no more large festivals due to sponsors losing interest in investing in such festivals. We each still manage to fit the band in our schedules and have been working harder since Ahmed joined to try and take our music to the next level.

Your influences appear to be extremely wide ranging, from death metal to introverted pop music to Classical. Do you ever have arguments over how your songs should play out? What is the band’s approach to writing new songs?

Hell yeah! But we believe our differences gave us our own distinct sound so we try and compromise. Aly is a Hardcore Metal fan and has lately been a fan of Post Rock, Noor is more into experimental music, Ahmed was classically trained and is now into newer progressive bands, and I'm mostly into old school Progressive Rock. There are several bands, however, that we all agree upon so it keeps us from going crazy. As for our approach to writing new songs it had always been group work; someone comes up with basis of a song, a basic groove, a chord progression, an idea or lyrics and the rest of us fill in with the rest, each adding his touch.

Where do you see the sales of CDs in the future? Is it a dying media?

I would like to believe otherwise, but that doesn't seem realistic nowadays even though I wish everyone would go to stores and pick up new albums but who am I kidding? Most of my music I got off the internet but that's because imported records are too expensive in Egypt, and that's the case with most people here, I do buy CDs by local musicians though. I believe that with more awareness about the underground music scene and the effort put in writing/recording with proper marketing, more sales could be achieved in the Middle East.

If you were to recommend a place(s) in Cairo for live music, where would it be and why?

Actually SOS music festival was my favorite venue, but due to trouble with sponsors it's been halted. Now very little places offer good live music and even less places for the kind of music we play. It is basically narrowed down to El Sawy Culture Wheel in Zamalek, Cairo and even that venue is starting to give rock bands a hard time. However there are neat venues for upbeat music around Cairo and coastal touristic cities.

And finally, If you could perform with any band in the world who would it be?

Most of the bands I would like to perform next to hit their peaks in the 70s. it's funny because - given our difference in influences - such a question could cause us to be all over the place arguing about how one band is so much more kickass than the other. But I guess there is one active band we would all agree upon; Porcupine Tree.