Egyptian Pop Rock

They’re cool and fun, they’re your favorite next-door neighbors — your exceptionally talented next-door neighbors. Meet Salalem, the local ‘Egyptian pop’ band that has garnered a wide fan-base and is slowly metamorphosing from an underground band to a successful full-fledged band. Salalem literally means stairs, referring to the Ain Shams University stairs where the first three band members started performing. Starting off as three friends jamming, Salalem now comprises six members or “entertainers” as they like to refer to themselves. Mohamed Ali (aka Walkman), Mohammed Jamal (Jimi), Ezz Shahwan (El General) and Sherif Nabil are full-time musicians, while Osama Saad (Oss) and Amr Sayed (Solo) have day jobs in addition to being loyal band members. According to Aly, it was difficult to continue practicing and performing at university. “Our music was different, it was too khanafis (cool). And the university started making it hard for us to perform there, so we ended up holding our first concert in 2005 at El Sawy,” says Aly. This concert triggered Salalem’s music career, and ever since it’s been one successful step after the other. Climbing Up the Stairs “There was a phase before 2007 and another one after 2007. Before 2007, we were the worst band in Egypt,” says Jimi. It is not everyday you find an artist this honest about the quality of their work. Aly jumps in to explain that they “used to play romantic songs. They were very commercial songs written for a girlfriend. After 2007, we got rid of most of our songs and worked on new ones.” The band’s wake-up call came when they performed alongside several other bands in front of an audience of more than 200,000 people at SOS Music Festival 3, in the Chinese Gardens at Cairo International Conference Center. “Many bands were also performing, so hardly anyone from the audience gave us any attention,” says Jimi. Despite their initial horrifying experience, the band now has more than a few successful concerts to brag about. “One of our most memorable concerts was held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in 2010. It was a big concert with more than 5,000 attendees. And, honestly, we owned the stage,” says Jimi. “And at another concert, also at the Bibliotheca, it reached a point where the voices of our audience was louder than ours.” The band members unanimously agree that they don’t perform with a hidden message in mind. “The music we play is very simple and we tend to focus more on the lyrics. The only instruments we use are guitars,” says Aly. Salalem entertainers say that the process of creating a song is “like a workshop.” A member of the band starts writing something, usually Aly, then the rest of the members will start improvising and giving input. “We also get some of our poet friends to write songs for us,” explains Aly and Jimi. According to Aly, despite his initial reluctance to embrace the description, good art is a result of a feeling or an inspiration. “I used to make fun of things like ‘good art is a feeling or an inspiration,’ yet it is actually very true.” Salalem’s lyrics are mainly inspired by Egyptians everyday life and problems like bureaucracy, traffic and consumerism. Their songs “Kelma ‘Abeeha” (Vulgar Word) and “Fe El Autobees” (On the Bus) are examples of that. When asked to define their genre, Salalem did not have a definite answer: “We don’t fall under a particular genre, but many people describe our music as Egyptian pop,” says Jimi. “We are like Robbie Williams. We appeal to the masses, yet the subjects we tackle are not shallow,” says Aly. I humbly beg to differ. I think the best way to describe Salalem’s music genre is a fusion of pop music and soft rock; in other words, pop rock. The Salalem band is diverse and has performed on several stages and in numerous venues from private parties to weddings, school proms, clubs and cultural outlets. “Performing at parties, weddings, proms and birthdays is business and people approach us,” explains Jimi, “but on the other hand, we are the ones who get in touch with the cultural venues like El Sawy to plan a concert.” The Future of Music Like many other Egyptian underground bands, the band’s main obstacle is money. “We try to work during the day to make money to fund it [the band]. So far, we finance everything and we have a fund box in which we save money that is used to finance anything related to the band,” says Aly. Yet despite the band’s need for a sponsor, the band believes not having one has its advantages too. “It is better not to have someone financing us, so that they don’t have a reason to control or influence our music,” says Aly. The band is currently working on their album Kelma ‘Abeeha, which they are hoping to launch soon and create videos for some of the songs on it. But the band will not launch their album until they have created a bulletproof production and distribution plan, orchestrated by a professional. “We are still on the lookout for someone to fulfill that position. So far we are managing ourselves,” confirms Jimi. Aly and Jimi both agree that the January 25 Revolution has paved the way for local bands to shine, but they are skeptical about which bands will manage to maintain their success and successfully break out of the mold of being a revolutionary band. “We hope that we take advantage of this new and growing interest. Nonetheless, we aren’t really an ‘occasions’ band. We want any person — for or against the revolution — to listen to us and feel happy.”