Their eyes closed, their ears in tune with the music and their souls dancing in circles around them while their hands produce a euphoria of trance that sets the crowd on fire.
Aly Amr Fathalah and Fadi Wassef Naguib are life-time friends who have always shared an incredible passion for music. At a time when music was not a key topic and trance music was not popular, the duo launched their journey towards recreating Egypt’s name in the music industry.
‘Eye of Horus’ and ‘Spirit of Ka’ were the ambassadors of trance’s early work that represented Egypt on an international scale. Since then, the famous and pioneering duo Aly & Fila became local leaders and international inspirations.
In 2013, DJ Magazine named them among the 20 biggest DJ acts in EDM, and from that point on, the international DJs have not left any top list spared.
After becoming a trance phenomenon, the local duo embarked on a new stage in their artistic career. After occupying top charts around the globe, it was only normal for them to start supporting local upcoming talents. Their radio show and their recording company, both named “Future Sound of Egypt”, are beacons of breath-taking music.
Aly & Fila have received much international recognition in the past year, including being ranked 28th in the DJ Mag Top 100, voted no. 1 in the Trance Podium Top 100 DJ poll, voted no. 1 DJ in the Middle Eastern Music Awards, nominated in the best trance DJ Category in the Ibiza DJ Awards, and voted no. 5 in the Magnetic Magazine Top 100 DJ poll.
The phenomenal trance doctors are currently competing for the one and only first place in the DJ Mag Top 100 – and they are also gearing up for a never-seen before event in Egypt.
FSOE400EGY is the duo’s upcoming concert, which is set to take place at the Pyramids in Giza. The concert’s line up will include several local fresh talents, to serve Aly & Fila’s endeavour in cementing Egypt’s status on the international trance map.
Daily News Egypt talked with the outstanding artists ahead of their upcoming hit, to know more about their background, music and the highly-anticipated FSOE400EGY.
How did you guys meet, and how did you venture into the music industry?
We have known each other since kindergarten, and have remained great friends ever since. During the mid to late-1990’s, we would travel a lot to Europe. It was there that we would collect mix-tapes of Paul van Dyk. When we returned to Egypt, we would listen to the music, and it really served as an inspiration for us to venture into the music industry. We started to learn to make music and we were doing this as a hobby. We never imagined at the time that it would lead to where it has.
How would you define your music?
The best way to describe our music would be to call it melodic, uplifting trance.
What is your favourite thing about trance music?
The way you lose yourself in the music, in the melodies. It is a journey from start to finish. You can also see the reaction of the crowds when we are playing, that they are experiencing that journey.
How did your Egyptian nationality affect your career?
When we first started, DJs were mostly from Holland or the UK, so it was certainly against the norm. But we worked hard and surrounded ourselves with a winning team. We don’t really think it affected us.
Tell us more about the upcoming FSOE400EGY Pyramids concert?
It has been a lifelong dream of ours to be able to play and host our own party at the Great Pyramids! After many years of trying, our dreams will finally come true. We are so proud to be able to host FSOE400 at the Pyramids. The setting is just remarkable. We decided we wanted to support the Egyptian DJs within our genre and who are signed to our record label, Future Sound of Egypt, as well. This is a celebration in Egypt and we felt we wanted to support fellow Egyptian talent by having the DJs play on the line-up. The line-up includes: Amir Sharara, A&Z, Fady & Mina, Mohamed Ragab, Omar Sherif and ourselves. We’ll also bring vocalists Chris Jones and Susana and Karim Youssef.
How do you perceive the popularity of trance music in Egypt lately?
Over the last few years, it has grown considerably. We have tried to push the genre within the country through our weekly radio show, also named ‘Future Sound of Egypt’, and via our record label and the FSOE events within Egypt. The label has many Egyptian artists signed to it and you can see that the genre is growing year-after-year inside Egypt.
