Massar Egbari Band : Listening Tracks , Songs , know Bio , Contact link

Genre : Alternative Egyptian Music , mixing rock , jazz , blues , Oriental

Country : Egypt

Biography

MASSAR EGBARI means “Compulsory Detour”, which resembles the society we live in today. They specifically chose this title as it explains how we are expected, or rather, dictated to behave and dress in certain manners

Both, in title and in spirit, the band pokes fun at typical social norms and trends, which is clearly reflected in their music and chosen lyrics.

This sarcastic name was created since the band members felt that the society is trying to imply its power over people starting from their childhood till the day they die. This social power wants to stereotype everything including the way people think and feel, leaving no space for creation and innovation.

Massar Egbari presents music and songs talking about the social problems. Love is not thier main concern although it represents a part of our songs. Through the members’ different musical backgrounds, the band is presenting a kind of Alternative Egyptian Music, mixing rock, jazz and blues with some Oriental music.

You can neither call their music western, nor you can call it oriental; it is something in between, or maybe both! In one song they take you up to the western beat and lead you back to the oriental taste, something that satisfies different preferences.

Massar Egbari was founded in 2005 by 4 musicians: Ayman Massoud (Keyboards), Hani El Dakkak (Guitar & Lead Vocal), Ahmed Hafez (Bass guitar, Tamer Attallah (Drums).

Mahmoud Siam (Guitars) joined the Band in 2008 .

Regional and International Performances:

In 2007, Massar Egbari started its international musical career as it participated in 2 international festivals: Malta Arts Festival in Valletta-Malta and in Barisa Rock Festival in Istanbul – Turkey (a three-days festival, 62 bands from more than 6 countries). In 2008, the band participated in the International Biennale of young artist from Europe and the Mediterranean (Puglia 2008) in Bari – Italy.

In 2009, Massar Egbari was invited as a special guest in the International Biennale of young artists from Europe and the Mediterranean in Skopje, FYROM, and they performed 6 times on different stages in the city. The band also participated in Adriatico Mediterraneo Festival in Ancona (Italy) in 2009.

In 2010, Massar Egbari performed at the old Fort in Zanzibar (Tanzania) with 40 bands from other African countries in Sauti Za Busara Music Festival. The Festival is considered one of the most important music festivals in East Africa, then had a tour in Macedonia in July 2010 as they performed in Lokum Festival in Bitola, and played several gigs in Bitola and Ohrid. By the end of 2010, Massar Egbari had their first gig in the Arab world as they performed in Dubai International Film Festival after their participation in the award winning film "Microphone".

In 2011, Massar Egbari continued working on performing in the Arab world as they performed in Qarein Festival in Kuwait, Beirut Spring Festival in Lebanon, Tlemcen Cultural Festival in Algeria, Karama Film Festival in Jordan , in addition to a 3 gigs tour in Beirut. The band also performed in Amsterdam Arab Film Festival in Netherlands, The kennedy Center in Washington DC, USA.

In 2012, The band participated in The first celebrations of the Tunisian revolution in 3 Tunisian Cities.

Awards:

Massar Egbari was awarded the title of Artist for intercultural dialog from the UNESCO director Irena Bokova in the event held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in April 2011.

Massar Egbari won the Prize for The Best Band Performing Original Songs in Arabic in the first Occidental Music & Songs Competition held in Bibliotheca Alexandrina in 2006.

Ayman Massoud won the prize for the Best Keyboard Player in the same competition.

Ahmed Hafez won the prize for the best Bassist in the Second Occidental Music & Songs Competition in 2007.

Hany El Dakkak won the prize for the best Vocalist in the same competition.

Massar Egbari also won a Special Award in Other Songs Contest 2005 organized by the Euromed Café. 104 songs from more than 20 Mediterranean countries participated in the contest and the band's song “Kol El Khal'” (written by Salah Jaheen and composed by Ayman Massoud) was selected to obtain a Special Recognition Award. Click here

In 2006, Massar Egbari’s song “Taam El Byout” (written by Abdel Rehim Mansour and composed by Ayman Massoud) was selected to obtain a special award in other Songs Contest. And the song maintained the most listened song on the Euromed café website for months. Click here

Singles released:

Massar Egbari recorded their song “Addef” in a compilation CD called “Kawalis Masr” (Backstage Egypt) with 4 other independent bands in Egypt.

The band also released a remix of their song “Prince of Egypt (Massar)” in the CD called Remix 2006. The song was recorded in a workshop with Arab musicians. Featured musicians: Adel El Louzi (violin) from Morocco, Donia Hattab (Flute) from Tunisia, Orwa Saleh (Bass) and Yazen Al Hazim (Drums) from Syria and Wael El Sayed (Accordion) from Egypt.

Movies:

In 2008, Massar Egbari recorded their song ‘Ana Haweit’ in the movie ‘Koblat Masrouka’ directed by the Egyptian filmmaker Khaled El Haggar. The film was selected as the opening film for Alexandria International Film Festival.

In 2009, the band participated in the movie ‘The story of Johnny Guitar’ with other bands from France, England, Bosnia, Croatia and other countries. The film was directed by the Edouard Razzano from France.

In 2010, Massar Egbari took part of Ibrahim El Batout – Egypt’s leading independent filmmaker- new film ‘Hawy’. The film’s name is one of the band’s hits. And the band members were a part of the film.

In the same year, the Spanish director Fermin Muguruza selected Massar Egbari to be a part of his documentary ‘Next Music Station’.

In June 2010, the band finished the filming of ‘Microphone’ directed by Ahmed Abdalla.

Theatre:

Massar Egbari participated in the theatre play "Sotour men dafater Masr" with the Alternative theatre group. The show was performed in Alexandria (Egypt), Tunis, Sfax and Gabes (Tunisia).

Website : http://www.massaregbari.com/