“Do you smoke?” Fadi said, as he held open a pack of Malboro cigarettes with two sticking out from the top.
“Yes I do, but, do they really just let us smoke in here?”, I said.
“They don’t care, here’s the ashtray”, he said, lifting up a red Solo cup with discarded cigarette butts and ash floating in the water.
A mere 20 hours before Lucky, USC Events granted me access to interview one of my absolute favorite artists, Fadi Wassef Naguib of the legendary duo Aly & Fila.
“You know, it’s not every day you get to meet your favorite artist”, I said, as he lit my cigarette. He laughed.
“Thank you for that! What would you like a drink?” he said, motioning toward a table of various types of alcohol and a metal ice chest of beer. I politely asked for a Heineken.
I couldn’t believe I was actually smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer with an artist that has had such a big influence on me.
My deep connection with Aly & Fila’s music began when I was a student attending community college. Every day as I drove to school, I would play their remix of Beautiful by Ferry Corsten which was a meditative and euphoric way to spend the commute.
At that time, I was unemployed and dealing with unbelievable stress. When USC Events released the lineup for Paradiso 2016, and Aly & Fila were on the roster, I knew I just had to attend but didn’t think I’d even be able to afford a ticket. Luckily, I kept my spirits up and the rave Gods intervened when I won a ticket on a local radio station. I had no idea that weekend would change my life.
To be standing there, with such a legendary figure in dance music, knowing how much the message of their music meant to me, is what made this moment so special.
Aly & Fila Interviews with RMR
RMR: This is the first time that there has been an FSOE stage outside of Tomorrowland. It could have been anywhere else in the world so why did you guys pick Seattle?
Fadi: The thing is, first of all, we decided this year to take Future Sound of Egypt as a brand to good festivals that we’ve been to before. I’ve played before at Lucky, and I was really, really impressed with the production, the team working for Lucky. The guys with USC, we have a great history together, and I was like, maybe it’s a good idea to start hosting with them. They actually offered that to us this year, so we were like wow okay, they offered it already, definitely, let’s do it. So that’s how it came up. They’ve done something like this before, they hosted Anjunabeats at Lucky and they wanted another brand in the trance scene to host a stage and they contacted us, and we were like, ‘of course, let’s do it’.
RMR: You had an amazing set at Paradiso too last year
F: Ohhh yes, I love Paradiso! It is one of the best venues I’ve seen for a festival!
RMR: How does the Seattle Trance Family compare to other cities and their trance followings around the world?
F: You have one of the strongest trance families, very loyal. Whenever we play here you are always there, and to be honest, it’s not only with us, but with all the trance DJ’s. When they come, you always support them which I really appreciate. Now you have a healthy trance scene in Seattle because of this group. They are the ones who really promote the shows, bring their friends, bring new people to the scene, and I really appreciate what they do. I hope more trance families will be like yours. They’re doing a really good job with promoting the sound, creating a good image, atmosphere, and lots of energy.
RMR: Have you heard of the club called The Underground in Seattle?
F: No, I have not.
RMR: We get a lot of good artists there. I saw Arctic Moon a few months ago, Chris Schweizer last month, and we’ve got Darren Porter in a few weeks
F: The Underground…that’s a nice club, huh? Maybe I can do something there!
RMR: So, can you tell us about the FSOE 500 celebrations? You said at ASOT 800 that you guys would be celebrating from June until New Years. What information can you share with us?
F: I’m not allowed to say anything yet, but for sure there will be a west coast event. That’s going to happen for sure. We’re going to have more events this year, because last year we only had four celebrations, but this year we’re going to have way more. I will say at least ten or twelve, all over the world. Definitely, like I said, the west coast, definitely will have one show. Where? I cannot say now, I’ll keep it for the right time.
RMR: How about your new artist album, how is that coming along?
F: We’ve been working on this album for the past two years, and it’s a really, really, really, really, so far, a really good album, with the tracks we have finished. Actually, I’m going to test some tracks from the album tonight, a lot of new stuff, to check it out. I always do that, when we finish a new track in the studio, I always check it on the road, see how it sounds on the speakers, the reaction from the crowd when they hear a track that they don’t know. I like to see the reaction of the crowd when they hear a song that they’ve never heard before. It gives you an idea for how this track will do. You know when you have a good track with the feedback from the crowd. I’ve been testing some tracks on the road for a few weeks, I tested some for A State of Trance, and tonight I’m doing the same, I’m testing new tracks, especially since it isn’t broadcasted. I have some freedom to play whatever I want.
RMR: What was the rave scene like growing up in Egypt?
F: Well, when it started, it was very underground. It was amazing, it was really, really big actually. And then it went quiet for a while, and recently it came back really strong again. Like, I would say in the last three or four years, it’s really big now, especially in the underground scene. There’s a lot of deep house, techno, trance. We don’t host EDM events, it’s mostly trance, techno deep house, underground sounds. A lot of clubs now are hosting nights, and it’s a very healthy scene right now. Lots of high quality music. The scene in Egypt is growing and growing in a very nice direction, and a lot of DJs are wanting to come and play in Egypt now, more than before. I can see, a lot of people ask me, ‘when are you gonna book me for Egypt!?’, so I can see the interest in it now. We have an amazing crowd, check out the videos from our pyramids show, and you see the crowd is mental. I’m looking forward to see how it’s going to develop, and we are trying our best to also help the scene, and find new talent in Egypt. We have a lot of great musicians in Egypt that are already signed to Future Sound of Egypt, like Fady & Mina, Mohamed Rogeb, A & Z, and all these guys are really, really good. Also different guys like Hazem Beltagui, all these guys are good. And also from the techno and deep house scene, we have a lot of artists that are producing really good, quality music. So I can see, there is a big thing with dance music in Egypt. Hopefully one time you can visit a show in Egypt, maybe this year.
RMR: That would be amazing, I’ll get my passport!
F: We’ll have one [FSOE 500] show this year in Egypt.
RMR: What is it like DJing without Aly? I know that he was with you for the show at the pyramids, but typically does not tour.
F: It was in our home town, he had to be there. He cannot miss such a historic event, being at the pyramids. So, thankfully he came to that event. But for the rest of the world, with flying, all of the sound, he can’t do that every week like I can because of his hearing problem. You never know, maybe in the future it will be fixed, we’ll find a solution for it, but so far there’s nothing, unfortunately. I do miss DJing with him, because when we started, we were doing it together, you know?
RMR: Across all genres, all time, what is your favorite song?
F: I would pick, always, For an Angel by Paul van Dyk, because this song is what started everything for us. I heard this track in the club while Paul van Dyk was playing, and I was like, ‘wow, that’s amazing music, that’s the music I want to produce, that’s the kind of vibe I want to have’. I want to see people enjoying my music the same way I enjoyed listening to For an Angel by Paul van Dyk. That’s exactly the same idea, how I started and everything.
RMR: Lastly, what sort of advice could you give to upcoming producers/DJ’s?
F: I’ve always said being an artist is being yourself. Don’t copy someone, don’t do something just because it is cool or because it’s big or it’s what the people want to listen to, you’ll never succeed unless it is what you want to do, what you want to say. What’s the message of your music, you know? You need to have a message, you need to have a vision, and that’s how you become an artist. That’s my opinion. A lot of Dj’s these days, they just follow what is hot at the moment and I think that’s the wrong direction, because even if you succeed, you will succeed only for a bit, but not for too long. You know? Follow what you really like. I’ve met a lot of artists and DJ’s who tell me, ‘I really love trance music, it’s my biggest love, but I cannot get bookings because I am a trance DJ, so I’m playing and producing big room house, blah blah blah’, and what I say is, this is wrong. You don’t have to do bookings now, you don’t have to do gigs now, you don’t have to release any music that you don’t believe in just to have the booking. Wait until you reach what you really want.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BRpPt43hDgi/?taken-by=ndwiggins01
Despite only being scheduled for an hour set, this incredible artist gifted us with an extended set and played for two hours at Lucky! Anyone who witnessed any of his show will tell you how amazing it was, especially for the diehard Seattle trance family. I am hopeful that Aly and Fila will return to Seattle many more times in the future.
If you are looking for more trance in your life or are interested in expanding your EDM horizons, get ready for Bliss: Transcendence in May at the Wamu Theatre in Seattle.
