Known by his shredding style on stage, as well as his great career with oriental and rock/metal Artists. Weka; is one of the most talented young musicians of Cairo. Let’s know more about his story…
How are you, Weka?!
Weka: I am fine man. Thanks.
So tell me about your story with guitar and your passion for music…
Weka: Well, when I was 4 years old I started to listen to Metallica and I was a big fan of some of their songs, and I was really interested in playing the guitar and be a Rockstar like these guys. At 8 years old, I started to touch the guitar and play some stuff on it like “Nothing Else Matters”: and it wasn’t really right then I started to play Metallica songs on Spanish guitar and to get the tabs.
Great! Tell me about the first song you tried to compose.
Weka: I was 10 years old with my friends at my home. So I did a riff and I was like “why don’t you guys try to make a lyrics on this and form a band” that was the first song I composed ever.
What about your first band?
Weka: Well, I was 12 years old and I was living in Fujairah, UAE and there weren’t any bands or musicians, only me, a vocalist and a bassist and it was impossible to find a drummer in the same city, so we decided to search in Dubai so we can go there every weekend to jam, and we really did… we were playing hard rock and heavy metal.
Okay, tell me about your work with Mohamed Adaweya? And did it help you to be developed in your musical career?
Weka: Well, I was a big fan for Mohamed Adaweya when I heard “Men kelmteen” album and the hard rock songs were played in it and I always wished to play with him. In the Nokia Xpress Music Festival I performed with 3al 2ahwa band and there were Mohamed Essam (Mohamed Adaweya’s perccusionist) and in this time Adaweya was searching for a lead guitarist. So he felt like I can manage the fast solos that were played on the album, so he called me 2 days later ask me to join his band.
And, I really learned a lot from his band, and I am the youngest member in the band and all the others are really old. So I was getting a lot of advices from them and from Mohamed Adaweya that will always help me in my music career.
Great! Tell me about joining the modern oriental band “3al 2hwa”, and why you left where there was harmony in music between Weka and 3al 2hwa?
Weka: Well, I met Mohamed Ra’fat in a concert at the AUC, we played with each others like two concerts there with Paddie (the bassist), after the second concert we began to be real close friends, Ra’fat and I. In the same time, I wasn’t playing with any bands after leaving the “Koor Band”, So he was like “there is a band called 3al 2hwa need a lead guitarist, what do you think about joining us” then I met Mostafa El Shamy (3al 2hwa’s vocalist) and he told me about the idea and the songs, and I really liked it, and I really liked that the band got real great young musicians, so we can do something and, we really did in a very short time!
But after we performed in Mel Gom3a lel Gom3a of the SOS Music Festival at the Bib Alex everything changed because they composed new songs that I really hated!
And I felt guitar isn’t really important in the band. So I decided to leave the band in the same day of the Cairo Jazz Club concert; me, Mohamed Ra’fat, Paddie and Badr.
What about your experience with Koor band?
Weka: Well, Koor band was the first real band I played with in Cairo after getting back from U.A.E. I played before Koor in a thrash metal band called “Antitrust” but we just played 2 concerts, so we didn’t get known too much. So the next step was Koor, and I was really happy for playing with such a band, we were jamming more than 4 days a week and in that exact time I really got a lot of experience, plus I was really young.
So I can say that 50% of what I am now in guitar playing was from this period. I played with Koor 2 concerts in El Sawy Culturewheel and El Azhar Park, I was about 14-15 years old when I played these concerts, so it was a great beginning for me.
Many people are wondering about Weka, you are known with participation in modern oriental artists/bands and everyone knows that you are a heavy metal guitarist. What is your commentary about that?
Weka: Well, it’s a really great question. My favorite music is metal especially shred metal music which is mixing the classical music with metal, but I really like how it looks when you mix it with oriental and put some oriental scales to
get related to the whole song and it was a new thing and people always get surprised when they hear this stuff, and it seems hard for their ears in the beginning but by the time they like it, and get anticipated the solo. The beginning of this idea was with “Koor” band because it was the first oriental band I play with and to try this idea with, and now I am trying to upgrade this more and more, and I wish that people like it more and more, And soon I will get back to my original place, in a shred metal band where I can perform all my stuff to the people whom are interested in metal.
Tell me more about Sobek as music and themes.
Weka: Sobek is a progressive and shred metal band that I am forming with the keyboardist “Sheco” from Ta2feel Masry band, and we share the same taste, and you can hear this in ”howa eh” song for Ta2feel Masry band, which is arranged and composed by us, after a long time Sheco and I decided to form a band where we can play all of our favorite stuff, and we’re still searching for a drummer and a bassist that can fit the band and be interested in this kind of music, plus we already finished 3 tracks with lyrics until now.
And the band members are:
Me: lead guitar
Sheco: keyboard
Mahmoud: lead vocal
Each musician has a dream band that he want to create, are you working on yours now?! If yes! Tell me be about that band.
Weka: Yea…Sobek is my dream band and I wish that this dream come true.
Finally, what do you think of Rock Era Magazine?
Weka: Well, I am really proud that we got this magazine here in Egypt and please keep it up and never stop, you are really great and I am really glad about this interview…Good Luck!
Thank you for this interview, Weka.
Weka: Thank you.
