Massar Egbari

Hani:

“The sea is very important. The sea is a huge space, which doesn’t exist in Cairo. Cairo may be the main music scene, but the sea isn’t there. The sea allows for an expansion of the mind and greater imagination.

We aren’t influenced much by Cairo’s bands. We are far apart from them. We are here, near the sea, which expands our horizon and makes us think about the whole world. We listen to music from across the world, not only from Cairo. Bands in Cairo are all similar to each other, with almost the same voices. I feel lucky that I live in Alexandria. I think we all feel lucky to be in Alexandria. We don’t wish to live somewhere else. Alexandria is an excellent place for inspiration, relaxation and for good times. 

Massar Egbari means Compulsory Path. The name refers to the things people are told they must do. That’s why we called it Massar Egbari. People shouldn’t be like that. They should take it easy and follow the path they want. The name Massar Egbari mocks those people who feel obliged to take this ‘compulsory path’. We aren’t on this path. We try to take another path. This is the main idea behind the name.”

Ayman:

“We chose this name to mock the circumstances around us: The ideas of enforced education and other social matters. There is no freedom, we cannot choose what we want to do. Someone may wish to become a cook or a mechanic, to do what he wants. But in our society he is forced to study at school and then college. He is told to study something different from what he likes. Then he gets married and has kids. He then finds himself turning 40 but hasn’t yet worked as a cook as he wanted. Instead, he became a banker or a company employee.

Our lyrics try to express this. Even our music is different from the ‘compulsory path’ that we see on TV stations.” 

Mahmoud:

“Massar Egbari does not follow the same technical path. We choose freely between various styles of music. We do what we want and what we feel like.” 

Hani:

“Our music is a mixture of rock music with jazz and Oriental Egyptian music.”