Mohamed El Sokkary is an Egyptian DJ\/Producer born and raised in Alexandria. 2012 marks the initial inspiration of Sokkary by top DJ names, their music and performances. Today, Sokkary’s music is supported by the industry’s finest names and outlets. Combination of elements and styles is what describes Sokkary best. For him, music means absolutely zero boundaries.
\nWe sat down with him to know more about his passions and his latest release…<\/p>\n
Hey Sokkary, introduce yourself to us an tell us about your journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n Hi guys, first of all, thank you so much for having me. I\u2019ve been a big fan of your platform for a while and I\u2019m really happy to be part of it at last.<\/p>\n My name is Mohamed El Sokkary, I\u2019m 24 years old, and I\u2019m an Egyptian DJ\/Producer and Soundtrack Composer from Alexandria, Egypt currently based between Qatar and The Netherlands. I came across electronic music about 10 years ago I believe\u2026 and as far as I remember, it was by an accident, a quite funny one as well. I was listening to all the pop stuff that\u2019s popping at the time, international and Arabic, really the very average listening kid. And I remember one day I opened YouTube and I started watching live performances of people I\u2019m listening to\u2026 Adele, David Guetta and this is where it gets interesting. I remember I used to think David was a singer, I had no idea what DJing and Electronic Music is\u2026 and I watched his Tomorrowland 2010 video and I still remember that feeling until now. It was something different, some kind of a spark you know\u2026 And I remember being like I wanna do this, I don\u2019t care how long it\u2019ll take me and how impossible it seems, but I\u2019m doing it.<\/p>\n Electronic Music in Egypt at the time was nothing compared to how it is today, and people in school were laughing and mocking me for pursuing this. Fast forward 10 years later, I\u2019m playing at the biggest music festival of the middle east and got a charting melodic techno track. How the tables have turned\u2026..<\/p>\n What is the scene in the middle east and North Africa like?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s growing as fast as a 2022 F1 Car (not gonna say which one but anyone who follows me knows which one I\u2019m talking about \ud83d\ude0a).<\/p>\n Jokes aside, It\u2019s amazing seeing this rise and seeing a lot of Arab countries being landmarks for so many big DJS around the world in such a short period of time.<\/p>\n What does it need to improve and grow?<\/strong><\/p>\n Electronic music, especially the more underground styles like Techno & House is all about building a community. There\u2019s a lot of key players for this to shape up and they are slowly all coming together. We have event promoters and organizers, we have social media accounts promoting these events and the artists and we definitely have the artists. To improve, we need to focus a bit more on this aspect. I\u2019ve seen a lot of events and lineups that are 100% regional and local and they are amazing parties. But we need more\u2026 In addition, I feel like there is a huge number of talent out there that is not being discovered. Of course, artists have to be visible and identifiable to be booked and being a profitable investment. However, it also doesn\u2019t make sense to see the exact same few names in every single lineup in countries with a big number of active artists.<\/p>\n With that being said, there\u2019s a lot of upcoming exciting stuff I heard of that we will be witnessing. Some of them are taking place already. New labels, new showcases worldwide. Instead of being only successful in importing electronic music, I really hope we become successful in exporting it as well.<\/p>\n How important is MDLBeast to that, the label and the festival?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s very very important. Not only the label and the festival, but let me add their electronic music conference MDLBEAST XP.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, I didn\u2019t get to attend XP in full in 2021 as I was busy with preparing for Soundstorm. But it was an insane experience that I enjoyed so much. Not only playing there as part of the record label showcase but walking there, meeting new people who might not be from the same country but speak the same musical language. There\u2019s always that \u201cWeen el after?\u201d guy which translates to \u201cwhere\u2019s the after party?\u201d.<\/p>\n The label is mind blowing, and I am extremely proud to be part of it, and hope I get to be part of it for a long time. Not only we have a label in the middle east that is housing the world\u2019s biggest DJS, but it is using that power and recognition to shine light on regional talent. The support they offered me is something else, There\u2019s a whole experienced team that works for the release to become a success along the many partnerships this team has formed for their music and artists to shine.<\/p>\n The festival, oh boy\u2026. I could take ages to describe my Soundstorm experience but to answer that question, having one of the biggest festivals in the world is a key factor to levelling up the scene in the region. I was paying a lot of attention to their comments sections actually and obviously\u2026 people were asking for the big international names, which MDLBEAST provided. However, they provided these names alongside a big number of local and regional acts in order to shine light on them and give them the same platform and stage as the biggest artists on the planet.<\/p>\n They are also hosting label (and sub-label) stages in some big festivals around the globe.<\/p>\n