He has melodies and beats running through his veins that are not like any other. You wouldn’t imagine the depth of his character and the artistic sense of this young man. With his insanely spontaneous attitude and unbelievable sense of humour, we succeded in making Rash Radio sit modestly yet confidently and tell us all about himself and his music.
“Music is not a hobby, it’s not something you do in your spare time, it’s not something you do when you’re done with your 9 to 5”, Rash revolts. Rash is what his friends call him for short and Radio from the way that he is inspired as he simply hears something in his head and tries to make music out of it. He is a real radio head and you can feel that music is the nourishment of his soul, “If it weren’t for music, I would be either dead or killing people”, said Rash, who has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.
We’ve learned that the sound of raindrops on a tin roof is one of the many sounds that inspire Rash, a rather weird yet beautiful combination of nature. When we asked he explains that, “The rhythm of nature, and the untouched acoustics of it, is more inspiring to me than anything else”.
Who would have thought that Rash’s very first song, ‘Irish Coffee’, would make it all the way to the top singles on Nile FM? “I’m still surprised till this day. But I guess when you put a part of yourself into something, people feed off that, and relate to it on some level”, Rash passionately explains. Well, it is true that sometimes when artists get out of the normal path that others follow, they surprisingly excel and their work earns admiration. This is exactly Rash’s situation who wasn’t able to write something that was similar to the typical construction of songs and decided to do his own thing. “I think it’s all about believing in yourself, as well as believing yourself. If I don’t believe me, no one will!”, Rash declares.
It all started with merely coming across a concert for the famous Dave Mathews called Story Tellers as Rash used to play electric guitar but was still looking for a type of music that would show his talent. He knew that this was the genre of music that he loved the most and instantly knew which direction to take.
A Dave Mathews fanatic describes Rash in a nutshell! He organized with a friend of his, Nader Wahba, a concert under the name of Dave Mathews Tribute and was able to get some of the best musicians in Egypt to perform. “The concert was the first time for me on stage, and was one of the best days of my life. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing your vision take form”, Rash adds. With him being extremely sick and having taken a bunch of mixed medications, thinking it would help him feel better faster, he did surprisingly great as all the seats were occupied and they had to create more space for more audience to get in.
Neobyrd, an established electronica artist is his producer and one of his best friends. As most of the times they hang out together, they either make music or Neobyrd helps Rash record his songs. They both performed a song together in the Opera House called ‘The colours in love’ written by Neobyrd while Rash added vocals to it. “We were performing at the first TEDx event in Egypt. It was a great experience for both of us, performing at the Opera House for the first time”, Rash exclaimed.
Talking about the song ‘Ghosts’ that has reached out to many people’s hearts and its difference in style automatically boosted up his fan base, we learned that there was no mysterious story behind it, it’s just a song that people could relate to because they might have been in the place of either the girl or the guy that the song is about. Well, many songs do not reach people to an extent that they feel their stories are being told in a tune, young music in Egypt has not yet matured up to this level and Rash thinks that more venues need to open up, and the scene needs to get revived as soon as possible. He described the young music scene in Egypt to be “barely surviving” and thinks that Musicians in general need more respect in this country, and the opinion that our society has about musicians needs to change.
Albums that changed your life. I’m just going to say the entire Dave Matthews discography, and Maroon5’s ‘Songs About Jane’.
Weirdest thing a fan ever told you. A girl once sent me a message telling me that her mom cried while listening to my song Ghosts. Wouldn’t say “weird”, but certainly was surprising, in a good way.
Name the last illegal thing that you’ve done. I tried to kidnap ke$ha to give her a bath, but she transformed into P Diddy! It was morning, and she has just woken up.
Upcoming singles in the pipeline. I’m getting some new stuff recorded at the moment, and considering releasing an album soon. As for singles, that’s for sure. A whole bunch of them.
Name 5 things on your wish-list.
1) Taking my music around the world.
2) Attending a Dave Mathews concert.
3) Getting signed with a major label.
4) Performing at a festival with The Dave Mathews band on the bill.
5) Sitting between Lisa Hennignan and Regina Spektor on a 9 hours bus ride.
Do you know what women want? No clue! Lots of shoes, maybe?
A Message to the world:
I’m not sure if I want to tell anyone anything! There isn’t always a message, or a deeper meaning to what I write. I’m just seeking a connection, I guess. Be it a happy tune, a sad tune, or just a groovy one to dance to, if you can make someone feel something, anything, that’s what makes an artist a successful one, in my opinion.
