Neobyrd’s sound is one that most of the Egyptian youth who are into fun, funky underground music, will recognize. That’s why we were extremely excited when we found out that he’s exploring other realms of music with none other than Yousry Nasrallah. The director collaborated with Neobyrd on his latest films, out in cinemas now, Al Maa Wal Khodra Wal Wag-h Al Hassan. We speak to Neobyrd to find out more about the experience.
How did you reach out to Yousry Nasr Allah?
I met him from before since I acted in one of his movies. Yousry at that time needed music for his new movie, Al Maa Wal Khodra Wal Wag-h Al Hassan. So he allowed me to compose music; something different from my own style, more on the classic and oriental side.
“Since I’ve always composed music for commercials, composing for a movie was something incredibly different and it was a dream of mine”
How was your experience working with Yousry Nasr Allah?
The experience was challenging since I was working with such a big director. However, it was extremely enjoyable. Since I’ve always composed music for commercials, composing for a movie was something incredibly different and it was a dream of mine.
Do you think that filmmakers like Yousry are giving enough attention to young people like you despite the fact that the style is different?
To be honest, he didn’t hire me because I’m young. He always had his own composer for his movies. Of course, I had to change my style. I had to tone down the DJ side of me and focus more on the classical side.
Did you face any difficulties during the project?
I always wanted to compose for movies and now that I had the chance, it was kind of challenging. I decided to give each character a theme. Study the characters’ personalities and try to compose a song that matches each character. If a character is emotional and sensitive, their song would be different from that of a character that is always angry.
“People make movies for two reasons; either for it to get famous and be a block buster, or for people to just get out of it happy”
What do you think the movie score business is lacking in Egypt?
The Egyptian movie business lacks story. If there is no story, then there is no film. People make movies for two reasons; either for it to get famous and be a block buster, or for people to just get out of it happy. There are a lot of movies that you find people doing a big propaganda of, and they make a big deal out of it, but at the end, it’s not how you expect it because the story is weak.
