Subspace is a new production label directed by Aly and Teknyk. Subspace targets young musicians with high potential. It just recently launched in December of 2012, and in this short period of time already signed three impressively talented artists. We met with the space boys at their sleek, cool studio to chat about their records and the music scene in Egypt today.
“We don’t produce a specific genre; we look for anything that is unique and fresh”, says Aly. When it comes to what pushed them to start, it was the lack of support for those young local talents. “Not a lot of artists’ careers were sustainable; they needed a hub for creative output to produce original music, true expression and creativity”. And to overcome what most musicians are afraid of “here music comes first then business. We are music fans before anything else”, he adds.
From mental guidance to marketing, Subspace embraces their artists. “This depends on the artist, but we take care of everything concerning where they are now and where they want to be. Creativity isa spark that you have in you; you get to see something that no one else sees. To be creative you have to be crazy and brave enough to step out of your comfort zone”, Teknyk explains.
The underground music scene in Egypt is rapidly growing these days with new bands and artists coming out everyday and that’s not always a positive thing. “It’s very fragmented, there is a lot of potential yet a lot of randomness”, says Tyknyk. From the marketing side of things Aly thinks that people look at it as a “hobby” and not as “something professional”. Some artists might face a problem commercializing their music in fear of losing their identity and the Subspace guys think that we all need unity to create something greater and to be able to turn talent into something profitable, “People here lack the business sense”, they comment.
Like any young entrepreneurs, Subspace might find obstacles and the road of success can sometimes be quite rocky, “we learn along the way, we adapt a lot of variables to the world today. Everything is changing on a day-to-day basis, you just need to take advantage of the platforms available”, Aly says. “We need to calculate every step, we can’t afford to make any mistakes, when we sign an artists we have to really believe in them, no gambling”, Tyknyk adds.
In Egypt and especially in the music scene, it’s hard to be a young producer and the guys of Subspace have their share to pass on “we advise newcomers to really love what they’re doing, it’s not as glamorous as it seems. Just be careful what you get into. The industry is full of people that are hard to deal with”, they explain.
We all need some source of inspiration, so we asked them about Egyptian musicians that inspire them. “Orchestras back in the day, the instruments. You could really tell they loved what they were doing and there was unity. The whole package and culture set up is very inspiring, and of course the big names like Um Kalthoum and Abd El Halim Hafez”, conlcudes Aly.
Subspace produced music for our favorite electronic producer and composer Neobyrd. With a range of exceptional tracks each one special in its own way. Watch out for their upcoming artists such as Malak El Husseini and 13X26. It’s everything they promised, fresh and unique!
