Turntable Tuesday: Aly & Fila

It’s been almost two years since Aly & Fila played in their homeland, Egypt. It isn’t a choice that they have made, but rather something that resulted from the circumstances revolving the electronic dance music scene there. The dance music scene has been suffering since 2002 and this situation is deeply frustrating for the Egyptian duo, who are proud of their cultural heritage. Fortunately for them, their reputation as highly-diversified producers and DJs over the past few years have earned them worldwide recognition and numerous bookings around the globe. “One of the reasons why we haven’t played back home is because of the lack of professionalism among the local promoters. We’re waiting for the right moment to make a comeback show in Egypt, but it has to be an extra special event for us to do so,” explains Fila.

The boys aren’t blindly waiting for that day to happen. They have been actively taking steps to promote the dance music scene back home and around the world through their weekly online radio show, the Future Sound Of Egypt, broadcast on Digitally Imported radio and soon, Global FM, a non-commercial radio station in Egypt. “This is a step forward for us in our quest to promote dance music to our people. Our plan is to get them widely exposed to the sound of dance music again and hopefully, this will open up more ears for the dying music scene,” reveals Fila.

Things are definitely looking up for Aly & Fila, but there is still one thing that worries them. Right now it’s the season where DJs spam e-mails, Facebook accounts and MySpace accounts to get voted in DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs Poll. The coveted poll has now become some sort of a popularity contest where DJs are forced to run voting campaigns (just like politicians) to get their names on the list. The poll isn’t important to the duo personally, but it has become important to club and event promoters who base the DJs’ capability and worth on their ranking in the poll. Fila believes that the voting system is a sham and that the voters make mistakes of voting for their favourite artist instead of the DJ that they are. “If I was to cast a vote on a DJ, I’d be looking at criteria such as what kind of atmosphere the DJ brings in his sets, his mixing skills, the track selection, the uniqueness and creativity of his mixing, and also the flow they create while spinning,” says Fila.

Despite this, Aly & Fila don’t have any desire to quit. Unlike many DJ duos, the both of them have been best friends since kindergarten and have gone through many phases in their life together. “A lot of duos sometime run into problems and conflicts and some of them even end up in separation but with Aly and myself, we’re best friends and it’s easier to work with someone you’ve known all your life.” Having outrageously loyal fans also give them more drive and motivation to give their best. “There’s this guy named Gianfranco from Argentina who tattooed his arm with our names on it, and I was overwhelmed with appreciation when I saw that,” finishes Fila. “I can’t imagine doing the same thing for an artist that I admire, so you can imagine what I felt when I saw that.”

Words Marlz

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