Meet Mrayra, 1st Red Sea Musical Heritage Band

Next Sunday, Mrayra band will perform in Cairo at El Sawy Culturewheel. The band is aiming to introduce a unique and influential fusion of folk music.

The band depends on mixing the original heritage of the famous Red Sea region tribes with contemporary jazz, funk, and rock melodies.

Based in Hurghada, Mrayra started to draw the fans' attention through their new and extraordinary stage performance as the band employs folk costumes and hand-made traditional instruments such as Simsimiyya and Rebab.

SEE contacted the founders of the band: Mohamed Saied and Hamo Rashed. Fortunately, they revealed various secrets regarding the band.

Saied expressed, "the band is originally based in Hurghada, and it is the first underground band that performs its original music."

"The idea of the band is back to 2009, however, it was officially founded in 2020," he continued.

"Hamo Rashed the band's vocalist and a primitive instruments player has grown up among the authentic Bedouin tribes has a huge background in the Bedouin art. Moreover, he belongs to a famous Arabic tribe," Saieed revealed.

Regarding the name of the band, "In the Bedouin language, Mrayra is a headwear made of cloth, usually made of cotton or linen, decorated in many colors and many patterns, which can be worn in a different fashion, whether on the head or the back," Saied explained.

Electronic Lute, traditional percussions, bass, guitars, keyboard, simsimiyya, and Rebab are the major played instruments by the band.

"The sounds of them reflect the nature of Bedouin singing and the heritage of the nomadic life. And, they are mixed with everyday modern genres, giving you the best of them both," he highlighted.

https://youtu.be/GZx8hsGLIGA

Saied underscored that the band tries to perform various musical moods including an acoustic set which is based on acoustic guitars and cajón. Furthermore, the band uses a very original performing style based on "El Khoms" which employes certain melodies produced by hand clapping.

In addition, the band is producing a desert-like sound with its influential natural spirit. Therefore, the band creates a sort of blind between traditional lyrics which were inherited by the tribe-members, and the modern type of "Mawaal" and "Tawasheeh," Saied asserted.

Concerning the band performed stuff, he indicated the band composed 10 original songs, and all of them are set to be performed live.

Next, he told SEE about the other band members, " In 2016, Hesham Mostafa joined us as a keyboard player and a vocalist. He plays a big role in the band's music production, through the sound of his chords, creating a fusion of the western and oriental vibes despite of his special case of being blind."

On the other hand, Ahmed Yasser who professional acoustic & electric Oud player added the oriental flavor to music by his unique style and technique of Oud playing.

Followed by Youssef Mahmoud as a lead guitar player and music producer. He incorporated the elements of jazz, fusion & rock on Merayra music.

Finally, Alexandrian Mido Renga joined the group as Hybrid percussions and Drums player, known for his powerful & groovy style. He completed the concept of (Merayra) music, by excelling in the Bedouin rhythm.

Saied expressed, "the fusion of the members' influences, their different musical backgrounds, cultures, and by their experiences as professional musicians in the musical scene, each one of the band, inpidually, contributed in a distinctive perception of music, which added a unique taste to Mrayra implementing the Heritage in modern style."

In the same context, SEE talked with the band's vocalist Hamo Rashed about his Bedouin roots and how he calls his roots back to preserve the heritage of the Red Sea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8WFo515OcQ

Rashed narrated, "I originally belong to a native Arabic tribe which is one of native Arabia. The members of the tribe came to Egypt due to the unstable conditions of hunger in Arabia."

"The tribe members used to recall certain songs and poetry to accompany them in their sea trips and sailing times, especially they used to spend a lot of time in their traditional boats."

He continued, "the poetry and songs I perform are inherited from my ancestors as we are as tribe members still keeping our heritage in our memories and life."

Rashed underscored that the band is trying to create a new musical trend in Egypt as the band is going deep into the concepts of ethnic music and world music.

One of the most celebrated songs by the band is "Aam Ya Gamaal." The song defines the real spirit of the band. Moreover, the band introduced new cover of "Lammah Baddah Yatthana."