Vocal Curse has collaborated with Bad
Apple at the American University in Cairo, and El Sawy Cultural Wheel
as well as Forgotten Notes. They also performed at the SOS V in 2007;
launched the Ego Trip Project at Top Kapi with Vybe and Feedo; the
Jazz Club with Vybe and Bliss; the Green Valley School and the Opera
House with Napalma, Ressala and Egy-Crew.
After such an impressive number of
performances, if you still haven’t seen them live, then you may
have seen them on Mazzika TV channel or last year’s Hussien Fahmy’s
Ramadan TV show on "El Nas We Ana", or in fact you probably
have heard them already if you heard the new Snicker’s radio ad.
What started about two and a half years ago as recreational time by
two school friends, Moose and Bilal (Mostafa Safwat Ismail and Bilal
El Sayed), aged 17 and 18 respectively, has become not just popular
in the underground music scene but has also a new trend in young
Egyptian culture: the art of beatboxing*.
Why did you choose the name Vocal
Curse?
Moose: I was traveling to the U.S in
the summer before we started beatboxing. While I was beatboxing
there, my friends dubbed me the “Pharoah’s Curse!” and I
thought it might be a good name but Bilal didn’t like it.
Bilal: I was also more concerned about
including the word “vocal’ in the name in order to make what we
do clear.
Moose: But of course it’s a gift, not
a curse!
What are you studying?
Bilal: Dentistry.
Moose: Mass communication because I
want to become a hotel manager.
What is the technique behind
beatboxing?
Bilal: It’s all about vocal
percussion…
Moose: You need to be a good singer and
have good control of your vocal chords with the use of your tongue
and teeth, and sometimes your hand.
How do you pick your sounds?
Bilal: We sometimes imitate songs that
are really good and sometimes create our own songs.
Moose: Beatboxing is called “the art
of imitation”, it’s about knowing how to imitate any sound you
hear with your voice, like imitating the sound of a door opening.
Does it require training?
Bilal: No, if you like it and are into
it, you just need to practice and you will get the hang of it.
What are the hardest sounds to get?
Moose: High pitched sounds. With some
sounds you have to kill your vocal chords to reach them.
How did you meet Nayrouz Abouzeid,
your band manager?
We performed with the rock band “Bad
Apple”, in the “Sexual Awareness Day” at El Sawy Cultural Wheel
and she heard us and liked what we offer, and so we exchanged numbers
and that was that. She now hooks us up with gigs, and does the money
talk, and whenever someone calls us up, we pass on her number. She is
also our media representative.
How did the snickers ad happen?
Moose: A friend of a friend who works
in BBDO, knew about us and recommended us to their snickers client,
and they liked us so we recorded it with the Gad from the Asphalt
band. The advert has no music whatsoever, and is all vocal sounds and
singing only.
Did you get any feedback on the ad?
Moose: Yes, after the ad came out, lots
of people told us it was really good, and that it increased Snicker’s
competitiveness with its rivals.
Are you doing any other commercials?
Bilal: Yes, we are working on something
for Hardee’s and 7Up.
Do you feel the underground music
scene could be improved in Egypt?
Moose: the underground music scene is
getting better by the minute;
there are some really good rock and Hip Hop bands. For
example, Bad Apple’s music was aired in London. Still, the media
still needs to focus more on the underground scene. Bands also need
more financial help because most of the time bands don’t have
enough money to do gigs. Musicians need to stop focusing on rock
music only.
Who are your favorite artists?
Moose: I don’t have any favorites; I
like all artists because each one is special in their own way
Bilal: Aaron Lewis from Staind.
What about your favorite beatboxers?
Faith SFX, Rahzel and Joel Turner.
What do you guys plan on doing in
the future? Are you going to take beatboxing as a profession?
Bilal: No, we just take this as a hobby
and our main goal was to introduce beatboxing to Egypt, now kids
beatbox in schools. I live in Rehab city and kids come and ask me how
to beatbox and people even add me on msn to ask me how to beatbox.
*Beatboxing is a form of vocal
percussion connected with hip-hop culture (it has been called the
"fifth element" of hip hop) although it is not limited to
hip hop music. It primarily involves the art of producing drumbeats,
rhythm, and musical sounds using one's mouth, lips, tongue, voice,
and more. It may also involve singing, vocal imitation of turntables,
the simulation of horns, strings, and other musical instruments.
To listen to some of Vocal Curses’
Demos and Snickers advertisement visit:
http://www.soundclick.com/vocalcurse
