What genres or sounds have you been diving into lately, and how are they shaping your current production or DJ sets?

For me, good music is good music. I started as a progressive house DJ in 2003, then my sound moved through electro, minimal, tribal and deep influences, and it keeps evolving. I am not chasing trends as much as collecting elements I love from whatever is relevant to the moment, then playing them in a progressive way. I always aim for a journey in my sets, and drop a banger when it feels right.

Your journey in the Egyptian electronic scene started back in 2003, what initially drew you to DJing and producing, and what keeps you passionate about it today?

Back in the day the raves felt very genuine and focused on music. We would find parties on a website called thedjlist, drive in my mum’s old Toyota and literally follow a space cannon beam in the sky to find the location. You could hear legends like Sander Kleinenberg, Wally Lopez, Nick Warren and Seb Fontaine playing six hour sets for fully locked‑in crowd, no phones, just them and the speakers. That energy made me want to be a DJ, so I borrowed an old Numark CD rack and a mixer from a friend, and that is where it really started. What keeps me passionate is that the sky is the limit on how it opens new opportunities, how it makes people feel and time just flows when I am creating.

Can you walk us through your personal transformation to sobriety and the key moments that led to this change?

Starting so young, I was exposed to a heavy party lifestyle and substance abuse, and after years of doing this four nights a week it stopped being fun and began to damage my life and mental health. During Covid in 2020 I went to my beach house on the North Coast with my mum, my monitors and thirty cats, and decided it was a one‑way ticket. From that moment I quit everything, including cigarettes and alcohol, and have been completely sober since. It is honestly the best decision I ever made.

How has sobriety influenced your approach to music, from creating in the studio to reading and connecting with your audience?

At first I felt uncomfortable playing sober and a bit disconnected, but I reminded myself that I started this journey sober and was already good at it back then. I decided to keep the insights those experiences opened up in my mind, but to honour them in a healthy way. Now I wake up early, dig for music, organise my library, work out, pray, spend time with my family and study new things like motion graphics and digital marketing. My mind is clearer, the anxiety and depression faded, and I connect with crowds from a much more grounded place.

Caring for animals is something that you value a lot, especially where you currently live in Marina. Has it always been part of your life or something that you connected with recently?

I always had pets, but rescuing animals started when our Belgian shepherd refused to move away from a box on the street that had three kittens inside. We saved one of them, and that experience stayed with me. When I moved to the North Coast during Covid, there was almost nobody there and the animals were literally starving, so my mum and I spent whatever we had on feeding them and taking injured ones to vets in Alexandria, even when money was tight. Every time we helped, life somehow sent something back, like a last‑minute gig that covered months of expenses. Over time I became active against poisoning and abuse in my area, filed cases and built trust with the police. One of my favourite stories is Hayat, a paralyzed dog with a one percent chance of walking again. With a lot of care and faith she recovered, now she runs and has even had a puppy.

Your sound effortlessly blends house, micro, tech, and disco elements. What’s your process for navigating these genres and keeping your sets unpredictable yet cohesive?

I like to pick favourite elements from house, micro, tech and disco, then arrange them in a progressive, story‑driven way. It is less about strict genres and more about how the tracks talk to each other and to the dancefloor in that moment. I start from a middle ground between what people already enjoy and the sound I believe in, then once they are locked in I start to experiment. If I lose them, I quickly shift the mood and bring them back. It is an art that came from a lot of trial and error, including clearing a dancefloor a few times, which I definitely do not want to repeat.

With recent releases like your remix for Francesca Lombardo, “Lost in Eden” on Tzinah Records, and contributions to compilations, what can you tell us about your latest music projects and what’s coming next?

This year’s milestones, like my “Wanna Dance” remix for Francesca Lombardo’s Echolette & “Lost in Eden” on Tzinah Records Founded by Primarie and the compilations I joined, mean a lot because I have been focusing on quality over quantity. I am not in a rush to release on every label or play every club; I am enjoying the journey and trusting timing. Next year is about more studio work, more consistent releases and sharing an original track I just finished with vocals from a childhood friend. There are also a few projects in the pipeline that will reveal themselves when the time is right.