Trance superstars Phillippe El Sisi and Omar Sherif have had quite the career in the Trance scene both as soloists and collaborating together and have been supported by some of the worlds best DJs and Producers. In light of their latest collaboration ‘Amsterdam’, we caught up with the Egyptian trailblazers to find out more about them and what they have planned for 2019. Check out what they had to say in the interview below.
Tell us a bit about both of your musical backgrounds?
Omar: Well, I’ve been DJ’ing ever since I was a kid and always wanted to become an international DJ but had no idea how this would happen. I decided to take it professionally after the first time I went to Ibiza in 2006 and started playing all around Egypt at various gigs and venues such as Pacha. In 2010, I moved to London and played in venues such as Ministry of Sound and Electric Brixton where I met a few upcoming producers and became good friends with them. They taught me production and worked with them on a couple of collaborations for Future Sound of Egypt. My first release was in 2014 and that was the beginning of my international career and my music has been supported by some of the worlds biggest DJs ever since.
Sisi: I started playing the piano when I was 5 years old and made my first melody back then!! I come from a family of musicians; my uncle is the first Egyptian conducting Chief of the Egyptian Symphonic Orchestra. I started producing music in 2002 and my first release was back in 2006 on Off-shore music (FSOE when it first started! haha) and that launched everything! My music since then has been supported by the world’s biggest DJs and has allowed me to tour and play gigs around the world.
How did you two meet and when did you decide to work together?
We’ve known each other since school but it all started a couple of years ago when we met in Luxor where we were both playing at the FSOE 450 celebrations. We hadn’t seen each other for a long time and we realised that we have really similar taste in music as we played consecutive sets before Aly & Fila so we decided to try and work together on a collaboration. The first track we started together ended up becoming the FSOE 500 Anthem – ‘The Chronicles’ which was a collaboration with Aly & Fila and got voted Wonder Of The Year on Future Sound of Egypt 2017. Not a bad start! haha … ever since then, we started working on a lot of tracks together.
How would you describe your music?
Driving, uplifting, energetic, melodic, powerful and euphoric
Name us a few of your influences?
Our main heroes would be the pioneers of Trance: Aly & Fila, Armin Van Buuren, Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto
What do you think is a big issue in the dance music scene at the moment?
There is a lack of proper regular club nights around the world and its more about one-off events and festivals.
What song got you in to dance music and why?
That’s a very difficult question to answer as there a lot of unique and iconic classic tracks that have shaped the electronic music industry so it’s very difficult to pick just one!
Best DJ set you have ever seen?
This also is difficult to pick one … We’ve seen superb and unforgettable sets over the years from our four influences mentioned before (A&F, AVB, PVD & Tiesto) and if you’re talking overall, there are several incredible DJs outside the Trance scene such as Hernan Cattaneo, Sasha, Nick Warren, Solomun, Tale of Us, Eric Prydz …etc.
Tell us an interesting fact about you
Sisi: I really love dogs and I established a factory making premium dog food!
Omar: My initial dream was to become a professional football player! But unfortunately, all my injuries made me quit! Haha.
Where do you think the Trance music scene is heading?
It’s definitely growing and more festivals are being created but it’s been split into lots of different sub-genres of trance
What are your greatest achievements career-wise?
There is a lot we are proud of! Even the simple messages you get from fans around the world to keep us motivated!!! We are proud that our passion for music has taken us to perform all around the world in various cities such as Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Berlin, Miami, London, Ibiza and many more… Also playing some of the world’s biggest festivals such as Tomorrowland! Another one is that our track “The Chronicles” was voted Wonder of The Year on FSOE and our music got voted future favourite and was chosen tune of the week on Armin Van Buuren’s ASOT more than 10 times. There’s so many to choose from and we are grateful for every single one of them!
What is your dream label to release on?
We’re proud that we have already released on all the big trance labels out there! Some insider info, we are trying to release music on some of the world’s biggest non-trance labels now 😉
What goals have you set yourself this year?
We are releasing a lot of new tracks on various labels but the majority of them are on FSOE. Like we said above we are trying to release some tracks on other BIG non-trance labels. There is a lot we want to achieve this year.
What were the best pieces of advice you received when first starting out?
Follow your heart, fight for your dream and make music that you love.
Is there anyone you would love to have mentor you?
Anyone who makes music definitely knows something you don’t know… but if we have to pick we would have to say, Hans Zimmer.
What’s next for Omar Sherif & Philippe El Sisi?
We’re planning lots of special performances together and TONS of new releases.
Phillippe El Sisi Online
www.soundcloud.com/philippeelsisi
www.twitter.com/philippeelsisi
Omar Sherif Online
www.instagram.com/djomarsherif
www.soundcloud.com/djomarsherif
Melodic Techno
Experience IND:RA’s Signature Sound in ‘Remember Me’
