Scenenoise Podcast

Egyptian DJ Masry has been captivating regional and local audiences with his dynamic sets and waving textures of acid house.. Having started his musical career DJing in clubs across Egypt’s coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh during its heyday, Masry has recently become a regular in the region’s dance circuit, going from opening to Dekmantel Soundsystem DJ Thomas Martojo in Cairo to playing Dubai’s iconic Hence parties. He has also been manning decks in some of Lebanon’s most famous clubs, including Beirut Ballroom Blitz, where he performed alongside Lebanese veteran DJ Eli Atala. Meanwhile, earlier last year, he performed at MDLBEAST’s prestigious Soundstorm Festival in Riyadh. For Select 244, the seasoned DJ crafts some futuristic sounds, masterfully combining hardgroove progression with resonating raw vocals, aptly sampled from African tribal music. The set opens with brooding yet ambient drones, before quickly unravelling into heavy synth waves and repetitive wonky basslines. Energetic and kind of crunchy i

Born in the UK, and currently based in UAE, Egyptian DJ Maks is a driving force behind its thriving underground music scene. Considered one of the first originators of minimal and microhouse music in the region, Maks’ sound has left an indelible mark on dance floors in prestigious party series and festivals across the globe like Romania’s Sunwaves and Washington DC’s Flash. In October 2023, the DJ showcased at Nacelle and ByGanz’s party in Soma Bay. For Select 243, Maks brings us a 90-minute mix of the early-morning six-hour set he recently played for Flash Club’s NYE party in DC. A mix of hypnotic house and minimal beats with a splash of soul, the set features heavy-hitting tunes by famous artists like Traumer, Cap, Andrey Pushkarev, Eris, Monile and more.

Ahmed Refaat, aka Riff, is an Egyptian electronic music producer and multi-instrumental musician. Having grown up in the isolated industrial city of Khanka, Riff was deeply influenced by the bustling sounds of his daily life, as well as Egypt’s heavy shaabi rhythms and classic pop music. His latest releases include a double single with rising local singer Nourine Abouseada and shaabi artist Veto, where he presents a softer, and more pop-inspired rendition of the music he makes. Riff is also widely recognized in the local rap scene, for his hit EPs with Karim Osama, ‘K.O’, and ‘O.K’. On this episode of Select, the producer has cooked up an exclusive set for SceneNoise, exploring the sounds of the city as a harmonious symphony through his unique and experimental electronic lens.

For nearly a decade since her emergence in the local dance scene, Cairo-based DJ Akladios has been sweeping crowds with her bouncy (and just a little spacey) sets, featuring salty minimal house beats with razor-sharp breaks. Besides spinning all across Egypt’s hottest clubs, Akladios has played some of the region’s biggest music festivals, party series and clubs including Sandbox, Shorelines, Retrogroove, AHM, Bo18, House of Afandi and more. She has also dabbled in the global dance circuit, performing in Berlin, Bucharest and New York City, and shared the decks with renowned international artists such as Peggy Gou, Folamour, and Sonja Moonear. For our Select 241, Akladios is bringing her contagious energy and summer vibes in an hour-long set of chill that will get you in the mood for a sunset pool party. (Protip: her set is best savoured with a cocktail in hand).

Cairo’s budding DJs Jess and Moenes have established a name for themselves in the local electronic music scene with their uplifting sets, a melting pot of genres and juicy house and disco selections. Heavily influenced by the late 80s house and disco wave, Moenes is known for cooking up some groovy live sounds with razor-sharp transitions. Since his emergence in Cairo’s clubbing scene, he’s become one of the youngest staple acts with his signature outdoor Terrace party at Cairo Jazz Club. Meanwhile, Jess never abides by the roles of genres on her miscellaneous sets, playfully blending afro-beats with funk, disco and more. She has previously manned decks in Berlin, Dubia, and Riyadh, along with some of Egypt’s leading festivals and venues. On this new episode of Select, the Cairo-based talents will be taking over Select 240 with a thumping, and all too groovy, B2B set, featuring some upbeat tunes like Disco Circus’ ‘Tod Terje & The Circus’, Work (Ft. Daves Giles II, Cor.eCE & Mike Dunn) - Honey Dij

Peachpuff’s Mardini is a minimal house producer and DJ who carved out a distinctive niche sound in the region’s underground electronic scene. Born and raised in a musically inclined environment in Lebanon, Mardini’s sonic tapestry is an eclectic fusion of blobby grooves and intricate textured rhythms, embellished with atmospheric elements. On our 239th episode of Select, Mardini is getting us all groovy with an hour-long set of hypnotic minimal house beats exclusively created for SceneNoise, featuring some infectious basslines and sharp breaks.

Ever since his breakthrough into the local electronic music scene in 2017, Cairo-based DJ Amr has become quickly recognized for his distinctive music style, rhythmic melodies and constructional mixing techniques. His dynamic sets clearly showcase his knack for dabbling in a wide variety of genres, ranging from break-ish 90s to hard-hitting electro. Amr initially developed a deep passion for DJing back in 2013, when he started experimenting with minimal and deep house sounds. However, it was in 2018, at a local underground party, ‘Skanat’, where he grew an interest in turntablism. For our Select 238, Amr brings us an exclusive niche selection of house music, featuring thumping basslines, progressive rhythms and hypnotic synths intersected with syncopated vocals. Simply put, if a spaceship party had its own playlist, this would be it.

Hailing from Lebanon, Vanessa Abboud aka VNSA is a true force to be reckoned with in the region’s electronic music scene. From minimal techno to house, her dynamic sets feature sharp, hard-hitting breaks with soul and funk influences. Vanessa has previously performed at famous venues across the region from Uberhaus and the Garten, to the Grand Factory and B018. She also shared the deck with some of the most notable names in the electronic music scene like Peggy Gou, Blond:ish, Monolink and more. For Select 237, the Lebanese DJ brings us an eclectic mix of tech-house, featuring some infectious grooves intersected with autotuned alien-like vocals.

Born and raised in Lebanon, Cyrill is a Dubai-based resident DJ at Boogie Box – one of the longest-running house and techno event series in the UAE, and is known for digging selections with broken beats, heavy basslines and psychedelic undertones. He is also co-founder of Moist Paper Party, and founder of Riddim Section, a club night series dedicated to amplifying fresh sounds of Drum and Bass and its adjacent genres. Since 2014, Cyrill has established a name for himself in the UAE clubbing scene, spanning at some of the region’s most notable events and even hosting his own parties. Cyrill’s versatile musical background is often reflected in his DJ sets, which are infused with metal, hip-hop, and dub. For our Select 236th, the Lebanese DJ has cooked up a hard-hitting 57-minute set exclusively for SceneNoise. Proceed with caution.

Cairo’s electronic heavyweights STZ and DOU are back once again for their yearly Eid ritual with SceneNoise’s Select. The duo are widely known in the local clubbing scene for their immaculate house and disco selections, best savoured on a yacht (or anywhere near the beach really). The duo go back-to-back for our Select 235, bringing an electric mix of soulful melodies, and funky grooves with pulsating basslines, a literal soundtrack for your seasonal beachside shenanigans. The set features tunes from Corrado Alunni, Dr. Packer, Harvey Ross, Michael Gray, and Birdee & Ken@Work.

Select 234: Mixed by Chewie by SceneNoise

Mishal is a Saudi selector and DJ, known for his infectious sets, a fusion of poignant rhythms across genres, inspired by his multicultural background. Since his emergence in the region’s electronic music scene, Mishal has been manning decks everywhere from intimate house parties to renowned festivals. For this Select 233, Mishal is taking us on an hour-long sonic ride of house, infused with subtle progressive sounds and minimal grooves that linger in space. The set also features some of Mishal’s latest favourite tracks like ‘Just Don’t’ by Dana Ruh, ‘Getaway’ by Eddie Richards, and ‘Morefus’ by DJ Just-Ed.

Nantes-based Lebanese DJ and member of French collective, Contre Temps, Gaya, emerges as one of the rising artists currently spearheading Beirut’s flourishing electronic music scene. Her musical journey and lifelong love affair with electro, jungle, bass and trap music began when she first joined ‘Peach Puff Bass Unit’, a music collection based between Paris and Beirut. With her dynamic sets, featuring heavy bass waves and breaks, Gaya has been firing up decks across Europe, from Berlin’s Sisphos and Bulbul to Nantes’ Trempolino and CO2, and Paris’ L’ international. For Select 232, Gaya crafted an hour-long set of jungle, featuring high-energy sweltering breakbeats, and thumping basslines. The set features eclectic tunes like Amor Satyr’s ‘Bebe’, Dunman’s ‘Abyss’, and Dual Monitor’s ‘Switch it’.

Lebanese DJ and producer Arabian Panther, famed for his keffiyah stage mask and his distinctive sound which can transition swiftly from a warrior’s march anthem to a club banger tinged with Arabic scales and instrumentals. His dynamic sets and productions pay homage to his multicultural heritage as a French child from the Lebanese diaspora, demonstrating solidarity with the Palestinian cause.  Arabian Panther’s journey of solidarity commenced with the release of his EP ‘Desert’s Anthem’ in 2019, which caught the attention of Palestinian DJ Odai Masri, aka Oddz and helped him forge connections within the Palestinian music scene. After signing his first track with the first Palestinian techno label ‘Harara’ – managed by the late great Oddz. For our 230th episode of Select, Arabian Panther has created a set exclusively for SceneNoise, which he recorded in one take at his home. The set is infused with some of his favourite tunes that he has been incorporating into his sets over the past year, along with a selec

Sara Bluma is an Algerian DJ and producer who began her musical journey on the vibrant dance floors of Ibiza and has since been captivating audiences across the globe pushing a fusion of indie dance, techno house and Italo disco. Bluma became a resident DJ at The Sanctuary Eco Retreat in Italy in 2020 before releasing her debut album ‘Teenage Dream’ in 2022, which marked her first venture into production, filled with a delicious variety of slow-burning, groovy bangers. On the dancefloor Bluma, the rising Algerian artist never shies away from pushing boundaries and dabbling into new uncharted sonic territories. On this week’s Select 229, Sara Bluma has created an exclusive four-hour set for SceneNoise, featuring tunes like ‘Love Desire’ by Cassim, ‘Theka’ by Rass and ‘Nterini’ by Fatoumata Diawara. The set kickstarts with a tropical mix of afrobeats and minimal house tunes, before transitioning into some funk grooves embellished with layers of percussion and sweltering vocoders.

Select 229: Mixed by Zenim by SceneNoise

UK-born techno DJ/producer and Co-founder of Secta collective, Ju Lovett is one of the rising artists shaping up Dubai’s burgeoning underground music scene. Ju’s showcases leave a lasting impression, consistently shifting from off-key melodic grooves to hypnotic inter-dimensional soundscapes. For our Select, the Dubai-based techno-geek is bringing a two-hour-and-a-half set of raw energetic trance beats with trippy breakdowns, twists and turns, and tough rolling basslines.

Emerging from Beirut's dynamic electronic scene and holding a notable residency at the Ballroom Blitz, Serge Volant has a penchant for modular synthesizer and crate digging. Serge serves us up an hour vinyl mix of beautiful breakbeats that blends grooves and electro-synths from all over the world.

For over 20 years, Hasan Hijjawi AKA Kitchen Crowd has been a leading figure in introducing and pushing electronic music to Amman, Jordan and the MENA region. Back in the day, Hijjawi founded a pop up club concept called [dsiko’tek’]* which hosted the likes of industry heavyweights such as John Digweed, Rampue, Deep Dish, Audiofly, Claptone, Luca Bacchetti, Pete Tong, Atish and Jan Blomqvist just to name a few. His groovy yet deeper sound draws from being an ‘adventurous’ college kid living in the US where he was bitten with what some may call the Chicago house bug at the infamous warehouse parties of the late 90s. In 2018, Kitchen Crowd migrated to live by the sea in El Gouna, Egypt to pursue music full time and work on his productions which are set to be released in the near future. Going back to hosting events, In 2020, Hijjawi launched Misfits - a boutique events and booking agency that saw the likes of Traumer, Chris Stussy, Anotr, Djoko and Archie Hamilton grace its decks till date.

Balaclava is a collective of alternative artists emerging from the streets of Tunis and committed to promoting local talent, composed of producers Hmenou and 5amaseen. Dedicated to influencing the youth through their bold and provocative art under their brand, Balaclava aims to embody the rebellious spirit and ambitious drive of their generation. Hmenou, a dedicated producer bridging Tunisian heritage and Parisian culture, has found his niche in drum and bass, infusing his music with local cultural references. Similarly, 5amaseen draws inspiration from bass and club music, crafting his distinct sound with pounding kicks, percussive patterns, and distorted breaks, influenced by the sonic landscape of his homeland, from Mahraganat to Upper Egyptian folkloric music. In this Select, Balaclava guides its listeners through an experimental mix of sounds, composed of fractured and disjointed breakbeats. High-energy and fast-paced, Balaclava’s mix invites its audience into an electric universe of drum and bass, reima