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Zaymateegi Teegi… (It comes as it comes; apparently!) I was born on September 4th, 1978, in Wimbledon, England. When people ask me where I come from, this is what I say: My mother is English, my father Egyptian, I was raised in Kuwait, and went to British and American International schools. I am a bit of a mix. I have been very fortunate in that I have experienced many different cultures from very early on. I have lived both in Scotland and England for brief periods, have traveled as far East as Tokyo, and as far West as Canada and the U.S., and currently live in Cairo, Egypt. My two favorite things in the world are singing and writing. Ever since I can remember, I have been writing short stories and poems, and singing into a mic. I would say, however, that the line between music being just a hobby, and something I started to take more seriously, began to blur when I was 19 years old, in 1998. That was the summer I bought myself a guitar and began teaching myself how to play. From that point on, I was able to combine my poetry and singing and experiment with writing my own songs. At this point I was living in Cairo, and decided to move to the UK for a year to experience the English culture firsthand. In October 2000, I traveled to Munich, Germany to meet with reggae musician & good friend, Jahcoustix, and had the opportunity to record one of the first songs I had ever written, Speaking of Colors. By this time, I had been playing the guitar and composing music for three years. I returned to Cairo in February 2001 and completed a 6 month internship with the communications department of UNICEF, Cairo. While in Cairo, I tried recording a few other songs I had written, but nothing concrete developed, save for a couple of poorly recorded demos which began collecting dust on my shelf. From 2001 to the start of 2004, a career in music was pushed aside and forgotten. I began to work in schools as an Assistant Teacher, and considered teaching as an alternative career route. In April 2004, Cairo’s newest and most popular radio station, 104.2 Nile FM, started announcing that they were accepting local talents’ demos for on air coverage. Without hesitation, I handed in a CD with Speaking of Colors and Elef Beh Teh (Arabic Alphabet) on it; the latter song I had previously written myself and recorded a few years later with the help of the renowned, Egyptian guitarist, Ousso. Not long after, the station held a Battle of the Bands competition, where local talent were able to go head to head, and audiences could vote in to say who they preferred. Speaking of Colors came in first place, and as well as having one month’s regular air rotation, the song received incredible amounts of exposure. After this, I began working with film director, Omar Khodeir, to make a video clip for Speaking of Colors which was released November 2nd , 2004, on the Arabic satellite music channel, Mazzika. July and August were spent in London taking part in many open mic nights and playing for audiences at numerous different venues. Next, I flew to Munich, Germany, and supported the reggae band, Dubios Neighbourhood, at the Lilalu Festival. I also did a preliminary recording and wrote lyrics and a melody for Poor Mother Cry, a song to possibly be featured on a reggae compilation for female artists called House of Riddim for Queens. Back in Cairo, I worked on co-producing a new track, Angolian Child, with members from one of Egypt’s most talented and admired bands, Wust El Balad. The track has been featured several times on Cairo’s Nile FM radio station. In January 2005 I went back to Munich for two months and worked on recording a few more songs including Winter Thoughts and Precious Moments, both have been aired on Nile FM. Upon returning to Cairo in the spring, I teamed up with friend and musician, Mariam Ali, to form The Tamariam Experience. So far we have performed our own originals in Cairo’s ultra cool under-the-bridge venue, Sakkia, and at the Wadi Digla Festival. Finding another musician like Mariam to work with, has been a blessing sent from above! Hopefully, the journey down Music Lane will not stop here… -Tamara, December 2005 |