Gawy, a contemporary Egyptian band, are the first Arab and Egyptian band to have one of their songs featured in a Marvel movie, Black Widow (2021), starring Scarlett Johansson, that was released on Wednesday. Trendify” reached out to one of the band members, Mohamed Abd El-Latif (Tifa), the band’s vocal artist, for an exclusive look into the band’s history and how they came about.
The song symbolizes a lover blaming and conversing with his beloved, who is intended to be his homeland.
How it Began
“It all started with our first song Atshan Ya Zeina, which El-Gamal and I had worked on before 2015, and had received wide appreciation on social media. We then decided to assemble a band and keep working with the same music style,” said Abd El-Latif.
Their first live concert was in September 2015, afterwards they started coming out with singles, “Qasr El-Khalefa", "Samra Ya Eyoun El Gadaa" and "Eyoun El Nas Zanazeen". They released their first album “Qalbk Yasaa” in March 2017 and filmed its music video in 2018.
Meaning Behind Gawy
“Gawy” is an Indian type of incense, mostly known for its distinguished scent, related to the Khalifa’s citadel, whenever someone smells it, they instantly recognise it and know its source, “this is what we aimed to implement in our band, we play a unique and distinguished genre, which is instantly recognised,” said Abd El-Latif adding that this specific name was chosen by the band members to suit their contemporary poetic style.
How the Black Widow feature came about
It started in 2018 when a community website manager, “Song Trader”, where songs are marketed for short films and movies, Black Widow is the first large deal the website signs with an artist.
She found their song, contacted them without mentioning who her client is, asked for the copyright papers and translated lyrics, then sent them the contract with all the required details.
“Of course it is a great experience for us, the fact that we are the first Arab Egyptian artists to be featured in a Marvel movie is a huge step for us.”
About the band’s Diwan “Gawy”
In April, they released a poetry collection entitled ‘Gawy’ in the recent Cairo International Book Fair, published by “Dar Tashkeel”, that won the Abdul-Rahman El-Abnoudy Prize for Colloquial Poetry and Critical Studies for 2021. The book, written by El-Gamal, documents all the poems recited during the band’s performances as well as new ones to be recited at future gigs.
Every poem recited by the band’s poet, Ahmed El-Gamal, is a tale echoing the reality of Egyptians’ everyday life, their dreams and aspirations with songs performed by singer Mohamed Abdel-Latif. Gamal’s lyrics may sound simple at first but then the audiences can realize the depth behind them.
Why Contemporary?
The band’s soundscape is a blend of Eastern music played on keyboard, bass guitar, electric guitar, drums and different percussion instruments, amounting to what the band members describe as “Eastern fusion.”
They perform an alternative form of art, a unique musical state that blends the power of words with distinctive tunes, putting them into a contemporary musical form.
At the same time, the band attempts to revive the Southern Egyptian heritage, while narrating people’s everyday lives and hardships in the process in an Upper Egyptian accent that mimics old folklore.
About the Band
Gawy is an independent Egyptian band that has been an active participant in the local artistic scene since 2015, giving about 30 performances since then that combined both poetry recitations and singing.
Band Members:
Mohamed Abd El-Latif (Tifa) - Vocal
Ahmed El-Gamal - Poet
Fakhrany - Drummer
Bebawy Raafat - Bass Guitarist
Shodz - Keyboardist
Fady Wissa - Guitarist & Keyboardist
Main Aim & Future Plans
“Our main goal and vision is to create a new genre, Gawy, that is to be recognised and show how modern music can be merged with Arab literature,” explained Abd El-Latif. They are currently working on an album of 7 tracks to be released by the end of July.