DIFFERENT music genres shouldn't be dominated by one gender any talented artist should get an equal chance to present his/her music, regardless of anything and that includes gender. Although we have countless female musicians in the classical scene, rock ones are very few, especially those with real talent. This is what made me curious about 21-year-old female guitarist Ally Salem. In one word she is “exceptional”. “My late dad loved music so it was played a lot at home. My elder sister used to listen to Scorpions and this got me interested in them. I was maybe seven and I liked rock because it was quite unique and it also expresses love, anger and various emotions. It's not a cliché like stuff we listen to everyday. I kept listening to Scorpions for a while, but their hard rock was relatively too soft for me so I thought I should check out bands that play heavier stuff, like Metallica and Iron Maiden. I was so into heavy metal and I still am. The instrument that really got my attention was the guitar. I loved it so much and wanted to play these metal songs on my sister's acoustic guitar, not knowing that to do so I needed an electric one instead. I was eight and decided to buy my electric guitar in two years time. After saving the money, I was tempted to buy a cell phone instead! However, I held on to the thought and started saving again. During that time I really wanted to attend local rock concerts but none of my friends was interested in going with me because they weren't into the same kinds of music I loved. Finally, when I was 12 I attended one concert by numerous bands and there I met bassist Hameed Sabry, who told me that I should start by playing an acoustic guitar. He also stopped me from buying the bad electric one I was going to buy. Then he helped me in buying my first instrument and I took lessons with guitarist Marwan Shaaban, but he was very busy working and playing music so he only gave me a few lessons. I didn't have a multi-effect system and not even an amplifier, so I used to connect the guitar to my Hi-Fi system and I paid for the lessons, cables, strings and picks because I wanted to personally cover my guitar expenses instead of counting on my dad's financial support in this. Then, I bought myself a better guitar and a multi-effect system and with the good sound produced I was able to cover songs properly. I have to say that when I was first introduced to the music of Gary Moore I was fascinated and it's mainly because of him that I like blues now. He's my ultimate teacher and I learned a lot from him. I was trying to produce my own sound and his music taught me.” That is so much time, effort and money invested. What happened then? “Two years later in 2005 I joined a rock girl band called Mascara, but since the other members are from Alexandria, it was hard to get together and rehears. Besides, I wanted to be as good as possible before performing. For three years I practiced at home, studied and watched stuff on the Internet and on DVDs and this improved my technique remarkably. During that time I joined a couple of bands and the usual problem of having a complete lineup was always there. I even ended up singing when we couldn't find the right vocalist. However, nothing happened until 2008, when I bought a very good guitar and a multi-effect system and felt I was ready to go on stage. My sister's guitar teacher, Tamer Brazily, whom I've jammed with before, asked me to join Classics Band, which plays classic rock as the name explains. The performance we gave at El-Sawy Culture Centre (ESCC) featured 20 guests musicians, including my guitarist sister Shaimaa and I. It was quite successful and days later we took part in Al-Korba Annual Festival, which gave me an amazing exposure. The following concert was a hard rock one and it was also my final performance with the band because being a committed member would have stopped me from focusing on things like studying. Still I also played with several bands like Blue Notes and Headstock. The latter won First Prize of ESCC and Andromida Rock Festival last October. I played with them but couldn't play in the same festival with Blue Notes, who won Second Prize, because it is against the festival's rules. Bands I played with include Redeemers, Scorpionism and Silent Echo. We had something like G3, in which I played along with guitarists Mostafa Fathi and Omar El-Deeb”. G3 is not 3G, so it has nothing to do with mobile technology. The “G” here stands for “guitar” and G3 is a series of concerts organised by legendary guitarist Joe Satriani. These concerts featured guitar heroes like Steve Vai, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, and my favourite Brian May. What's your next step Ally? “I want to record my material as a solo artist and I already bought recording equipments. My music will be on the harder side of classic rock and I know my solos will be wild yet still melodious. I believe I might mix hard rock and rock with funk and blues. I'm not denying that I would like to sign a record deal, but to avoid disappointments, I'm not expecting much to happen. The main reason behind all this is the love I have for music and I don't want to make mediocre music or copy someone else's style… I am planning to come up with something unique in every way. I really want my music to be listened to and 20 years from now I would love to have girls look at my work and be motivated to take a similar path. I'm trying to send a message Egyptian female musicians can make it. I don't want them to be discouraged because they are girls. At the same time, I don't want to be the cliché “girl guitarist”, who shows off and is more concerned about her image than her music. People have to understand that things are tough here, where rock is not the common music. Naturally, female guitarists abroad are more fortunate they can easily find good guitars, equipment and even instructors. I worked very hard to develop a technique and come up with my own music. Even if I'm going to stay in Egypt, I'll do something that I want to be remembered for. I really want more girls to play music and I look forward to playing with musicians of my gender.” In addition to all that, Alaa Salem (yes, that's her real name), contributed to several online music projects. She is a student at Cairo University's Faculty of Arts, English Department. She is also an Account Specialist in a reputable company. Did you know that she is the Second Prize Winner of Egypt's Speed Challenge car racing tournament? It's another unusual thing for a girl and there is so much more to say about this very pleasant young lady, but unfortunately we are coming to the end of the page… Send me your strings to: [email protected]
