Founded by the Cairo-based Palestinian artist Tamer Abu Ghazala in 2007, Eka3 is the first independent platform for Arabic music that promotes independent musicians. It has recently expanded its activities, launching Almoharek, the first booking agency in the Arab world; Awyav, a music agency that markets the work of a network of artists and producers around the Arab world to filmmakers, advertisers and theatre, radio and television directors; Mostakell, an Arabic music label that plans to “reshape the quality” of Arabic music; and Ma3azef, an online magazine offering serious writing on music as well as reviews and information. Almoharek was launched on 14 August in the Garden City Room art space with a concert featuring Abdallah Miniawy and Ahmed Saleh. The mission of the agency is to promote original Arabic music, and has signed up a number of artists, including Mariam Saleh, Zeid Hemdan, Mai Walid, Jawhar, Darwasha, Sarah Murcia, Telepoetic, and Kamilya Jubran. It is fully devoted to organising these musicians' concerts both in Egypt and around the world in the most effective way possible. The new art space itself is an interesting experience, combining a café and art space and offering a programme of free screenings, concerts, exhibitions and lectures put together by filmmaker Ahmed Zeidan. Abu Ghazala is typical of Almoharek artists. Born in 1986 in Cairo, following his return to Ramallah with his family he studied oud, buzuq, music theory, history, orchestration and performance under the supervision of the Palestinian musician Khaled Jubran at the National Conservatory of Music, recently renamed as the Edward Said Conservatory. He is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer who released his debut album Mir'ah (Mirror) in 2008, jointly with Palestinian and Egyptian performers. In 2012 Abu Ghazala performed in Cairo, Alexandria, Tunis, Beirut and Amman. Abu Ghazala has collaborated on various projects with other musicians: Jehar with Hoda Asfour, Duo Buzuq with Rabea Jubran, Kalam Mazzika with Salem Youssri, Khaled Jubran's Psalms in 2005. In 2008 his musical theatre piece “Thawret Qalaq” (“Revolution of Worry”) was performed by Al-Tamye Theatre troupe, and in 2010 he performed with a group called Kaza Mada. He is now a member of the pan-Arab Alif Ensemble, which gathers artists from Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and Iraq. Other Almoharek artists include Jawhar, a Tunisian singer and songwriter who created his own style of folk music by mixing Arabic shaabi and acoustic guitar. He also released a CD called Qibla wa Qobla (Mecca, Kiss). He studied English literature and theatre in France and has recently been moving between Belgium and Tunis to perform as a musician and an actor. Maryam Saleh, an Egyptian emerging talent with a powerful voice, writes her own trip-hop and psych-rock songs, dealing with personal and political topics. She has a striking appearance that sets her apart from the rest of music scene, and has performed widely, initially with the Baraka band, in the Arab world as well as El Genaina Theatre and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Mesh Baghani (I'm Not Singing) is the name of her first CD, named after her best-known song. Recently, Saleh performed at the Palestine International Festival in Ramallah, as well as in Lebanon and Jordan. She also takes part in projects with musicians like Zeid Hamdan from Lebanon and Maurice Louca from Egypt. She has also starred in a number of indie films. The Darwasha Project, a band founded by Egyptian composer, guitarist and oud player Mohamed Darwish in 2012, offers a blend of heavy metal and progressive rock with Arabic lyrics and a touch of oud. Darwish gathered musicians after many experiences composing music for theatre. They performed in various concerts in Arab countries, including Amman's Al-Balad Theatre and Cairo's Féte de la Musique Festival, both in June 2013.
