Salalem's musical choice eclectic but promising Although the band is still quite new, Salalem is already demonstrating a lot of potential. Refusing to stick to one type of music, they've made diversity their trademark. Each of the band's songs stands on its own. Their music is a mixture of rock, Latin, jazz, Oriental, alternative and country. Each song has its own theme; the band says it composes the music for each song based on the lyrics and how they want their words to reach people. Adding to the uniqueness of each song is the fact that everyone in the band makes his own contribution. The band started on a university campus with only three members who played cover songs of artists they liked. They wanted to start making their own music, so they started searching for other professional players to join them. The band structure and number of band members have fluctuated over the years, reaching 11 band members at one time, and now settling down to their current makeup of seven members. The current configuration, which the band says creates full sets and full output, is comprised of Osama Saad El-Din on rhythm guitar, Mohammed Ali on rhythm guitar and vocalist, Amr Sayed on solo Spanish guitar, Mohammed Gamal the lead vocalist, Ezz Shahwan on bass guitar, Ayman El-Qadi on percussion and Ahmed Hesham on drums. Every band member comes from a different musical background, bringing their own varied musical influences to the group and contributing to the band's diversity. Salalem says they try to address other topics in addition to singing an occasional love song, a topic that they say "has been sung about enough already. The group writes their lyrics in Arabic so that they can reach people more effectively. They are always looking for unusual topics for their songs; one of their songs is entitled Zahma and talks about traffic jams. I try not to restrict myself to love songs, and talk more about stuff that no one talks about, like traffic jams. Adaweyya was the only one who talked about it, says Mohammed Gamal the lead vocalist. "But I also sing love songs in order to suit all tastes. We talk about life, day and night, community issues, youth problems. For a young group, lacking professional training, but still insisting on writing and composing their own songs, Salalem has a lot of potential. At a Salalem concert expect to dance to the Egyptian Oriental tabla (drums), revel in a Latino song, and dream to a slow love song all at the same concert!
