Sabrine Al-Hossamy: Beats And Drums That Match The Universe’s!
If you’re interested in Darbuka or drumming then you probably wanna read this! We had the honor to interview one of the best darbuka players, Sabrine Al-Hossamy. Known by “Sabrine Darbuka”, Sabrine is a musician and a darbuka teacher who owns a studio in Al-Zamalik to teach music and singing. And as if all of that wasn’t enough impressing, Sabrine used to be a model in the 90s as well!
1- How did you start this career?
It was very simple, I went to Sinai a lot and I was sitting in a fire circle, once, on a full moon night. Everyone was jamming and I had no connection to music and I just saw the darbuka being played by the Bedouin guy and I thought “I’d like to have one, I’d like to learn that” and that’s how it started.
I went back to Cairo and I bought two darbukas while I was doing my master’s degree in international business and I was working as well. My life was completely different. 6 months later, I decided to quit my job and go to Sinai to learn and practice every day 5 or 6 hours a day. I was happy to know that the teacher I met was ready to teach me, he also came to Egypt and so I happened to learn everything when I took this year as a break while finishing my master’s. That’s when I started practicing hardcore and really giving myself the chance to learn without judging whether I’m going to be a musician or famous, I had to try before making any decisions. I took a real break later on which was 4 years to develop my techniques and to produce my first album, but then I went back into business again and joined Naguib Saweras company, Orascom Telecom and worked as PR and communication director for 5 years and then I quit again for the last time at the end of 2009 and since then, I’ve been focusing on being an artist and a teacher.
2- Why the darbuka? Why not any other instrument?
I don’t know, I mean when you love someone, you don’t simply find a reason. I kinda don’t have an answer, maybe because my father used to play music when we were children, he played the guitar and he had a keyboard at home. But after I started playing it, it challenged me more, because it’s a taboo, no one’s playing it and some people disrespect it. I like going for the unpopular things and put some light on them.
3- Who inspires you the most?
My teacher, Misirli Ahmet. He’s very famous in Turkey. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have gone that far in learning darbuka, because he really has a philosophy and clever techniques. If it wasn’t for my teacher, I wouldn’t have gone that deep and I owe him the fact that I started this journey.
4- If you could pick a singer or a band to cooperate with, Who would it be?
Internationally, I’d love to work with Santana or Sting and in Egypt, I’d love to work with Fathy Salama and I’ve already done a couple of gigs with Massar Igbary.
5- How did you join El Barnameg?
They just called me and I didn’t think they would have me, because they always have only singers not just musical bands except for the percussion show.
6- How do you come up with your beats?
I don’t know, they just come, because I wasn’t taught the traditional way. My education was with a teacher who developed his own techniques so there’s a very big room for imagination. I was taught on the basis of listening and trying to interpret on my own way. So, I tried to create a room for creativity and imagination.
7- What future projects or plans do you have?
I’m working on a project with NGO; it’s some kind of a charity, but also it will have a lot of people drumming together. We are currently working to get the funds, but hopefully it will be launched in September and also there’s a contemporary dance project called “Ya Sem”. It was performed in “To Be Continued” in a festival, it was the first part and now we’re working on the second one.
8- If you have a superpower what would it be?
I think I would go for invisibility, so I can change stuff without people knowing what happened!
9- What would you like to say to young musicians/drummers out there?
I would like to say that to everyone, not just musicians, our slogan is “Making music accessible for all” So, I wanna say to everyone “At any point in time in your life, you like music, at least you have to listen to music, second, try to seek it, because it’s never too late. Never!”