Amir Hedayat: More freedom in composing the soundtrack
Although the works of the Egyptian musician Amir Hedaya are not many, excellence characterizes most of them, which nominated him for the “Hollywood Music” award, to win it for his work in the Lebanese series “Beirut Batch” (2020), in addition to the nomination of the first lyrical work with his voice and composition. And its distribution and lyrics, “Perfume”, to win the same award.
Hedaya presented a number of successful musical works for films such as “On My Body”, “Made in Egypt” and “Bashtri Ragel”. He also provided the soundtrack for dramatic works, such as “Al-Khanka”, “Qarat Al-Funjan”, “Operation Messi”, and others. Here, an interview with Amir Hedayat.
What kind of music brought you into this world?
classic music. I come from a family closely related to this type of music. My father was a pianist and music critic, and my mother is a professor of piano and musical theories at the Alexandria Conservatory. Therefore, since my consciousness was formed, there were always music lessons at home. I also used to go with them to the Conservatoire to attend concerts. Sometimes we went abroad for the same purpose. Therefore, I have been associated with this musical genre and studied it since childhood. After that, I became acquainted with the soundtrack, as it is closer to the classics, but it is charged with greater emotional charges, and through it I was associated with names such as Alan Silvestri, John Barry and John Williams, and was also influenced by the music of Rageh Daoud and Hisham Nazih, who are the two names closest to me from Egyptian musicians.
Every beginning is preceded by beginnings. We would like you to know us more regarding your beginnings; Early works, and what work do you consider the beginning of your start?
The beginning of my launch came from a work that has not been broadcasted to this day for production reasons, which is a long 12-minute advertisement for a huge series regarding One Thousand and One Nights, produced years before the revolution, and starring a large number of stars, including Amr Waked, Ghada Adel, Ghada Abdel Razek and Izzat Abu Auf. It was not broadcast, but it spread among the makers, and it made a difference to me on the level of work. After that, I presented the soundtrack for Ahmed Helmy’s program “Sewy Eyal”, and I prepared it from projects close to my heart. As for the first film whose soundtrack was made (with Mohamed Medhat), it was “Al-Watr”, following which films and dramas followed.
Despite the distinguished works she presented as a composer and arranger, for names such as Angham, Mahmoud Al-Osaily, Samira Said, Hani Al-Daqqaq and Abu Yazid, they are very limited. what is the secret?
I have terms or a way of choosing what to submit, even for so-called commercial songs, or pop songs. Although this may disturb some, but I prefer to maintain the level of my work more than anything else, as it takes precedence for me over the abundance of production or fame. To this day, I only accept songs that I like, and with people I find comfortable working with, so I consider myself an outsider or a stranger to the mechanism through which the song market is managed, because I am only concerned with providing good work. I believe that I am fortunate to be able to achieve this, and to maintain the standard of quality in what I offer to this day, and for this I invest time and effort that may be significant according to prevailing standards.
How does your work in composing differ from your work in music composition?
My work as a composer and arranger is linked to a set of restrictions that I must abide by, including the lyrics of the song and the voice of the singer. His abilities and his way of singing must be taken into account when setting the melody, but with regard to soundtracks, I have more freedom in musical expression, even with the presence of certain factors. From taking into account, such as the story of the work, its time, and the type of events, that is why I find the soundtrack closer to me, as it gives me more freedom.
What elements do you consider in any of your work?
The element of originality must be present, not in the voice or the use of specific instruments, but rather in the feelings. Worthless trinkets. Therefore, for me, if I succeed in making the listener feel the feelings that I want to convey to him, then I have achieved my goal. However, in my early years I fell into the trap of being interested in what would be said regarding music and the extent of fascination with it. This matter was taking over my mind, following which I realized that I should direct my full focus to conveying a sincere feeling to people and not to dazzle them, which is what I remind myself of today at every notepad for any work.
In addition to composing, distributing and setting soundtracks for dramas and cinemas, she also contributed to animated films on international platforms, and set music for video games and advertisements. Which one is your main passion?
I am always in conflict, because I love all of these genres, but the biggest struggle is between expressing myself through songs I have presented, such as “Perfume” or “Travel”, which for me represent projects of passion, in which I enjoy the greatest degree of freedom, in terms of expression. About myself, and between the soundtracks that I have been associated with since childhood, and represent the subject of my studies and the most musical color in which I have invested my time.
There is an accusation once morest your generation of composers, that it is far from Egyptian in its music. How do you see this opinion?
I don’t think that is unique to my generation. In my opinion, the matter has two parts: the first is related to the fact that music is a language of feeling. The second part is related to preserving our music from extinction, and I imagine that the accusation relates to this part. There is no problem at all that we turn to other musical genres, but with preserving our music from extinction or oblivion, and I am with this matter completely.
Egyptian music, prominent music such as the main colors, this prominence associated with the melody, the theme, or the main melody, is rarely an expressive factor in the image, so in order for the music to move the feelings of the viewer, there must be the presence of the element of harmony or texture (associated with Western music). Therefore, in order for Egyptian music to be able to express the image, it is necessary to seek the help of an element of Western music, because it is distinguished in the issue of texture, while our music is more distinguished by the theme. Umm Kulthum’s songs, for example, are accompanied by twenty violins, but they are all played in the same sentence, so there is no distribution for them. The texture is responsible for creating a depth of feelings, making it the most appropriate way to express the image. Of course, the best scenario in any work is for the fabric to accompany the theme, melody, or prominent color that distinguishes our music, which is what I try to present in my music, and I imagine that this is clearer in my own works, as it will fall on the Egyptian character in songs that I presented, such as “Perfume” and “Travel”. and “gypsy”.
You won the “Hollywood Music” award for your music for the Kuwaiti series “Beirut Batch”. In your opinion, what distinguished the work? And how much does the drama or movie contribute to the quality of the soundtrack?
The work excelled in the issue of challenge, in the sense that the place, time and influence have nothing to do with my person. The place is Lebanon and the time is the sixties, and the influence is French. Lebanese music was greatly influenced – at that time – by its French counterpart due to the occupation, so it required me to do extensive research before embarking on work.
I studied Lebanese music at that time, and then there was another challenge, which was to make the music honest, and make you feel like you were actually living in the sixties. And at the same time, be heard today. These challenges made me very interested in work and this is related to my personality; The challenge excites me more. And there is another matter, which is that I worked at the time of isolation, so there was nothing to distract me, besides that the project was stopped three times due to the conditions of Lebanon at the time, which gave me more time, so I imagine that the share of dramatic or cinematic work in the quality of the soundtrack is very large. .
You presented a unique and successful song from your words, melody and singing as well. It was nominated for the “Hollywood Music” award. However, the experiment was not repeated, why?
This issue is related to a struggle that is always going on inside me, and it is related to time. And if I want a short answer, yes, I would like to repeat it very strongly, but I do not have time; Given my association with soundtracks. Nevertheless, I hope one day to devote myself to presenting songs such as “Perfume”. What I heard and received from the comments on the work encourages me to repeat it, because most of them are not related to being a good song or because I am “smart”, but rather to the ability of the song to introduce its listener to a certain psychological state, and I consider that The finest music can offer.
What project do you aspire to implement in the coming period?
There is a project I am currently working on, and I am excited regarding it. It is a film in a series of short films presented by Walt Disney regarding Africa, including the soundtrack for the Egyptian film. It is planned to be broadcast soon. I also aspire to one day present a work or an operetta – although I do not prefer to use this expression – during which I will bring in unknown singers from the countryside and Upper Egypt, to present a huge orchestral work that is characterized by originality.
