Special K was a lost camel. He started his journey from the Mediterranean Sea and found his way home to the mighty dunes of Dubai in 2011. He believes that he belongs to the desert! Why Camel? Because he survived and the most majestic creature who could survive the desert is the Camel, he does not drink water for weeks, as no words can describe the chivalry and pride this creature has. His musical career started in Syria in 2003, and it was revived in Dubai in 2013 with a small group of friends and portable speakers. With time, the gathering gradually grew into a bigger community. It was just his people who signed up in the beginning to become a part of the community and contribute to music! After the COVID-19 pandemic, they rebuilt themselves with smaller gatherings, as it was difficult for them to bring people together. He co-founded “Desert Dream” in 2013 where he organized yearly outdoor underground events every winter amidst the dunes. He invites the best crowd, which would enjoy the vibe of the sound together in one space, making the gatherings more alive!
Special K doesn’t consider himself a DJ; he is a gatherer, an event organizer, & musically he is a storyteller.
Though Special K is not very fond of interviews, speaking with Oslava, he shared his experience of performing in India, where he mentioned that it is quite similar to what it is in Dubai, as 70% of the crowd in Dubai consists of Indians. He further shared that Indians like to dance, and he enjoys playing for them! So, playing in India wasn’t a very different scenario for him. He also shared his preference for working with organizers rather than agencies. He believes it’s the organizers that put all of their energy into conducting an event, not the agency!
Special K is yet to explore India and is waiting for the underground festival to happen, somewhere in the forest and not indoors.
When we asked about the production of the electronic music scene and the way it is making a noise worldwide, Special K answered that earlier it was more popular in Sweden and Germany, and now Romania is at its peak with it. Talking about his geographical background, Special K shared that he belongs to Asia, the Middle East, and especially the Mediterranean. He grew up with musical instruments around, which inspired him to mix instrumental organic sounds with techno, house, and progressive to deliver our culture via music, the only language everyone understands. He said that artists from the Middle East area (especially Dubai) or music producers just want to perform western music to gain attention from the public; just like techno, without adding organic groovy beats and elements to their music, they don’t show their culture at all.
Special K. never prepares his set.
He just keeps his music to himself, a collection of 100-200 tracks that has both released and unreleased music in it. He begins to play his music in accordance with the tone and atmosphere created by the artist performing before him. It takes him almost half an hour to begin with his kind of music, as he believes in shifting gradually to other genres of music and not instantly. He mentioned he does the preparation during his set by listening on the spot, so his energy attracts the right next track, which makes the flow 100% organically done.
Special K spoke to us about the functioning of industry in India, where he said that he has been approached by 100-150 agencies by now, and they pass information and all the details that they derive from an artist. He revealed that when the agency makes last-minute changes, it throws off the artist’s plan. They waste a lot of time by delaying things and lacking a proper plan before they approach any artist. They are on the verge of getting a big name for their event, but they don’t realize that they themselves aren’t prepared for it.
They only pursue artists without having a solid strategy or timeline in place to follow up with them if they decline or back out at the last minute. The ways in which agencies and artists carry out their respective tasks and responsibilities must urgently be combined. With no intention of defaming anyone or any organization, he shared his way of thinking about how agencies can work to pull off events with big and small artists, both if they have a plan ready and are confident enough to approach any artist from any part of the world.
When asked about mental health, Special K shared that he gets disappointed when he invests all his energy and himself in a project where people are concerned only about the money and not the music! As per him, there used to be a madness for the underground music scene when, in the current times, it’s just about the underground scene rather than the music. The commercialization of underground music has taken away the essence of it. Also, the way people define electronic music as techno is something where there is a lack of awareness, and that needs to be done. He also shared about the industry where people work in collaborations, and after a point of time, they separate and take away the idea with them to work on it individually.
Special K. further expressed that he would be good with the fact that the other artist is developing his idea into a finer version than what he could have done, but something that hurts him the most is that they ruin the idea or music for the sake of money as they mold it accordingly. Now, he has also started to get this music and brands copyrighted so that he doesn’t face issues with his idea being stolen or taken away. Special K. characterizes himself as someone who understands how to get back up after being knocked down by other people or situations; he states, ” IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, YOU CAN DO IT! ”