EXCLUSIVE: Meet The Organizers of Beirut Metal Festival

Few weeks ago, passionate hardworking organizers of Beirut Metal Fest announced the fest’s line up, headlined by Decapitated.

The Fest is organized by Groove Metal Machine Entertainment that brought the greatest Metal acts in Lebanon, and brought big names to their country 
as Septicflesh 

Egypt’s Metal Reviewer contacted the team of the festival to know more about the fest, and the participated bands, and to know their point of view about the scene in Lebanon, and the Middle East.

Beirut Metal Fest organizers interviewed by: Rana Atef 

Originally published on 13/7/2018 at 5:14 pm

Attached photo courtesy: Beirut Metal Fest

Groove Machine Entertainment 

Guys, thank you for giving us this chance to interview you, So can you tell us how the idea of the festival started?

Thank you for having us. We started as a group of promoters, each from a different background and origin, but with the same goal. Our first metal show under Groove Machine's name in Lebanon was actually the first edition of Beirut Metal Fest. 

It was a one day event in a closed venue, and we wanted to revive the scene, and for that we had to gather different styles and origin of bands. We had Legion of the Damned and Nervecell headlining, plus 5 other bands on the card. One of them is the main name for Doom Metal in Lebanon, Kimaera, and another name was Kaoteon, who hadn't performed at the time for at least 8 years. 

With the big feedback we got from the festival, we then decided to continue with more metal events, and to turn Beirut Metal Fest to a yearly event. The rest of course, is history.

How do you choose the participated bands?

We always like to vary with the genres of the participating bands. We try to not have a specific style all night, and that has worked well. Usually we also like to have at least one of the older old school bands from the scene, as well as new bands who need to be given a chance, and this is how we usually come up with our line ups. 

In your point of view, how do you see the scene in the Middle East now?

Despite what a lot of people say, the scene in the middle east right now is pretty strong. Although there are still some difficulties and limitations/restrictions to what can be done in some countries, the scene is surviving nonetheless. Actually in the past few years a growth has been noted. So we see thei scene in a positive position at the moment, hopefully this will be permanent, because its long overdue. 

This year’s version will be headlined by Decapitated, how do you contact them, and what is their feedback regarding performing in Arabic country?

We were able to contact Decapitated through common contacts/friends, though its not a very hard thing to be able to contact international bands nowadays. And ever since the first contact, Decapitated have been very attentive in our talks, as well as being very nice people. 

They are very excited to come perform in an Arab country and we believe then never had doubts to come here in the first place. This is very important for us, because this isn't always the case. Some bands are still afraid to perform in this part of the world, 

Also, this year will witness the participation of the Syrian band “Maysaloon”, in your point of view, how do you describe the scene in Syria, and its resistance despite the war?

One of our team members have been recently to Syria, and attended an event with Maysaloon and two other Syrian bands. The event and crowd reception was simply fantastic. Almost 400 passionate metalheads attended the event with just local bands, I think that says it all. 

Those people have suffered a lot, and the fact you can see all of them in one place celebrating metal and their scene, is just overwhelming. Hopefully with peace finally arriving at their country, there will be a rise in the scene again.

Can you tell us what are the challenges that face Metal festivals organizers in the Middle East?

There are many challenges we all face in all countries who produce Metal festivals. I think of of the main obstacles is the high costs we have to produce such events. It starts with technical costs, then government taxes, and so on. 

Also one of the problems is securing headliners. There are still a lot of bands out there who need "convincing" before coming to perform in the middle east, so its usually an exhausting process to be able to confirm one. 

But with all that has been happening lately, we can see this part is slowly starting to fade as more and more bands are interested in coming here. And surely one of the main challenges is bringing the audience for such events. We have had very good numbers lately, but this still has to improve in order to bring bigger bands. 

Which bands do you target to bring to the Middle East in the future?

We apologize for now being able to give a straight answer for this question, LOL. We don't usually reveal our plans, but you can predict a lot of very exciting bands to come after this year's edition is over.

Thank you again for giving me this chance, would you please send a message to the audience that are passionately waiting for Beirut Metal Festival?

First we would like to thank everyone for the huge support and feedback we have gotten after announcing the full festival. All of you know we do not overhype our events, and when we promise something big, it IS big. There are many surprises yet coming for the fest, stay tuned, and we hope to see you all there in September, and that means all middle eastern fans and not just Lebanese. Join us for this historic happening, its only the beginning.