Heba Kadry: The Mastering Engineer Championing MENA’s Underground

Starting her career in 1990s Cairo, Egyptian mastering Engineer Heba Kadry’s journey with sound coincided with the city’s nascent music scene. As a pianist, she cycled through short-lived bands and musical projects (including one with Egyptian superstar Abo, of ‘3 Daqqat’ fame). Eventually, Kadry pursued her interest in audio engineering, and her career has flourished ever since, going on to work with artists across the world, mastering for regional superstars such as Shabjdeed, and international icons such as Bjork, who she has both mixed and mastered for throughout the years.

Working out of New York City, Heba Kadry stands as one of the world’s most sought-out mastering engineers, having developed a deep understanding of the rather obscure section of audio, and to this day, Kadry keeps an ear to the ground in the MENA region’s music scene, amplifying the work of innovative artists through her precise ear for clarity and quality.

SceneNoise caught up with Kadry at the 16th edition of Le Guess Who?, where she played the role of guest curator, putting together a selection of MENA and international artists covering a portion of the festival’s line up. In this interview, Kadry talks about the early days of career, her early musical endeavours, and how she ended up finding her calling, and becoming one of the world’s most in-demand mastering engineers.

Watch the full video here: