Stagnant Nebula

Born in Berlin, raised in Cairo and well-travelled in India and Russia, looking for musical inspiration, Omar ElKammar has been working on his EP for several months now. Aptly named Stagnant Nebula, his musical project sees the multi-talented artist straddle the line between ethereal ambience and rough Rock, culminating in Tapes from the Moon, his soon-to-be-released first record. His unique productions have a beautifully dark, lost-in-space vibe that certainly transports the listener. We talk to the one-man-show about playing the sitar, his musical beginnings in Metal and what we can expect from his EP...

When did you first start making music?

I was 19. I wasn’t always good at it but, to me, it made sense. Over time, my music changed and evolved into what I have now and I hope it keeps on evolving.

Knowing that you were in a Metal band before, how did the switch in genre come about?

I have been in a Metal band but I listened to other things as well. I was mostly raised on The Beatles, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as well as Cream and Zeppelin. To be honest about what I'm doing now, it just came out. I wasn't planning on doing a certain genre. I just had some instruments and I decided to put what I feel into that music. I discovered my sound a bit more each day and I think I’m still discovering it.

Where do you aim to take Stagnant Nebula?

As it says on SoundCloud, from the bedroom all the way to the cosmos!

When do you plan on releasing your music?

My debut EP is getting released in the next two months and it will be called Tapes from the Moon. The work on it is coming together more and more every day and a demo from it was already released and it got shared on SoundCloud’s Explore tab. Until now the number of songs on the EP is at five but that’s always subject to change.

Do you produce it all yourself, as well as play all the instruments? What instruments do you use usually?

I do everything on my own, starting from all the instruments to all the production work, as well as the sound design. As for the instruments, it started out with just bass and then it expanded to include guitars, keyboards, drums and vocals. There is even some sitar on the album...

How did you learn to play the sitar?!

I travelled to India to learn how to play it. I was supposed to teach English in an English centre there but I decided to travel and learn new things rather than teach. I'm currently in Russia, mainly for my girlfriend. We have been visiting each other the past year and I’ve also been meeting musicians and artists.  I’ve had a couple of gigs there as well.

For more about Stagnant Nebula, visit ElKammar's Facebook fan page here.