Digla Biography

The very beginning Cairo, Egypt: Lead vocalist Tarek El Borollossy teams up with talented young musician Omar Raafat. Raafat, then an 8th grader, with a passion for the drums begins creating music with Boro. They started jamming to the likes of Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, and Ben Harper. The chemistry between the two created a great musical vibe, and in 2001 they played DMB’s “All Along the Watch Tower” live for the first time in their High school talent show. From this point onwards they officially formed their band, Digla. Digla started as a cover band and they built a fan base after several gigs all over Cairo. Their biggest performance came in 2003 when they played at the Sawy Cultural Center in Cairo. Their performance was the first of its kind that the Sawy Cultural Center had witnessed: a sold out concet. Digla did the local rock scene a favor, as their performance that night paved the way for other local rock bands in Egypt, soon enough, live concerts were nothing new. Growing in stature, Digla began creating their own music beginning with their first song, “Woman in Black.” Skip a few months and Digla were experimenting with several new tracks. By 2005 the band had recorded numerous original songs at home and were then spotted by Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiras who, after hearing some of their material, instantly offered to sponsor the band under the umbrella of his record company Fame Music. Boro and Raafat then teamed up with bassist Mokhtar and began working on their first album. Digla hit a rough patch when Sawiras shut down Fame Music, however the band never stopped. Tucked away in a small recording studio in Downtown Cairo, Digla completed their first demo in August 2006, comprising of seven songs and titled Free Your Mind. Boro continues to write Digla’s songs and lyrics; and, in association with Raafat, the core and vision of the songs are brought together. Digla come from varied backgrounds, and the band is an exciting mix of talent and passion. Boro was always infatuated with music, aside from being the lead vocalist of the band, Boro plays the rhythm guitar and the percussions including the “tabla”. Raafat who graduated from the same high school as Boro, discovered his passion for the drums at a very young age. His musical abilities extend to the guitar and keyboards. Mokhtar, an already established musician in Egypt brings a lot of experience to Digla. Having already played with some of Egypt’s top musicians, his skill behind the bass guitar adds a certain degree of invention and solidity to Digla’s music. Moreover the chemistry between Mokhtar’s bass and Rafaat’s drums make Digla one of the most inspired and original sounding bands. Mondy, the bands lead guitarist, is currently studying music in Canada. With his strong technical ability, Mondy takes Digla’s music to an even higher level, which fits well within the bands future vision.