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 concert. 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 wanted to record a demo.
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.
