Baloo, DJ and Creative Director of MDLBEAST talks about SOUNDSTORM, the Saudi electronic scene

Baloo is a Saudi house DJ & producer, with years upon years of expertise in the scene on both the creative and technical sides, also being the Creative Director of hugely influential brand MDLBEAST. Being at the forefront of change within Saudi Arabia's electronic scene and pioneering the scene, pushing it forward and creating new opportunities, we wanted to talk to Baloo not only about his music but also his expertise as a Creative Director.

"With MDLBEAST, I've been working on the company's overall direction and vision since the start. This includes developing its brand ecosystem, vision, communication, overseeing creative on campaigns, future event concepts and brand innovations, social content, I also dive into line ups and music curation. I work with a wonderful team and I focus on innovation and maintaining our creative quality."

Baloo, Creative Director of MDLBEAST

He also added:

"Music is a universal language, and a global conversation. Until December 2019, we weren't able to be part of the electronic music conversation. We, the local talent, performed in private settings with no hopes of making an income, we only did it for the music. That's different now, we are able to perform in public and create connections with new audiences, hopefully around the world.

Continuous grow

Appetite is huge across the region and will continue to grow. As such, we've extended our annual music festival, SOUNDSTORM, to four days instead of three to give everyone the opportunity to watch their favorite artist perform.

The passion for dance music has been around for years thanks to a thriving underground community. Nowadays, however, it's more popular among a younger generation. There is a new generation hungry for culture and quality music; which comes as no surprise when considering 70% of the population of Saudi is below the age of 30. At MDLBEAST, we're playing an important role in this change.

Through the talent we work with, the events we put on, and the culture we encourage; we're building an infrastructure that will develop the music scene not just in Saudi, but across the wider region. The music industry is one; which is why it's very important we all learn from each other and find inspiration in all sounds. The opportunity has never been bigger and we're moving quick."

MDLBEAST… next step

"We have a lot of new concepts in the works, SOUNDSTORM is our flagship annual event and our biggest, but there's so much room for smaller events to take place in our main cities and in some of our regional destinations, in Saudi and beyond. There are so many opportunities to create here, people to entertain, talent to support and amplify, really building room for job creation in these creative endeavors. We are working on a new label to launch, new events, new music content and all kinds of media.

Next is More!"