about

Having grown up in the Middle East between the Arabian peninsula and Egypt, Omar received what many would consider something other than a typical musical upbringing. That is, a consistent interaction of seemingly contradicting musical worlds that to most would seem unnatural, but to Omar became the norm.

The first musical instrument he played was a Casio VL-tone (a low-fidelity synthesizer, circa 1980) which belonged to his brother.

The second was a mijwiz (a double-pipe, single-reed, woodwind) purchased from a street vendor in Cairo.

The first instrument he studied was the piano; lessons initially given by his maternal grandmother.

The second instrument was the drum kit, with lessons given by a Punjabi instructor while living in Dubai. On a side note, it should be mentioned that Omar's affinity for heavy metal and all things Iron Maiden began with said Punjabi instructor who would teach each lesson dressed in tight leather pants, and a half unbuttoned shirt. Ahh, yes…the days when metal ruled the world.

And such was the musical setting that Omar came of age in. At the age of 11 he began making multi-track recordings using two dual cassette boom boxes, the aforementioned Casio VL-tone and whatever instruments were lying around. When he was 14 he bought a 4-track cassette recorder and from then on his life was consumed with all things musical.

At 18, Omar enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin and 4 years later came out with a degree in music production, a minor in music, and a lot of credits in francophone literature. Ahh yes…quasi-bohemian college life.

LOS ANGELES

After graduation, the inevitable question of 'what am I going to do with my life' came up, and Omar decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a career in music composition. After sending out demo tapes and boxes of business cards, Omar succeeded in finding work as a freelance composer for television commercials. Shortly thereafter, a chance meeting in a loud bar led to a job at a composition house composing music for film trailers. That job segued into television and film scoring. little TV, then bigger TV, short films into features. And as the saying goes, one thing led to another.

the end