REGUS | Artistic Culture

REGUS won’t let the Fog Cloud the Harbinger of the Unknown Skies…

- Caroline Maria D'souza

Doing the unusual, Band REGUS is working their way to change the scene of heavy metal music in the UAE with their new single Unknown Skies. “The metal scene here in the UAE hasn’t yet picked up, and it is a struggle to get gigs to play or even to get your bands name out there for the world to see. We still haven’t made it, there’s a lot of work to do, but we’re working on it,” says Kyle Harry Dsouza, one of the members of the upcoming band.

REGUS is a band that mostly performs and writes progressive metal music but are eventually venturing into other genres of music. The band comprises of Rayyan Mir who is their vocalist but also plays the guitar, Kyle Harry Dsouza who is their guitarist as well as keyboardist and finally Mustafa Mir, the drummer.

Mustafa (Left), Rayyan (Center) and Kyle (Right)

What is unusual about the band is that, in comparison to most heavy metal bands, they lack one member. However, it is interesting to learn that their journey began mainly because of this unusual factor. “We started out as a band competing for Watt Fest, a yearly event held at Herriot Watt University. After days of practice and changes to our song, the three of us finally decided to go ahead and perform without a bassist; something metal bands do not do. Due to stage presence and technical abilities, we won the competition, and that’s where it all began,” says Rayyan, the vocalist of the band.

Like most budding artists, REGUS also began posting covers on YouTube. But, what kept their names in people’s minds was their consistency as YouTube artists. By watching fellow artists and other musicians who were trying to make their name big in the UAE, REGUS realised that being consistent with their uploads on YouTube and their other social media pages were very essential. Their drummer Mustafa says, “We recorded our covers and shot them ourselves, which took a lot of time and effort, but we have a passion for our work and a drive to do well and succeed which helped us to stay consistent.”

Watch their winning performance here

Watch one of their covers here

The band has just released a new single called ‘Unknown Skies.’ The single is based on a demo track written by two of their members, Rayyan and Mustafa, a few years ago. They believe it is a song that is, on paper, straightforward, high energy, while still being interesting in its theme and delivery. “It’s about doing a simple thing, in an interesting way,” says Kyle.

Listen to their full single here

The decision to break away from covers and begin producing original music was a timely process for the band. Kyle mentions, “Rayyan and Mustafa were already recording demos and also did upload a few songs on YouTube. However, after we formed REGUS, we knew we wanted to release something unique and different and try our best to make it big.”

The band also highlights that they did not struggle regarding releasing the single itself since they had been making music to post on YouTube for a while. Though, they still faced some troubles concerning advertising and promoting their band name. They were also grateful for being able to work with an experienced producer Irfan Omar, from the locally established band, Nikotin, and professional videographer, Jahanzeb Zaffar. "It was an absolute privilege to work with these talented people,” explains Mustafa.

REGUS announcing their first single unknown skies

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To all the music lovers, REGUS is happy to announce that their journey to success has just begun and that they are already working on an EP.

To all the upcoming solo artists and bands in the UAE, REGUS highlights that for genres like metal, it is absolutely necessary to be consistent and original. They say, “It’s tough to make it big in the UAE itself, but social media makes it a bit easier. Therefore, consistency.”

“We also hope to set an example for the upcoming artists out there. So, stay tuned, because there’s lots of exciting stuff coming up soon,” exclaims Rayyan.