Name ; age ; identification ; location (ASL)?

Hiiii, I’m Narrdine. I’m a 24 year old Egyptian/Australian singer, and I live in Melbourne, Australia.

Sun, Earth or Moon?

Honestly I’m struggling to choose between the Sun and the Moon - I love them both for completely different reasons. 

The Sun means warmth and love and energy and new beginnings but the Moon means strength and resilience and romance and mystery and wowww I am so amazed by the beauty and wonder of them both.

(But if I absolutely had to choose one, it’d be the Sun. Solely for the fact that when the Sun is out, I can go to the beach, and the beach is my absolute happy place!!!!)

Why music? What drew you to it?

I fell in love with singing and performing when I was a wee little child - growing up watching movie musicals 24/7 and performing in church choirs really made me who I am today.

The thing I loved (and still love) the most about music is sharing it with the people around me; creating connections through the emotions found within the music. So I found myself singing and performing every single minute of the day (whether the people around me wanted to hear it or not). I’d make little jingles about the mundane things I was doing everyday and would literally force my parents to watch me put on my own “Australian Idol”** during every single Australian Idol ad break (sorry mum and dad).

I just wanted to share this love I had for music with the world and I’m so happy that I now have the opportunity to do so.

**If you’re wondering, my favourite song to perform was What Do You Want From Me by Adam Lambert; idk who hurt me at 5 but what a tune.

“The thing I loved (and still love) the most about music is sharing it with the people around me; creating connections through the emotions found within the music.”

- Narrdine

Favourite track created to date and why?

One of my favourite tracks I’ve created is an unreleased song I wrote recently, called ‘Cairo’. It’s about the longing and need to connect to the place I belong. 

As an Egyptian living in Australia who has actually never been to Egypt, I constantly find myself questioning my identity. How could I feel so deeply connected to my ancestry and motherland when I’ve never even physically been there?

‘Cairo’ is a song that explores loneliness and identity and dreaming and the inevitability of mortality, and is one of the most honest and vulnerable song’s I’ve ever written.

“I told them that I need to find my inner peace. How can I ever sleep, when Cairo feels like home to me.”

- Narrdine, Cairo

If you could manifest anything to exist in the Outer South East, what would it be?

The Outer South East definitely needs more creative spaces where young people can perform and network and just feel completely comfortable sharing their art. I think growing up I would’ve loved to have a creative outlet to explore my love for music in, and even now, I’d love to find somewhere near home to develop and grow as an artist. 

I’d also love love love to see small, local restaurants, bars and cafes welcome and invite musicians and artists to perform in their spaces, and help build the arts and culture scene within the OSE. Walking around the inner CBD, it’s so easy to find someone performing and sharing their talents around every corner. Unfortunately, the further you come out, the rarer it is to find.

Also, I’d manifest a giant chocolate factory next door.

Your local businesses you’d like to shout out?

Firstly, my dear childhood friend Gina Michael owns a brilliant dance studio in Clayton South called Ascendant DC Studios - they run casual classes every Monday and Tuesday for all levels of dancers, so come check it out and say hi to me behind the front desk :)

Secondly, these baking queens - Third Course (Marina) and Cake Tribe (Maryam) - two iconic Egyptian women who make the most amazing, delicious, addictive (don’t say I didn’t warn you) cakes and sweets. My recommendations are Marina’s caramel slices (I dream about them) and Maryam’s cake pops (genuinely perfect). You’ll never go back.

Thirdly, my hypewoman, best-friend, guitarist, legend - Caroline - runs a small, family-owned, embroidery business called NIC Embroidery. They do custom embroidery and the amount of things I’ve made poor Caroline make for me is ridiculous. Add stylist to the list.

EGYPTIAN QUEENS BEING EGYPTIAN QUEENS!!!!!!!