This is one of the best interviews I’ve ever done! The story of Orca is inspiring and serves as a good example that anything with discipline can be achieved. Despite his visual impairment, he’s determined to provide listeners with top-notch music. Scroll down to learn more about him.

1 – Your journey towards becoming a singer-songwriter is pretty inspiring. Please tell us more about it?

It all started when I was three years old; since my mother tongue is Arabic, I was always fascinated with English music. My parents used to bring different cassettes and mashups of different genres. I didn’t understand what they were saying or who the singers were, but English music always brought comfort and happiness no matter what.

As I grew older, my dad started buying me piano keyboards, the toy version of a piano, and let me play with I even have an old photo from those times. Sometimes my grampa would hand me a mic and allow me to sing along with the songs I loved. My family used to surround me cheer me on while I was singing. I even tried to trace some of those songs.

Still, I couldn’t find all of them like for example, from the songs I could find AQUA’s “Candyman,” “Roses Are Red,” “Doctor Jones,” “My Oh My,” and “Calling For You,” and also I managed to find Shaggy’s album such as ‘Angel,’ and ‘Hot Shot.’

I also used to listen to Westlife, Five, The Backstreet Boys among other artists I couldn’t hunt down all of them, but I managed to find a few.

All was fun and good until I reached middle school. When I decided to start focusing on music and improve my vocal abilities, my family stood against it and considered music a hobby that was not to be pursued. “If you have extra time, then sing but don’t create free time for it.” I should focus on academic achievements and the fact that the kind of music I listen to isn’t accepted where I live. There was also the fact that what will benefit me in life is my education and not my passion for music, and since I’m visually impaired, they considered that I only have a one-way path in life that should cross without looking to either left or right… Yet the dream kept bottling inside, and I kept listening to English music, ignoring any other kinds of music as I grew up.

I did not recognize most Arab artists and only knew those in English. I couldn’t mix with other people because our musical interests and references differed. I didn’t build any kind of audience or connect with my generation. I kept this on as I grew listening and learning while also improving my listening abilities to understand more about the song’s structure and how everything ticks.

But whenever I tried to discuss any type of training with the family, the answer was always no, so I kept self-training until I couldn’t take it anymore all those ideas and scenarios that I needed to share in a song all those stories that I wish to tell and share with others it was eating me inside until I couldn’t take anymore, and I decided to start my journey no matter what, and on January 2021 my first release came out, and I knew that to reach my dream I need an audience a fan base a movement to support me and cheer me on because I cannot do anything alone I have so many limitations when it comes to my disability, but I’m not planning to give up, and I will keep on pushing until someday people can support me and get the message that each of my singles has within its lyrics and its own structure because it isn’t always about the story but on how its told.

2 – Being visually impaired has allowed you to develop higher sensibility in other senses?

That is absolutely true. When God takes away something from a person, he blesses him with something else in return. Throughout my life, I developed a heightened sense of hearing, smell, taste, touch, the sixth sense in a way, So when it comes to my sense of hearing, I consider it to be a blessing and a curse because now I can hear things that are far far away. I’m also able to hear when people whisper to each other when people have phone calls. I can listen to what’s going on the other end and also what other people do in their home if they were close to me, so my solution for this was buying a noise-canceling headset and walking almost every day while wearing it so if people need me they’ll have to call or text to get my attention.

I was also able to develop a heightened sense of direction, so instead of looking for the direction of where a car is coming, for example, I rely on the air around me along with the sound that the vehicle makes, which allows me to walk or move to the opposite direction this ability helped me a lot in my soccer days in which it allowed to evade my opponents and be able to avoid them and also tell where the goalkeeper or the team’s defensive line are standing either from the air around the sound of their breath or the smell of their cologne or body In this world every person has a unique smell think of it as a fingerprint but for blind or visually-impaired people so that we can recognize you when approaching us.

I recognize people via their voice because my remaining sight doesn’t allow me to identify facial details such as facial structure, eye color, etc. when navigating or moving around if it’s a similar area, I rely on my photographic memory of the place so if changes were to occur in that area such as the moving of furniture the chances of me bumping into them are high and when I’m outside of the house I rely on my Kane.

I also consider myself to be a technology nerd. I’m always looking for hardware and software to make my life easier when using what’s left of my sight. For example, when recording and mixing, I use zooming software that makes everything look bigger; of course, it has some drawbacks, but I’m always for the look for new things that’ll help me keep on pushing and release more music

3 – Where did the artistic name Orca come from?

The name Orca was given to me by my teammates and friends thanks to my unique and aggressive playstyle. When playing the sports of basketball and soccer, indeed, I’m visually impaired. Still, I was always able to evade my opponents and score with unbelievable accuracy despite not seeing a thing. Hence, one day they started talking about how I hone onto my target like a dolphin and how I possess an echo-location-like ability. Then they considered the dolphin to be a gentle creature that didn’t fit my playstyle. Hence, they agreed on why we call you Orca instead. Since you possess the abilities and traits of an orca, then I said OK. So there you have back then; they mentioned that an orca has poor sight, but it turned out that this piece of information wasn’t true, so how about I become the first Orca that I visually-impaired it’ll make become even more unique.

4 – Does anyone in your family play a musical instrument or sing?

As far as singing, I’m the only one, but when it comes to instrument playing, I learned piano for a short while and didn’t finish. Still, a relative of mine is a pianist. She teaches piano lessons to those who want to learn another relative plays the violin, so basically, I have a relative who can play different instruments.

5 – How many songs have you released so far? Which one is your favorite?

This is tricky; currently, I have eight releases and have two on standby. You see, I’m struggling financially, and I record two songs per month. Still, I’m only able to release one of them due to my very limited budget. My biggest wish is to gain the support of those who listen to and fall in love with my music so that they can help me release more music and reach higher levels of connectedness with my fans, but as things stand, I only can get one song out there.

The other one will have to wait until the next month, so my message to all of you is to help me and lend me your support, allow me to share my passion with you, and release more unique pieces of music for you.

As for which one of my releases is my favorite, I can’t answer that because everyone has their own atmosphere and a fantastic story to tell. If they were the same, I might have chosen a favorite; even if the style may sound the same at first, each song will sound different in its own way of telling its story, and in my case, I don’t only focus on the music itself I also love to spill my stories into the artwork of each single leaving clues in every detail my goal is to take the listener on a journey where they can enjoy listening and figuring out the message behind each single so that my single can help them relate and connect with their inner feelings.

So, the answer is I’m in love with everything that I create because I always put 400% into every release that I make.

6 – What drove you to drop your new single, “Good 4 You”?

I was driven by the need to let my overactive imagination run free. The basic concept of “Good 4 You” can take different routes and shapes depending on the person you ask. In my case, I connected it to myself and whether I could land the woman of my dreams.

I traveled back in time and remembered the moments when I saw my now wife and the mother of my four children and how I was hesitant at first. I was reminded of how often I did ask myself this exact question.

Still, then I decided why don’t create a single that tells a unique story that its main focus is love, romance, and getting what you dreamt about in the end, and that’s when it hit me from the lyrics to the arrangement and the artwork all combined tells a happy story and creates the answer to this one simple but significant and endless question.

Always believe in yourself and the power of love, romance, and your ability to pursue and think in them. They’ll respond in kind by lending you their power, allowing you to reach the finish line.

7 – To whom would you dedicate this new song?

I’m dedicating this song to my beloved wife, the core of my inspiration and bottomless love. I also dedicate this song to all those who need to listen to it and may relate to it to help them find what they seek, so to all those who believe in love, romance, and your own ability to attract those you love; this is for you.

8 – Which is your favorite place to write compositions? Why?

There is no particular place for writing because I might be inspired anywhere, then the lyrics related to that idea will start pouring in like raindrops. So the times where I sat down and put effort into writing are pretty rare, to be honest.

So when I first started writing, I began as a poet. So whenever I think of a specific feeling, the ideas come to me in droves, then I start writing.

It’s like I become possessed, then my fingers start moving on their own, and when I stop writing, I realize that a masterpiece was created. It might sound weird, but this is what happens. It all comes out of thin air, and then boom, a song is born.

9 – Is your next single another love song?

The answer is no. As you may know, I promote myself as a visually impaired artist/songwriter who creates music that includes 400% love, 400% romance, and 200% of all that is between now.

Usually, I don’t do this, but I’m willing to share the upcoming releases my fans should expect. I’m only sharing the order, but no release dates as they’re a surprise. My upcoming single will be called “Situations.” The next in line is “Sister” and then back to the love and romance with the single “Dreamy.”

I’m always ready to create more music, so lend your support and strength so that I keep on making,

10 – Finally, what advice would you like to share with other indie artists?

I’ve got a lot of advice to offer but let us focus on the main take on things: to all indie artists out there, don’t give up and keep on pushing; this is a long road with many twists and turns.

Be careful of who you trust and who you send your music to. Scammers are all over the place, and they can mess you and your music in a heartbeat, so make sure to deal with only authentic promotional agencies and not anyone who’s offering you a cheaper, easy promo.

Don’t get discouraged if a single doesn’t turn out the way you imagined it would; instead, keep moving forward focus on the feedback you receive. If it’s valuable, take it to heart.

If it’s only hate to give it, a second glance keep improving until you reach the desired level and good luck to you and always remember my philosophy when it comes to music “Always inspire and get inspired because music can fix what words alone cannot.”

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