A&AGearhub is The First Arabic Music Podcast Dedicated to Soundcraft

To musicians, from musicians.

Cairo’s GearHub Music Store owner Amir Habib and guitar instructor Andrew Maher launched A&A GearHub at the beginning of 2025: the first Arabic-language music podcast of its kind on YouTube, and a go-to platform for everything gear and equipment-related for the region's musicians.

The idea for the podcast began a year and a half before its launch. Somewhere along the way, videographer and fellow musician Mohamed Hegazy joined the team. Together, the trio have produced episodes featuring established artists like Hany Adel and Massar Egbari’s Hany El Dakkak, where they dive into each guest’s approach to soundcraft, their adventures in the world of tones, and their advice for aspiring musicians.

“It really matters to us to build a slightly bigger community here in Egypt,” says Andrew Maher, speaking to the podcast’s core mission. “We’re all musicians, we all speak Arabic, and it’s normal for us to support each other. What we’re trying to build is a decent community, one where people share knowledge, help one another, and nothing is kept secret.”

For Andrew and Amir, the idea came from a gap they both felt early on in their musical journeys, a lack of accessible Arabic-speaking spaces where local musicians could learn from one another. “Back in the day, there wasn’t really a space where, say, a skilled guitarist in the market, who’s playing or recording in a certain way, could be understood or even approached. You just didn’t know how they did it, or how to reach them,” Andrew adds. “So we’re trying to make that communication easier, for people to see this artist and hear them speak openly.”

Musicians first, mentors and podcast hosts later, Andrew and Amir were once on the receiving end of the steep learning curve – sitting through hours of YouTube videos and navigating endless rounds of trial and error, all for that one tone-altering piece of knowledge. They’d then bring whatever they’d learnt to their casual meetups over coffee.

“We’ve always been like this, it’s been our life for years before the podcast. It’s just our daily routine,” Amir says. “When we’d meet up for a coffee later in the day, this is all we’d talk about, music. Sharing stories and experiences. You listen to someone else’s attempts, and they hear yours. It’s all information that just gets stored in your brain without you even realising.”

From evening hangouts with friends, talking music over coffee, to the mornings after, Amir Habib returns to his GearHub Music Store, surrounded by rows of Fenders and Gibsons, his head full of tone tips and pedal debates from the night before. In the shop, he regularly welcomes young, eager players looking to start their journey. He takes the time to talk with them about gear, their goals, and how to get started, always trying to point them in the right direction.

And even though it’s his business, Amir insists: “I’m never going to give you advice just to get you to buy something.”

From casual coffee talks to in-store chats to Instagram livestreams, the spirit behind GearHub stayed the same when the podcast landed on YouTube. It doesn’t review to sell. It shares to mentor. “One of the things we focus on most is simply helping people start. Just start. And we’ll be with you throughout your whole journey. Whatever idea you have in your head, we’ll help you translate it into sound,” Amir promises.

Complementing Amir’s calculated approach is Andrew’s instinct to dive headfirst into sound experimentation. The duo’s dynamic shapes the A&A GearHub podcast.

“Andrew and I are two completely different people,” Amir explains. “He loves experimenting and he’s much quicker to go out, buy something, and try it. I take my time. I overthink and analyse. And I think what makes this work so well is that we complement each other in that way. One of us is fast, the other is slow. The slow one thinks, and the fast one takes action.”

Giving musicians and music-lovers more reasons to tune in, the podcast is set to experiment with new formats and introduce fresh elements in its upcoming season. As Amir Habib explained to us, the next season will feature out-of-the-studio footage – moments from live shows, on-the-ground setups, and gear in action with musicians like Cairokee’s Hawary or Masar Egbari’s Mahmoud Siam just before they take the stage.

Set to be shot and recorded over the next two months and released towards the end of summer, the season will also spotlight emerging musicians who are just beginning to carve out their path, the ones still on the come-up but already heading in the right direction.

With that, the emerging A&A GearHub podcast might just cement itself as the region’s leading platform for sound and music gear, with a deep commitment to supporting and guiding its community at the heart of it all.