WSLA Conversations: Nazli Reda

At any given night out, there is a specific moment where the music stops feeling good and starts feeling like an endurance test. You find yourself shouting over a distorted bassline, your ears feel blocked, and the music you came to enjoy is suddenly too overwhelming to bear.

For Egyptian live sound engineer Nazli Reda, fixing that problem is her daily job. Known in the industry as Nazli Noise, she has seen how often physical setup and sound systems get neglected throughout her 11 years behind the console. Nazli has been actively working behind the scenes to make sure the audio in a room actually works for the people inside it, and raising awareness about the importance of a quality sound system at music events and its impact on the partygoers’ experience.

At SceneNoise x WSLA’s listening and dining experience in Cairo earlier this year, we caught up with Nazli, who broke down the intricacies of sound systems, what it actually takes to make a room sound right, and how different events require completely different approaches to sound. A dense crowd on a dancefloor needs energy and volume, but a room meant for listening and socialising needs balance, high clarity, and audio distributed evenly across the entire space so people can talk without straining.

Her measure of a successful gig is simple: people leave the venue happy, having enjoyed the music and spoken with their friends, without any pain or ringing in their ears. To get there more consistently across the industry, she points to a clear need for better, more accessible technical education. When engineers understand the basics of signal flow and acoustics, common setup mistakes can be avoided entirely. The gear itself only takes you so far. As Nazli puts it, "A cable is a cable, man. It’s as good as it gets." The real work is knowing how to use it.

Watch the full interview below: