XP Conversations Saudi Spotlight: Gigi Arabia - CEO of Heavy Arabia

As the founder and CEO of Heavy Arabia Entertainment, Saudi Arabia’s first-ever heavy metal promotion company, Gigi Arabia is one of the most prominent figures within the kingdom’s burgeoning heavy metal scene.

Through her company, Gigi has been putting tremendous effort into nurturing new talents and promoting a rock and metal music culture in Saudi Arabia, consistently producing and managing heavy metal gigs on local, regional and international levels.

Besides organizing gigs, Heavy Arabia also serves as a launching pad for rising Saudi metal bands, running workshops and masterclasses led by industry professionals to help them develop their own sounds, and produce high-quality albums using accessible equipment, including traditional Saudi instruments, at minimal cost.

In this Saudi Spotlight edition of our XP Conversations series, Gigi sheds light on the primary obstacle metal bands face in the Saudi music scene: that is the lack of infrastructure in the live music sector. She also discusses Heavy Metal’s new initiative, the ‘gig swaps’, which aims to facilitate a form of cultural exchange between Saudi and international metal bands, propel local talents to the global spotlight, and promote Saudi Arabia as a primary touring destination for established international metal artists.