RA chats to the DJ with the longest dreads in dance music: Sultan.

Think electronic music from Montréal and Akufen, the Mutek Festival or Tiga will probably first spring to mind. The French quarters of Canada have always been known as a techno and electro hotspot, but there are also other kinds of electronic music being forged in the city, one of which is progressive house, the chief Montréal sultan of which is Ossama Al Sharaf, aka Sultan.

Progressive fans who follow Deep Dish will know Sultan for his vocal cuts such as 'Night Visions', 'Shivers' and most recently 'Connected' (made with Ned Shepard), which were all released on the Washington duo's stable Shinichi. In fact hardly a Deep Dish compilation goes by without making space for two or three Sultan cuts. His 'Flashing for Money' (2005), a mash-up of Deep Dish's crossover hit 'Flashdance' and Dire Straits 'Money for Nothing' combined each of the guitar-riffing originals to become one of the few house bootlegs to actually get a legit release.

But Deep Dish aren't Sultan’s only fans. His approach to progressive – melding rock, pop, house and trance – has won over most of prog's main men such as Hernan Cattaneo and John Digweed as well as trance DJs like Tiesto. Perhaps his no-hang-ups take on the genre can be explained by the fact that he's only been dabbling in dance music for a little over four years, coincidentally the same number of years he's had those dreads. For eight years before that, he'll tell you he was a guitarist slogging it out in a rock band.

Sultan's days of gigging with his band are well and truly behind him, and these days it’s calls from DJ promoters which keep him up late at night. RA checked in with Sultan on the eve of three upcoming dates at the Winter Music Conference.


First up, I have to say your dreads are pretty impressive. How long have you had them? Do they get in the way much when you DJ?

Thank you. I've had my dreads for just about six years now. They just keep getting longer and longer. They're definitely a big part of me. They never get in the way of my DJing; on the contrary they make it more enjoyable. When I get excited with the crowd and the music, my dreads dance and bounce with me.

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