Fez — MDLBEAST has released a documentary tracing the rise of Saudi Arabia’s modern music scene, spotlighting the artists who helped turn an underground movement into a fast-growing regional industry.

The documentary, “Cue: Saudi Arabia’s Electronic Music Underground,” follows the country’s electronic music scene from private house parties and hidden DJ sets to the creation of “Soundstorm,” MDLBEAST’s flagship festival in Riyadh.

The film features MDLBEAST Chief Creative Officer Ahmad Alammary, known as Baloo, alongside Saudi duo “DISH DASH” and pioneering DJ Muhanned Nassar, known as “Vinyl Mode.” 

Together, they describe a music culture that once survived quietly, with limited venues, social pressure, and few public platforms.

“You couldn’t play the music in public,” one speaker mentioned in the documentary, adding that even hearing music in a cafe or restaurant was once difficult. 

Another one said the scene had “no platforms to show the world what we’re capable of.”

From hidden parties to Soundstorm

At the heart of the story is “Soundstorm,” launched in 2019 in Riyadh. MDLBEAST describes the festival as one of the region’s boldest music events and a platform connecting Saudi and international talent.

The company’s own account of its early years calls “Soundstorm 2019” a symbolic moment in Saudi Arabia’s new cultural era, saying it became a space for connection, dancing, celebration, and self-expression.

For artists in the documentary, the shift felt almost unreal. “It is a revolutionary act. Never did I expect this to happen in my lifetime,” Baloo highlighted in the documentary.

From his end, Vinyl Mode framed the change more simply: “We’re just catching up with the world.”

A wider cultural opening

The documentary places music within Saudi Arabia’s broader social changes since the late 2010s, when public entertainment expanded and young creatives gained more visible platforms.

It also captures the emotional side of that transition. Baloo and other artists describe years of building communities through private networks, improvised venues, and word of mouth.

“For me dance music is an outlet. It’s something that connects people,” Baloo said, linking electronic music to Saudi rhythm and heritage.

For MDLBEAST, the documentary presents music not only as entertainment, but as infrastructure for a new creative socioeconomy.

The documentary shows that Saudi’s music scene did not appear overnight. It grew from years of passion, risk, and persistence before finding a public stage.