This is the last part of a series of three posts.
After talk with Kiosk about Iran and living abroad, the end of our interview was – for sure – about music.
Music
Invasões Bárbaras – Although the fundamental proposal is to open horizons and make Western music in Iran, it is noticeable the influence of Persian sound in your work. The old tradition of Persian music is a weight which you want to move away or is it a part of the project?
Arash Sobhani: We really don’t try to sound Persian or anything in that regard, our songwriting process is as western as any other band in the world, but every now and then there are melodies or spices that are very Persian and it comes in naturally and unconsciously and when that happens I think it adds to our sound.
IB – By listening Kiosk albums the first references that come to mind are Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Dire Straits. Is that what you heard in a pre-revolution Iran? What impressed you most on the difference between Western music and Persian pop: the lyrics, the melodies, rhythm, instruments?
Arash: I was first moved by the sound of early Dire Straits, I am a huge fan, and their sound made me go and learn guitar. But when I was introduced to Dylan it was like I had discovered a whole new universe, the power of smart socially loaded lyrics becomes a powerful instrument beyond the music.
IB – The partnership with Ahmad Kiarostami turns into interesting clips. It is said that Eshgh e Sorat is the most viewed Iranian music on YouTube. How do you see the potential of images as a complement to the music?
Arash: The video is very powerful, I am not sure whether it’s “the most viewed” but it’s up there. You tube helped us a lot –as an independent band – to introduce our music to others and we are very lucky to have been surrounded by talented friends who helped us with these amazing, smart yet low budget videos, we have a ton of good videos!
IB – Do you get involved with the videos creation process? If so, can you talk a little about how it “Saz Nemishe Zad” was made?
Ardalan Payvar: Most of our videos are usually created with a lot of brainstorm sessions between band members and the video artist over many bottles of Scotch, but sometimes the video is created by the artist without us being involved like “Keramat”.
For “Saz Nemisheh Zad” our good friend Afshean Hessam who has made several of our music videos was behind the wheel, we had some other ideas in mind, but after running some tests we realized it’s not working and Afshean came up with this idea.
The lyrics are talking about how playing music is forbidden, that’s why you see all the movements of the musicians are stuck. They are trying to move, but they are trapped in a loop, until the end that lyrics goes, “we are gonna play music anyhow” the birds fly away and the musicians are free.
IB – The live album released in 2010 – Triple Distilled – was recorded in the classic jazz club Yoshi’s in San Francisco. It is very important and symbolic that the Iranian underground has earned the right to play in a sacred stage of American music, where so many brilliant artists have played. In Brazil, when someone sings at Carnegie Hall is a pride for the artistic class, the papers give great prominence. How was the opportunity to record in such an important place? There were repercussions of this fact in Iran?
Arash: Unfortunately not a lot of people in Iran were familiar with the significance of the venue, but we were really excited and felt honored to be able to record our performance in this iconic venue.
IB – Call a Cab: On the opening track, “Saz Nemishe Zad”, you did a tribute to JJ Cale. Have you ever met or played together? Tell us about JJ Cale’s influence. Albeit for very different reasons you also end up being forcibly outsiders. There is an identification with that attitude?
Arash: We never met JJ Cale personally unfortunately, I was a huge fan from way back, I loved his simplicity yet elaborate sound. He is a legend, we have also covered one of his tracks “strange days” which is a great tune.
IB – Let the lyrical content aside, for obvious difficulties with the language, we realize that Call a Cab seems to bet in a slightly different direction from previous albums, in at least one aspect: The songs are sung in a more spoken way, as a Leonard Cohen do, for example. Was it deliberate? It is a choice that is imposed by force of the lyrics? Or: are we just wrong?
Arash: It is very similar to our first album, we use long verses and we try to bring in everyday dialogues of common people to our lyrics therefore we need to break away from a form, we can’t be dictated by the melody that’s why a lot of time, it sounds like someone is actually speaking over a background music, which we like.
IB – Watching the “Kiosk – A Generation destroyed by madness” documentary, I remembered two feelings commonly associated with music: freedom and belonging. What role does music plays for exiled musicians who feel foreign, but without a place to come back?
Arash: That’s a very interesting issue, I have tried to find an answer for that by listening to a lot of Klezmer, a lot of gypsy music a lot of Creole music, the music of immigrants or music of people without a home. It’s strange but one thing is common in all of them and it’s the dynamic balance between sadness and joy in a single tune, like a thunder storm in a beautiful sunny spring day that goes a away too quick!
IB – Brazil also went through a turbulent political period (1964-1985 military dictatorship) in which artists were expelled or had to leave the country because they were considered subversive. We have a word in Portuguese, “saudade”, of which we are proud to understand that it exists only in our language. She describes a feeling of nostalgia, sense of lack, which was the subject of much of the music produced by exiled Brazilian artists. How much do you feel “saudade” of Iran?
Arash: It’s funny you ask, because I came across this term “Saudade” through a Chris Rea song which was dedicated to Senna, I went and looked it up and then read a little about the word and its meaning come to me! That’s such an amazing word, it so near to me as if it was Persian! The way we feel about Iran is also extremely passionate, extremely melancholic, nostalgic and can’t be described through words, like “Saudade”.
IB – We also saw Arash Sobhani in the documentary playing a “Bossa Nova” song. How far the interest in Brazilian music goes? Is there any influence in Kiosk’s sound? Is there any chance for us to see Brazilian music tribute in a next album?
Arash: I am a huge fan of Bossa Nova, actually there was a strong wave of Iranian pop before the 70’s that was influenced by it. Varouzhan was a composer who seamlessly imported some bossa nova elements to his Iranian compositions before the revolution and his work is as cherished by Iranian musicians as Jobim is in Brazil.
I am a huge fan of Jobim, Gilberto, and all the other big guys! Fantastic music and secretly I do sing few of the songs when no one is around to make fun of my Portugese.
IB – Our Demand: Please, feel free to try it 😉
This was the last part of the interview. You can read the first one here and the second one here.
We also made a “Call a Cab” Album Review in our radio program. You can listen it.
And “Call a Cab” made into our Top Albums 2014 List.