How did you first get into music?
I started off in the choir when I was 7 or 8. Musical theatre in secondary school and then got to enjoy rave/dance music whilst living in Manchester for three years - all the while being exposed to amazing traditional and contemporary Iranian music in our family parties growing up. In terms of pursuing music production, I worked at a publishing company for a while and used to produce music on the side for myself/fun. I think being in a music building pushed me to eventually produce music a bit more seriously - still keeping it fun. The minute it feels like a chore, I’m out. Inshallah never.
Greatest Strength/Greatest Weakness?
My greatest strength right now is sampling. I count myself really lucky for all the different music I’ve absorbed over the years. From the choir to the rave, I’m spoiled for choice with direction right now. Currently, my greatest weakness would be a having a lack of music theory knowledge. It definitely draws out the process of getting ideas out of my head. Instead of riffing off a piano melody and recording it straight in, I may spend triple the time playing individual keys and pencilling in notes.
How do you nurture your own creativity?
I’m so lucky to have been raised in an Iranian home, live in London & be exposed to a tonne of sounds. A lot of the time, I’m leaning on my friends and family/parties to introduce me to new music and nurture my creativity.
When I’m working on songs, it’s a lot of trial and error. Not to be put off working with a sample which is fairly old, performed live and isn’t quantised. Knowing that if I work at it, something great can come out of it.
And lastly, reminding myself I can’t just be leaning on music to nurture my creativity. Being outside as much as possible, chatting to my friends and family about both our worlds/everything in between and reading as much as possible.
What is your creative process when making music?
It’s been changing a lot in recent times. Right now, I’ll listen to loads of music, pick a song to sample (either through my record player or digitally), put the song through a track separator, explore the individual components at a different tempo and pitch and then, along with additional production, start piecing together the main core of the song. From that it’s composition and then leaning on XY (Kush & Jordan) to help mix and master the project. They’re so talented. Oh, and in between all of this I’ll be walking around the room in circles and singing out ideas.
Who has been your most influential teacher or mentor?
Really difficult to answer this I’ve been really lucky to receive some genuine advice and mentorship throughout my musical journey. If I had to pick one though, it’d probably be my primary school choir conductor, Mr. Blumlein. I had no idea I could sing at the time, let alone hit a note. I only approached the choir because they were wearing cool robes and they got time off lessons to perform. It was a passion project for Mr. Blumlein, which meant he cared loads about our growth too. I’m smiling as I type this out - he was so good to all of us.
What are your interests outside of work?
It’s constantly changing! At the minute it’s a mix of self-care (steam & sauna), eating good food & improving my Farsi. Oh, and I’m back designing clothes again. DIY style too. Feels great.
What is your main inspiration?
It’s who are my main cheerleaders - you know. People telling me how proud they are of me for pursuing music.
Merci Maman, Baba, Roxy, Lida, Alaleh, Bahareh, My Khale’s & Daei
Merci Temur, Lina, Jeremy, George & Robin.
I’m definitely missing some people out by the way (both with the cheerleader/music list)
Musically? At the moment - Kouroush Yaghmaei, Beyonce, Ye, Daft Punk, Katy B & a lot of the rock music Sal is putting me onto atm.
If I’m ever feeling a bit down and need an espresso shot for both music and life, I’ll watch any interview Liam Gallagher has ever given. I encourage everyone to do this ha-ha.
What is your proudest achievement as far as an artist?
Family Sundays. 10 Songs. One a week, every Sunday. Starting 12/5/24 and finishing 14/7/24.
Who have you been able to work with so far?
Faris, Rella Duchess, Sal, XY (Kush/Jordan)
Any top-level artists/musicians/DJs that have given you a shout out?
NTS put together a livestream, hosted by Scratcha DVA and George Riley as the guest for the show. A segment of the show was dedicated to listening to submissions by other music producers - mine being one of them.
Scratcha said the following about my song:
‘I went to the West Indian food shop, and they put the rice and the peas, and they put the chicken, and they didn’t put no gravy…why did you not put no gravy…the build-up was hard but give me the gravy…If I was gonna remix this, I’d add some gravy. Or maybe even some hot pepper sauce.’
They both said they liked the build-up though, with George Riley saying ‘we needed some drums.'
It may sound rogue to celebrate this sort of shootout, but I think it’s awesome. Scratcha is a living legend and George Riley’s music is so good. To hear Scratcha deliver such an analogy felt iconic. For me anyway ha-ha. It was unfiltered and passionate. Thanks to both Scratcha and George Riley for taking the time to listen to this in the first place.
For anyone giving feedback, I’ll always acknowledge it, whilst never forgetting what the vision for x project is.
What are your plans in the coming months?
Family Sundays. 10 Songs. 12/5/24 to 14/7/24.
Do you have any artistic collaboration plans?
There are a couple of songs I want to do different live versions of. One including traditional Iranian instruments like a tonbak, daf and setar. The other being a blend of orchestral and digital instruments. I’ll be putting this together after Family Sundays finishes.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I’ll be 32! Hopefully still dancing (with friends and family or on my own - sometimes you need to ride solo to a concert), friends and family around me all healthy and making music that feels right.
Will you be delving into other genres in the future?
I think the Family Sundays project proves I’m already there. I’m always going to be super respectful in the process of exploring genres and properly acknowledge its context - but I never want to stop exploring other genres. Neveeeeerrrrrrr.
