In Tehran as the heart of Iran’s music scene, most of us who were involved in the industry knew a place called Studio Bam. For many years, it was practically the only place which supported the underground music there. After nearly a decade, the production company of “Bamahang”, established in Canada, started to release Persian underground albums. Babak Khiavchi is one of the founders of both places.

You worked in one of the most famous production companies in Iran. Why did you move abroad?
Actually it was R. Moghadas, my close friend and business partner in Bamahang Productions who ran Bamahang Studios in Iran and migrated to Canada in 2005. Bamahang Studios was rooted in a makeshift studio basement in the northern Tehran that some musician friends and I set up for practice jam sessions about 10 years ago, but the actual professional studio came about after I had left Iran.

The popularity and amazing feedback for our music productions such as Kiosk and O-Hum is proof that we have connected well with our target market, but our target is a very small portion of the major Iranian music market

My emmigration was based on purely personal reasons and was not backed by any business motivation. Having spent most of my childhood abroad and becoming exposed to Western culture at a very early age, I could not help but constantly compare Iran with the outside world, which was extremely frustrating. Throughout the years, I maintained my contact with my musician friends in Iran, and decided to give something back to them by starting an independent music production company to produce and promote underground music from Iran.

What are the difficulties that an Iranian music producer would face out of Iran?
The simple answer is: Fellow Iranians. It is very unfortunate that even outside of Iran, some Iranians do not observe international music copyright laws and allow free downloads of our music productions on their websites and weblogs.

musicians have several other jobs in order to support themselves, and high paying gigs will always lure them away from their main bands even if the music is not up to their own standards and beliefs

Besides that, we cater to a niche Iranian music loving audience who is pretty much fed up with mainstream Persian pop recycled 6/8 beats, is in the 20 - 40 age range, has internet access and a credit card, and also loves rock, metal, jazz and blues. The popularity and amazing feedback for our music productions such as Kiosk and O-Hum is proof that we have connected well with our target market, but our target is a very small portion of the major Iranian music market.

So far, compared to others, O-hum is quite well-known out of Iran. Is their success because of their music or because of, for example, you who support them?
To quote our own slogan “Music from the heart, not for the hip”, the reason so many people have connected to the music of O-Hum is exactly because it is written from the heart of S. Sharbaf who is a very emotional person and who has gone through numerous hardships in creating, recording, and producing this music. Besides his technical knowledge of sound engineering and creativity in song writing, he is a very passionate person who expresses himself very well through his music. As a company, we have only supported O-Hum in producing and distributing their music, but their legions of fans are attracted to O-Hum because of the emotional connection they can establish with their music.

Why is it so hard to be in a band and keep it in Iran? As a player, I saw that it was pretty hard to expect a musician to dedicate himself to group work. Why do you think that is?
Besides a handful of musicians who are full time studio session players and also teach music, it has become increasingly difficult to maintain a steady income through music. As a result, musicians have several other jobs in order to support themselves, and high paying gigs will always lure them away from their main bands even if the music is not up to their own standards and beliefs.

Many Westerners still think Iran is an Arab country, and even prominent comedians like Robin Williams use an East Indian accent when they are imitating Iranian accents in their comedy sketches

How much do you think that economic and political issues would affect your career?
Obviously Iran is dominating the headlines and any economic and political change would have a direct impact on the music of the artists that we are trying to produce and promote to the world. When freedom of artistic expression does not exist, it makes everyone’s job harder, although sadly it also results in more emotional depth to the music as a way for artists to vent their frustration. Comparing the music produced inside and outside of Iran clearly shows the emotional difference, and that is the kind of passionate and meaningful music we aim to support no matter what the political or economic situation is.

Do you personally intend to support any particular sort of Iranian music? Do you think there are things that should be more promoted in the West?
Our main focus has been on fusion and crossover styles of music, combining the rich cultural heritage of our Persian roots with the excitement of Western music. Our generation has been exposed to both the beauty and creativity of Persian poetry and the powerful self expression and protest of rock music, so it is only natural that we create and enjoy fusions of both styles. But as a company we will basically support anything that maintains Persian music elements while fusing with other styles of music, or has a worthy message in the lyrics, or gives us goose bumps for no apparent reason.

many closed-minded people in Iran think that daily life in the West is a non-stop orgy of music and sex and drugs and alcohol and that family and humane values are virtually non-existent

Do you consider yourself as someone who tries to introduce a part of Iranian culture to the west? Do you have any innovative ideas about that?
Yes, but our aim is to show a different side of Iran to the whole world, not what the media has traditionally represented. What goes on inside the hearts and minds of Iranian youth is very different than the traditional perception of Iran — and not just the West, but all around the world. The best way to communicate these feelings and realities is through a language that everyone understands which in this case can be the global language of music.

How much do you think Iranian music could change the West’s perception of Iran? Let me take an example. To many westerners, it’s not easy to realize how difficult it was for us, rockers, to go on stage. Do you think you can define what is going on over there to Westerners?
Neither the West’s perception of Iran, nor the majority of Iranian’s perception of the West will change overnight. Without dialogue and cultural exchange there is no way that they can understand each other, and the media has only poured salt on the existing wounds and misrepresented them to one other. Many Westerners still think Iran is an Arab country, and even prominent comedians like Robin Williams use an East Indian accent when they are imitating Iranian accents in their comedy sketches.

Likewise, many closed-minded people in Iran think that daily life in the West is a non-stop orgy of music and sex and drugs and alcohol and that family and humane values are virtually non-existent. Neither case is true. We have to focus on our similarities and a good starting point is artistic expression through music. Rock music has always been a vehicle for protest, and if Westerners can realize how underground rock music is actually being used as a means of survival of the senses by Iranian youth, they will have a better understanding of how important this music is to our youth.

Would you please tell me about your opinion on the future of Iran’s music? Especially Iran’s music in the West?
I am extremely optimistic that with the expansion of broadband internet and digital music around the world, Iranian music will get more exposure and Iranian artists will effortlessly circumvent the current restrictions placed on their music by government agencies. Such has been the case with our past two album releases from the bands Kiosk and O-Hum, which are available worldwide and also as digital music downloads from iTunes and many other digital stores.

I am extremely proud that we have managed to bring Iranian underground music from the cold, damp basements of Iran onto the Internet and expose it to a worldwide digital music audience, while at the same time protecting their digital music copyrights. It is amazing what great feedback we have received and how many bands in Iran have contacted us expressing their desire to produce their music the same way. The movement has just started, and pretty soon our underground music will go overground.

Links:
Bamahang Productions official website: www.bamahang.ca
Bamahang releases of Iranian bands are available at CDBaby.com
Shahram Sharbaf is the singer/songwriter of the band O-hum: www.o-hum.com