AMIR

Some time ago I saw an advertisement for a new album, of a new singer, on one of the Persian television channels in Los Angeles. Strangely, this time, there was neither any mention of 6/8 rhythms, nor was there a pick-up truck full of dancing girls behind the singer! As the singer sang calmly on the video, images of Persia and its people followed one another beautifully. The title of the album was "Neverending Story", better said "Unfinished Story" (Ghesse-ye Naatamaam), sung by Amir. This is his first album with cooperation of two significant figures in Persian pop music: Andranik and Shahyar Ghanbari.

I became curious to hear the rest of the album but just as I had guessed, there was no sign of the CD in the Persian stores of Amsterdam. I asked one of my friends in the United States to send me one. It was both surprising and encouraging that for his first work, a young singer had demonstrated such sensitivity by not attempting to merely add one more album to the already existing ones, with similar content but only a different title.

Amir, the singer, began playing the piano as a child, but his main occupation at present is construction. For many years he has been living in San Diego, California. I spoke with him about this album, and as to why his videos were not being broadcast from the Persian (Iranian) TV channels in Los Angeles. I also spoke with Andranik, the songwriter of most of the works in "Never-ending Story".

First, the interview with Amir

Amir: Avaz Company, which is this CD's distributor, is not among the official companies in California. In reality, this business is run by gangs. Whoever works with large companies will be able to distribute his CDs more easily. I have not given many interviews because some of the questions they ask have nothing to do with the album.

What questions do they ask?

They ask, Why don't you sing more upbeat songs? Why don't you sing in 6/8 rhythm, which is the current hot thing? Why do you want to swim against the stream? These are the questions they ask. Also when I want to speak of politics, they hint that you should stay within the boundaries of music and not enter politics. And the company is important; they work with companies, and if a company is new… well, they are not comfortable with it.

Did you create Avaz Company for releasing your CD, or did it exist before?

This is a new company in San Diego, which a few friends and I created. We mostly wanted to promote young people in California, in all of America. Since it is new, it has some problems. They criticize it, and the existence of a new company is controversial for them.

Don't you think this also has to do with the weakness in disseminating information? For example, the company's Web site given on the back cover of the CD has no information in it!

Yes, this is our own weakness. Distributing a CD in the US requires a lot of work. The other problem is that they pirate many of the CDs, and this makes the work more difficult. We receive no profits from the CD. There are companies which reproduce our CD in the same form that we produce it, and distribute them in cities which are beyond our reach, in which we have no power of distribution. And they take all the profits for themselves. This hampers our work, but we keep moving on. We fight until we reach our goal.

"Ghesse-ye Naatamaam" is your first album. When you listened to this album after it was completely finished, how did you feel about it?

The songs, which are mostly by Shahyar Ghanbari, are very powerful. As for the arrangement and composition, they are created by Andranik, who is a master in this field. I think it is a very good collection. Actually, I was like an instrument which appeared on the scene and was played. The main work is that of the songwriter, lyricist and arranger. Listening to the songs is very pleasurable. It begins with one song, while the music, various instruments and the orchestra are superimposed upon it. The process was very interesting to me, and if people listen to the whole album, they will have their own opinion…

How did you get to know Shahyar Ghanbari and Andranik? How were you able to work with two of the most important figures in Persian pop music for your first album?

For years I had been seeking the works of Andranik. I listened to his works in Iran: the songs of Dariush, Googoosh and, after the revolution, his songs for Hayedeh. One of my friends introduced me to him. I went and started singing the songs. They tested my voice. Since I also play an instrument, we were able to communicate well.

What instrument do you play?

From the age of 15 or 16 I played the piano very seriously and intensely with an instructor. At the university my minor field was music. I also took voice courses. If we want to work with professionals such as Andranik, we must learn this language. He is very hard to please, but if you understand precisely what he wants, it becomes easier to work with him.

What was your role in writing the songs? Did you want the songs to be sung with a certain feeling, or did the songwriter and lyricist create the form and direction of the songs?

No, not the lyricist. I chose the songs by myself, while Mr. Andranik created the melodies. But we do speak to each other, and I tell him what style I like. Whatever the singer desires, he can compose. Since I have worked in classical music, I wanted our orchestral pieces to be stronger than usual. We did our best.

In this album the works are mostly love songs, but one piece entitled "Sahneh" has quite a different content. It appears that it was written with Persia's political and social situation in mind. Tell us about this work.

I told Mr. Shahyar Ghanbari that I wanted it to be a song which represented the pain of our country's youths – the pain of the old generation, the new generation, and the future generation. If you pay attention to its lyrics, it is precisely about our generation, which has been shattered, and the previous generation, which was destroyed by the revolution. He wrote the lyrics with such content in mind. As for the arrangement of that piece, Mr. Andranik gave it all he had.

How old were you when you left the country?

14 or 15 years old.

What year was that?

1988.

During the time you have spent in the US did you ever return to Persia?

In the year 2000 I returned for a visit.

How did you see the country on that trip?

I became very dismayed by the atmosphere which existed.

Why?

People seemed to be extremely tired. The way I saw it, they are very preoccupied and their difficulties have multiplied. Perhaps it is because of social and economic pressures – everyone is after a morsel of bread.

Did you see anything positive?

It is said that 65 to 70 percent of the population is under 25 years old, and this is a very positive point. But what can this generation do? In what direction is this energy directed? In my opinion, they are being wasted. Compare it with the countries in Europe and America. The talents which exist in Iran have no opportunity for growth. They are forced to come to Europe and America, and this is unfortunate.

Are you presently working on anything new?

Yes, the second album needs only two or three songs to be finished.

Did you do that album also with Andranik and Shahyar Ghanbari?

Yes. Of course, we chose the songs from various lyricists; they are not all by Shahyar Ghanbari. Some of them are by Afshin Sarafraz in Iran, the brother of Mr. Ardalan Sarafraz. We also want to re-sing an old song.

* * *

Most of the songs of the album, "Neverending Story" are written and arranged by Andranik. Since the beginning of his work before the 1979 revolution, until only a few years ago, Andranik had worked with the most famous Persian pop singers such as Googoosh, Hayedeh, Dariush, Ebi and Moein. Recently, however, he has turned to working more with young and new singers such as Amir, Sepidar, and Rad. I asked him the reason for this change.

Andranik: The old singers really thought that they came to be what they were all by themselves. So to some extent they lacked respect and appreciation [for others who have helped them succeed]. Like Googoosh, Ebi, and I might say, as an exception, Dariush, because he has always paid due respect, for which I am sincerely grateful. The others, however, did not do the right thing. If I supervised their work, they were able to deliver something to the public. At present, however, the people of Iran know the situation of those singers. They become worse day by day, while people still want their old, not their new, songs. Our youths understand music much better. They better understand the value of good work by others. And for this reason alone, I like to help, and will help, young singers.

What features must they have before you work with them?

For me, being humane comes first. Next, the individual must definitely have a good voice, and understand and feel the rhythm. Consider one- or two-year old children. Once they hear a rhythm they can repeat it by hand. This shows that they feel the rhythm inherently. If they don't feel it, there is still the option of teaching and explaining it to them. I see the youths as being better. I have had many phone calls from Tehran telling me, "We are collecting your works." I become overjoyed to hear that in that repressive atmosphere, the Tehran youths still try to learn something correctly.

How did your cooperation with Amir begin?

He came to me for the arrangement of a song. Then he asked me to give him a song, and in this way we began to work together. Fortunately, he understands music very well. We will have good singers in the future.

How do you perceive Amir's voice? It appears that in the album, "Neverending Story," the works move within one framework – gentle love songs. Do you think that his voice does not allow for various maneuvers?

When you listen to the works of experienced singers, you will see that we have given them plenty of time to reach that point. Whoever is new in this work does not have the power to perform any voice maneuver that he or she desires. So we have to teach new singers until we are able to use them in the manner we wish.

* The interviews originally were broadcasted from Amsterdam-based Radio Zamaneh. (audio file in Persian).

* Pejman Akbarzadeh (www.PejmanAkbarzadeh.com) is a pianist, author and journalist, based in the Netherlands.