Rock and alternative music in Iran
Encyclopedia
Iranian rock is a form of rock music that is largely produced in Europe
and Tehran
's underground circles, and is rising to challenge "Tehrangeles
pop", which has dominated the popular music genre of Iran
for decades.
Iranian rock is almost entirely in Persian language. There are however musicians of Iranian descent both inside and outside Iran that produce their rock music in languages such as English
or German
.
Iranian rock has its roots in American rock
, British rock
and German rock
, but has its own distinctive elements mixed in to create a homegrown class of sounds and melodies, whether progressive, hard, or heavy metal. There has been many movements since mid 90s.
and bands like Pink Floyd
, Camel
, and Eloy
, has its beginnings in the 1970s with musicians such as Kourosh Yaghmaei. The 1979 Islamic revolution did not allow this musical genre to survive long. Ayatollah Khomeini banned rock music, inspiring The Clash
to write Rock the Casbah
.
During the late 1990s president Mohammad Khatami
advocated a more open cultural atmosphere in his domestic policies, Iran came to witness a unique blossoming of an indigenous breed of Rock
and Heavy metal
musicians. What separates this movement from its Tehrangeles
pop counterpart is the young age group and the fact that it is almost entirely homegrown, and mostly underground.
Public open live concerts are heavily restricted by the government. Most rock bands however can obtain permission to perform on stage live, provided their music is purely instrumental. A typical example of what is tolerated is the performance of the Metal band Kahtmayan in Kish, Iran
.
In July 2005, for the first time, a music production company in Canada by the name of Bamahang Productions
released an album from Kiosk
,another homegrown Iranian Rock band, called Adameh Mamooli (Ordinary Man), and succeeded in adding it to the iTunes
Digital Music catalog, making the Underground Rock Music album to be available for digital download from iTunes. In December 2005, the same company managed to finally release the 2nd album from O-Hum
entitled Aloodeh.(polluted)
such as Hafez
in their lyrics on top of classical western rock tunes and melodies, and peppered with sounds of traditional Persian music.
Among the bands in this movement, the rock band O-Hum
was permitted to play in freely mixed sex concerts for Christian minorities in Tehran
. Today, there were underground competitions and music critics writing of these bands. Occasionally the government allows rock concerts to take place under strict conditions. Music with English lyrics has been performed by bands such as Barad
.
One of the most important events in Iran’s heavy metal
scene happened in 2008 when power metal
act Angband
signed with German label Pure Steel Records
. Its believed they are the first Iranian metal band to release their work internationally through a European label.
They released their debut album Rising from Apadana
in 2008 and they collaborate with the well-known producer/ sound engineer Achim Kohler
(Primal Fear
, Amon Amarth
) for the production of their second album Visions of the Seeker
that came to life in October 2010.
Awarded by Cannes Festival in 2009 No One Knows About Persian Cats
a film by Bahman Ghobadi
revealed the legal challenges and obstacles young musicians in Iran have to face where government is severely confined.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
's underground circles, and is rising to challenge "Tehrangeles
Tehrangeles
Tehrangeles is a portmanteau deriving from the combination of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and Los Angeles. It is used when referring to the large number of former Iranian nationals and their descendants residing in the Los Angeles metropolitan area; it is the largest such population outside of...
pop", which has dominated the popular music genre of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
for decades.
Iranian rock is almost entirely in Persian language. There are however musicians of Iranian descent both inside and outside Iran that produce their rock music in languages such as English
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
or German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Iranian rock has its roots in American rock
American rock
American rock is rock music from the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country music, and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music. The creation of American rock music was highly influenced by the British Invasion of the American pop...
, British rock
British rock
British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by The Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the development of American music and rock music across the...
and German rock
German rock
Although German rock music didn't come into its own until the late 1960s, it spawned many innovative and influential bands spanning genres such as krautrock, New Wave, heavy metal, punk, and industrial....
, but has its own distinctive elements mixed in to create a homegrown class of sounds and melodies, whether progressive, hard, or heavy metal. There has been many movements since mid 90s.
History
Rock music in Iran inspired by remarkable events like Shiraz Arts FestivalShiraz Arts Festival
The Shiraz Arts Festival was an arts festival held annually from 1967 to 1977 in the Iranian city Shiraz. Its creation was suggested by Farah Pahlavi and sponsored by National Iranian Radio & Television...
and bands like Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, Camel
Camel (band)
Camel are an English progressive rock band formed in 1971. An important group in the Canterbury scene, they have been releasing studio and live recordings steadily, with considerable success, since their formation.-1970s:...
, and Eloy
Eloy
Eloy is a German progressive rock band, whose musical style includes symphonic and space rock, the latter theme being more prevalent on earlier albums...
, has its beginnings in the 1970s with musicians such as Kourosh Yaghmaei. The 1979 Islamic revolution did not allow this musical genre to survive long. Ayatollah Khomeini banned rock music, inspiring The Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
to write Rock the Casbah
Rock the Casbah
"Rock the Casbah" is a song by the English punk rock band The Clash in 1982. It was released as the third single from their fifth album, Combat Rock. The song reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. and, along with the track "Mustapha Dance," it also reached number eight on...
.
During the late 1990s president Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...
advocated a more open cultural atmosphere in his domestic policies, Iran came to witness a unique blossoming of an indigenous breed of Rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and Heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
musicians. What separates this movement from its Tehrangeles
Tehrangeles
Tehrangeles is a portmanteau deriving from the combination of Tehran, the capital of Iran, and Los Angeles. It is used when referring to the large number of former Iranian nationals and their descendants residing in the Los Angeles metropolitan area; it is the largest such population outside of...
pop counterpart is the young age group and the fact that it is almost entirely homegrown, and mostly underground.
Public open live concerts are heavily restricted by the government. Most rock bands however can obtain permission to perform on stage live, provided their music is purely instrumental. A typical example of what is tolerated is the performance of the Metal band Kahtmayan in Kish, Iran
Kish, Iran
Kish is a resort island in the Persian Gulf. It is part of the Hormozgān Province of Iran. Due to its free trade zone status it is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, shopping centres, tourist attractions, and resort hotels. It has an estimated population of 20,000 residents and...
.
In July 2005, for the first time, a music production company in Canada by the name of Bamahang Productions
Bamahang Productions
Bamahang Productions is the first independent Iranian Rock and Alternative Music record label currently based in Seattle , USA.Bamahang Productions is the leading record label and music production company dedicated to promoting Iranian alternative and underground music...
released an album from Kiosk
Kiosk (band)
-Introduction:Kiosk is an underground Iranian music band founded in 2003 by Arash Sobhani in Tehran. Like many other bands in Iran, they had to set up their studios in the underground basements of friends and families, fearing of the Islamic regime’s constant surveillance and strict censorship...
,another homegrown Iranian Rock band, called Adameh Mamooli (Ordinary Man), and succeeded in adding it to the iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Digital Music catalog, making the Underground Rock Music album to be available for digital download from iTunes. In December 2005, the same company managed to finally release the 2nd album from O-Hum
O-Hum
O-Hum is an Iranian underground rock band fronted by singer/songwriter Shahram Sharbaf. Their style is what they call "Persian Rock", combining rock with Persian instruments and modes, together with lyrics drawn from the works of Hafez, the esteemed fourteenth century Persian poet.-Biography:The...
entitled Aloodeh.(polluted)
The contemporary scene
Within a few years after the launch of Tehran's underground scene in the late nineties, some bands started superimposing the poetry of Persian literaturePersian literature
Persian literature spans two-and-a-half millennia, though much of the pre-Islamic material has been lost. Its sources have been within historical Persia including present-day Iran as well as regions of Central Asia where the Persian language has historically been the national language...
such as Hafez
Hafez
Khwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī , known by his pen name Hāfez , was a Persian lyric poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian poetry are to be found in the homes of most Iranians, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day...
in their lyrics on top of classical western rock tunes and melodies, and peppered with sounds of traditional Persian music.
Among the bands in this movement, the rock band O-Hum
O-Hum
O-Hum is an Iranian underground rock band fronted by singer/songwriter Shahram Sharbaf. Their style is what they call "Persian Rock", combining rock with Persian instruments and modes, together with lyrics drawn from the works of Hafez, the esteemed fourteenth century Persian poet.-Biography:The...
was permitted to play in freely mixed sex concerts for Christian minorities in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
. Today, there were underground competitions and music critics writing of these bands. Occasionally the government allows rock concerts to take place under strict conditions. Music with English lyrics has been performed by bands such as Barad
Barad (band)
Barad were an Iranian rock band from Tehran. The main language for their lyrics is Persian, although English has appeared in their lyrics as well.-History:The history of Barad reaches back to the early 2002...
.
One of the most important events in Iran’s heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
scene happened in 2008 when power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
act Angband
Angband (band)
Angband is a Persian power metal/ progressive musical group, formed in 2004 in Tehran.-Band history:Angband was formed in 2004 in Tehran by Mahyar Dean, a classically trained musician and author who is known for writing books about the bands Death and Testament...
signed with German label Pure Steel Records
Pure Steel Records
Pure Steel Records is a record label based on Germany, focused on heavy metal music. Pure Steel produces CDs and LPs.Founded by Kay Anders and Andreas Lorenz in 2006, the main interest of Pure Steel is to spread the true and independent heavy metal sound inspired by the glorious 80s...
. Its believed they are the first Iranian metal band to release their work internationally through a European label.
They released their debut album Rising from Apadana
Rising from Apadana
Rising from Apadana is the debut studio album by Angband, a power metal musical group from Tehran, released on August 29, 2008 through Pure Steel Records.- Track listing :- Reception :...
in 2008 and they collaborate with the well-known producer/ sound engineer Achim Kohler
Achim Kohler
Achim Köhler is a music producer and sound engineer, mostly known for his longtime collaboration with the German power metal band Primal Fear but he has been involved in production process of lots of other albums mostly in heavy metal genre....
(Primal Fear
Primal Fear
Primal Fear may refer to:* Primal Fear , a German power metal band** Primal Fear , their debut album* Primal Fear , a 1993 thriller novel by William Diehl* Primal Fear , a 1996 film based on Diehl's novel...
, Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth is a Swedish viking metal band from Tumba, Sweden founded in 1992, and takes its name from the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström...
) for the production of their second album Visions of the Seeker
Visions of the Seeker
Visions of the Seeker is the second studio album by Angband, the power metal/progressive metal musical group, released on October 29, 2010 through Pure Steel Records. The album was mixed & mastered by veteran producer/sound engineer Achim Kohler...
that came to life in October 2010.
Awarded by Cannes Festival in 2009 No One Knows About Persian Cats
No One Knows About Persian Cats
No One Knows About Persian Cats is a 2009 Iranian film directed by Bahman Ghobadi produced by Wild Bunch. Originally titled Kasi az Gorbehaye Irani Khabar Nadareh, in the film's native language, Persian, this film first took on the name of Nobody Knows About The Persian Cats before finally being...
a film by Bahman Ghobadi
Bahman Ghobadi
Bahman Ghobadi is an Iranian film director of Kurdish ethnicity. He was born on February 1, 1969 in Baneh, Kurdistan Province. Ghobadi belongs to the so called "new wave" of Iranian cinema.-Biography:...
revealed the legal challenges and obstacles young musicians in Iran have to face where government is severely confined.
Rising Faces in Iranian Rock/ Metal Music
The following samples a list of homegrown Iranian rock bands, mostly active in Iran. Some are approved by the government, other continue to operate underground because of the restrictions imposed by The Ministry of Islamic Guidance.- 127, One of the first Iranian rock bands that toured the USA. Their music is a mixture of rock,jazz and Iranian melodies.
- Agah BahariAgah BahariAgah Bahari , born July 3, 1983, is an Iranian Rock musician.Agah's works are Instrumental Progressive metal/Rock. He has been deemed one of "Iran's guitar monsters" according to Iranian Rock magazine "Zirzamin"....
, who has been collaborating with Derek SherinianDerek SherinianDerek Sherinian is a rock keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Kiss, and Alice In Chains. He was also a member of Dream Theater and is the founder of the instrumental metal-fusion band Planet X...
, formerly of Dream TheaterDream TheaterDream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung, and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to further concentrate on the band that would...
and Planet XPlanet XFollowing the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century but culminated at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell's quest for Planet X...
. - AngbandAngband (band)Angband is a Persian power metal/ progressive musical group, formed in 2004 in Tehran.-Band history:Angband was formed in 2004 in Tehran by Mahyar Dean, a classically trained musician and author who is known for writing books about the bands Death and Testament...
, a power metalPower metalPower metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
band which is first Iranian metal act to release its work internationally through a European label. - Barad (band)Barad (band)Barad were an Iranian rock band from Tehran. The main language for their lyrics is Persian, although English has appeared in their lyrics as well.-History:The history of Barad reaches back to the early 2002...
, An Iranian folk rock band. - BuddaheadBuddaheadBuddahead is a New York City based indie rock band that was most active in the early 00's for several years. While the band no longer tours it still writes and records....
A notable Iranian Rock band" - KioskKiosk (band)-Introduction:Kiosk is an underground Iranian music band founded in 2003 by Arash Sobhani in Tehran. Like many other bands in Iran, they had to set up their studios in the underground basements of friends and families, fearing of the Islamic regime’s constant surveillance and strict censorship...
, a countryCountry rockCountry rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
/blues/alternative rockAlternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band - LalehLalehLaleh Pourkarim is an Iranian born Swedish singer-songwriter and former actress. She uses her given name Laleh as a stage name. She left Iran when she was a one year old and came to Sweden as a teenager, attending school in the multicultural district of Hammarkullen, Angered of Gothenburg. Before...
was nominated with 7 GrammisGrammisThe Grammis Awards are the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards. The awards ceremony is generally held each year in February in Stockholm.The awards were established in 1969 and awarded until 1972 when they were cancelled....
in SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
in 2005. She won 3 of the nominations for her song - MeeraMeera (band)Meera is an Iranian rock band based in Tehran.Band members are Babak Akhondi , Dara Daraee , Farzam Rahimi , Reza Moghaddas , and Kasra Ebrahimi ....
: an Iranian Rock band. - Mohsen NamjooMohsen NamjooMohsen Namjoo, , is an Iranian musician, singer-songwriter. born in 1976 in Torbat-e Jam, a small town in northeastern Iran. The New York Times called Namjoo "Iran's Bob Dylan".-Career:...
was an Iranian musician mixing the elements of iranian traditional music with rockRock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music... - O-HumO-HumO-Hum is an Iranian underground rock band fronted by singer/songwriter Shahram Sharbaf. Their style is what they call "Persian Rock", combining rock with Persian instruments and modes, together with lyrics drawn from the works of Hafez, the esteemed fourteenth century Persian poet.-Biography:The...
, mixing HafezHafezKhwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī , known by his pen name Hāfez , was a Persian lyric poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian poetry are to be found in the homes of most Iranians, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day...
poems with rock music:- Sample 1: using DafDafA daf is a frame drum used as a musical instrument in popular and classical music. The term daf is used in Iran / Kurdistan for a large drum that has a series of four interlinked rings in the frame. Daf is mostly used in Middle East, Iran, Armenia, Pakistan, Turkey, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and ...
as percussion - Sample 2: using KamanchehKamanchehThe kamānche or kamāncha is a Persian bowed string instrument related to the bowed rebab, the historical ancestor of the kamancheh and also to the bowed lira of the Byzantine Empire, ancestor of the European violin family. The strings are played with a variable-tension bow: the word "kamancheh"...
, SetarSetar (lute)Setar is a Persian musical instrument. It is a member of the lute family. Two and a half centuries ago, a fourth string was added to the setar, which has 25 - 27 moveable frets...
, and SanturSanturThe santur is a Persian hammered dulcimerIt is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut or different exotic woods. The Persian classical santur has 72 strings. The name santur was first referenced in ancient Persian poetry... - Live Tomorrow (video clip)
- Sample 1: using Daf
- The Yellow Dogs BandThe Yellow Dogs BandThe Yellow Dogs are an Iranian Indie Rock band. Members include Obash , Looloosh , Koory and Zina .-Biography:...
, A young Iranian underground indie rock band.
See also
- Music of IranMusic of IranThe music of Iran has thousands of years of history, as seen in the archeological documents of Elam, one of the earliest world cultures,which was located in southwestern Iran...
- List of Iranian musicians
- Iranian Rap and Hip HopIranian RapPersian hip hop is a style of hip hop which emerged in the 1990s. It is credited for inspiring contemporary Iranian music.-History:...
- Culture of IranCulture of IranTo best understand Iran, Afghanistan, their related societies and their people, one must first attempt to acquire an understanding of their culture. It is in the study of this area where the Persian identity optimally expresses itself...
- Rock and RollRock and rollRock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
- Iranian artIranian artPersian arts, or Iranian arts is one of the richest art heritages in world history and encompasses many disciplines including architecture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, metalworking and stonemasonry.-The Persian rug:...
External links
- Iranian underground music wikia
- Iranian rock portal
- Iranian rock news
- MTV report: Iranian band Hypernova tours in New York City
- BBC Report on O-Hum's first state sanctioned public concert
- BBC: "Fresh Iranian bands ready to rock"
- The Guardian: Rock bands struggling to be heard in Iran
- Christian Science Monitor: "You say you want a revolution? Iran bands rock on."
- The Boston Phoenix: "IRAN SO FAR AWAY: Tehran rockers 127 make it to America at last"
- Bar-Ax : Iranian Underground Music