ZirGround: Interview w/ O-Hum

The hype began when in the midst of the lingering tragedy of Iranian Los Angeles pop in the public ear and the absence of a voice that speaks for the zeitgeist (caused by the the widespread imprisonment of a word called “art” in the country), Shahram Sherbaf thought of a recipe to bend the waves. Leading a phenomenal band called O-Hum, they adopted an amalgam of juicy ear-caressing Iranian traditional vibes based rhythmically on '90s alternative rock charm spicing it up borrowing words from legendary Persian poets a la Hafez and Rumi. The outcome was nothing but promising and welcome. It was at this particular era when Persian underground movement blossomed and dared to surface despite all the barriers ahead.



A decade later, O-Hum has fortunately survived various hurricanes. Being elaborate on their current line-up and then sharing his thought balloons on the whole underground issue, the songsmith of the band Shahram is here with us for an interview. Here we go then:

TW: Tell us a brief status quo of your band, upcoming good/bad news and the current formation.
Sh: Well it's been a good year for O-Hum both musically and mentally. The most good thing which could happen was Shahrokh's (O-Hum's original guitar player and my long time friend) return to the band after 7 years. He's been living in Canada since our 2002 move to Vancouver (I returned to Tehran 11 months later) and was busy with his new life and his new family these past years. I knew he had freaked out on hard situation we were experiencing with O-Hum during the early years, and in fact it was a real nightmare playing this kind of music in Iran and trying to convince Ershad [The ministry of Guidance in Iran] and record companies to accept us. He has always had a great impact on O-hum's music and sound and I can't imagine having somebody else on albums playing guitars or writing songs with me. So our original gang is back together again (I've been playing music with him since 15) and we're planning to record a new O-Hum album here in Tehran this autumn or winter. Another good news (even for myself!) was the 10th anniversary of O-Hum: I knew we could make more music in these 10 years and be more fruitful, but anybody who knows a bit about music and generally art industry in Iran can imagine how hard (and valuable, at the same time) it is to keep an artistic project alive in this environment for such a long time. There was a lot of financial, social and official problems to deal with during this period and for sure there would be some magic involved here that O-Hum is still alive today! And it's not something I did personally and alone: Honestly 50% of this truth (that O-Hum is still on the map today) is about fans (or O-Humies, as they call themselves) who always dedicated us such a huge support, love and energy. This is no exaggeration or bulshit: there have been a lot of time that I was completely ready and happy to end O-Hum and quit this game but every time they changed my mind. I always felt I would look so weak and stupid to give up, so I continued.

Musically it's been OK with O-Hum too, cause finally I could finish E-Hum project (O-Hum Remixes) and make it ready to be released this autumn. I was so busy with handling everything in my life that I couldn't put enough time to finish it in a fixed period (that's something
that happened to Aloodeh too and it took a year or two to be done. Now when I hear them I can say they are not really remixes, maybe an electronic version of those songs as the title suggests (E-Hum).

Regarding the current formation beside Shahrokh's move in, there wouldn't be any other changes to O-Hum. We would play and record with other musicians (who are our close friends and been with us all these past years) on stage and in studio, but the two of us are actually O-Hum's engine.

TW: Did you see the Persian underground scene as a phenomenon a decade ago? If so, what kept it separate from the rest?
Sh: Yes, for sure it was. It happened so natural and wide between young Iranian people. Each band or musician had their own style and sound and I think it was the first time after the revolution that people had started to appreciate and listen to Persian rock music which had been created inside the country. I clearly remember my teenage days when listening to any rock or pop music created by any local musician was cheap and people would only like English rock music or LA pop tunes. They used to listen to some Iranian pop\rock songs left by before-the-revolution musicians, but there was really nothing new to be heard. Due to the situation and lack of music resources, recording gear and generally closed environment there was a big difference and gap between what was created inside and outside (and honestly it was real).

Today, it's not surprising that many young boys and girls are fans of Iranian bands and listen to their music everyday. Back those days, it was really hard to convince people that there could be a good (or at least standard) Iranian rock band. I remember playing "Wish You Were Here" to some guys telling it's done by our friends in Tehran: every time after a minute or so they used to start saying it's obvious it's done by Iranians cause the vocalist is not good and out of tune(!), guitars are played by a amateur and generally the whole song sucks! I swear we used to play our own songs to them saying it's a rare track of Pink Floyd or Dire Straits and after the first beat they would like it and began to give compliments on how great those bands are!!

So it was the first time that some really fresh music was heard among young people in Iran. I believe in two strong reasons for it being such phenomenon: Most importantly it was created and played by bands or musicians with a lot of soul and heart, no matter which style it would be. It was not ordered or purchased by anybody. They knew themselves there's a very little chance they could breakthrough and be heard widely. They had the least equipments or home studios and they couldn't earn a living with it. But still all of us kept playing and trying to survive. When your music is your only weapon , you put a lot of soul and energy behind it to make sure it will travel between people. The second reason: It happened naturally and not by any official sources or companies. Anybody who had listened to a track by an Iranian band and liked it, would copy the tape or CD for his\her friends and the song would start to fly among people. It was started and continued based on natural love of music. That's why it was so real and exciting in really years, some things that were disappeared a bit later. Soon it turned to be a source for being famous or selling bulshit or simply cheating audiences. There are always a lot of people who like to fake something for the sake of something else.

TW: What's your point of view on the new rap movement in Iran? It seems like everybody's trying to have a corner and apparently the public ear has no problem spreading the word.
Sh: I have a positive view on whole movement, but I don't like the details and stories behind all these rappers. Firstly, there should be all kinds of music out there for people to choose and hear cause there are all kinds of people out there. There should be pop, rock, rap, metal, khaltoor [a common musical expression amongst Iranians meaning "music void of any artistic values"], sorood [psalm] or any type of music on the market cause each of these styles have a different mood and are required for different situations. For example, a traditional Iranian family in Iran can't think about dancing to any other kind of music in their wedding or birthday parties (and it's all alright and natural). And the guy who works behind a computer all day long or does a sport with mp3 player on ears needs a different kind of music. So rap is also fine with me. What I see as a problem here is every few years, something new comes to this scene and it seems it's like a new brand, device, cell phone or TV: everybody wants to have the new one cause their friends have it! and the musicians behind this new movement always feel they have to fight or deny previous ones to take the maximum attention. And when this happens it starts to be bulshit and full of cliché, something all of us have seen on Iranian satellite channels. Maybe the very first rappers who came out had really something new to say like Hich Kas or Yas. The rest of these guys have nothing to say and just fake it like they have a problem, and because rap and hip-hop music is all about beat and drums they don't feel they need to know or play music. I know many of them who make music by browsing through music loop CDs and dropping all kinds of sounds to a software to accidentally write a piece of music. that's why they sound so senseless and don't generate a feeling in you.

The third generation of these guys which always arrive later make it worst: I mean the people who are not musicians or even rappers at all. They could be businessmen, taxi drivers or simply anybody who love to see himself on TV. They are interested only on side effects of this whole process (making more money, getting more women or simply being "somebody"). I think it's not their fault and in societies like ours, it's usual to have this kind of reactions. all of us need something to help prove and show ourselves but when we don't have (or know) the right choice it goes like this.

Regarding the public ear, yeah they accept it so easily. What makes rap so popular between young people is words. Rap is usually about what is exactly going on in streets and that attracts people specially if it's about forbidden things and the audience are young. They hear their own life stories or experiences in these rappings, and when you know that 70% of Iran's society are young people under 29, it's not so surprising that rap is so popular here. The western life style, fashion and culture behind it also attracts teenagers a lot.

TW: To what extent does a talented newcomer in this helter-skelter political crisis in the country stand a chance to shine out and present his/her work?
Sh: If you mean today and in this situation, it would be hard if this newcomer wants to make a real new music. It's so crowded and there are lot of wanna-be's out there making noises and since most of young audience listen to electronic\dancey\trippy music by DJs, it would be difficult to start something completely new and find a fan base among them. I guess he\she will have to take this current music movement and evolve it to something new. Something O-Hum did with rock music. Those days, English rock was so popular and we tried to transform our music to a mix of western and Persian moods by adding Iranian instruments or playing in Persian scales. If he or she wants to make it officially (getting permission from Ershad and...) I guess there would be no chance. It doesn't matter how good or bad the music is. It will be shut down, unless they're supported or connected to certain sources...



TW: The last four years has been even more traumatic for the genre. Do you have anything against it?
Sh: Yes I have! A funny story happened a few months ago when they called me from Persian BBC to interview on a live program about "Persian Underground Music". I didn't know there are a few other so-called "underground musician" guests on the program too (cause I was on the phone and not watching TV). And they were exactly asking me the same question. So I said how I believe "underground music" has turned to a stupid cliché and a way to be famous without doing anything special, and how some people take the advantage of hiding between these two words to cover their lack of musicality and dreaming of making a shortcut to the top of music channels overnight. I was supposed to talk for 5 minutes and then the rest of guys would say their thoughts but she kept asking questions and nobody else was saying anything. Silence. And a few minutes later I realized that all other guests on the program were "underground wanna-be's", claiming they couldn't get permission from Ershad and the same old story. I guess I was so furious with my words cause they kept being quiet, and when the program host asked a girl (who said she's a forbidden[!] underground rapper and the first one in the country) about why she thinks she's an underground artist she started to mumbling and telling obscure words and reasons. She didn't know herself why she's calling herself "a forbidden-underground rapper girl from Tehran". Later I checked BBC website and I saw some photos from those underground guys. One of them was really amazing: a young boy sitting in center of a room having 10 or 20 guitars, amps, laptops and recording stuffs around himself. It looked like a real music store! I don't have anything against them personally cause I know they are young and they really desire to be rich and famous just like the superstars they see on movies. And they don't know any other way except sticking to something that is selling good at the moment.

TW: When a Persian rock act emerges and finds its way abroad to tour, is the mere fever of "These guys are from Iran!" enough or they have to dig deeper to sound more unique and satisfying?
Sh: I guess it wouldn't be enough these days to be just this band from Tehran. There was a time that it was enough to come out of Tehran for any artist to be welcomed abroad. I guess that happened to Iranian cinema too and after Kiarostami movies a lot of directors started to make strange films, showing any odd thing from Iran to win festivals and competitions. but these days things have changed a lot. the new generation of Persian music is well known and accepted worldwide and you can't be out there for the sake of being Iranian! Back those days, nobody expected a young Iranian band to be 100% professional and it was more about the vibe and a new sound. Today they see and compare it with other rock music from other countries so it requires more talent and energy to step out. But still I see a great chance for Iranian bands anywhere. If we add our own flavor and vibe to our music, like any musician from any places around the world, we will find our audience anywhere. Our music have to show where it's coming from. Rock is rock anywhere, but you can turn it to your own rock music cause western ears don't usually hear a rock music with Sehtar [a four string lute used in Iranian traditional music] or Daf [a type of frame drum used in Middle Eastern traditional music] on TV and radio.

TW: How much can a label's credibility matter to publicize a new act? Are you buying CDs according to the labels they're signed to?
Sh: In case of Persian music I don't think record labels have that impact on people. Maybe some LA khaltoor labels have that effect on their old school listeners cause people have got used to expect albums by certain singers from certain labels. But in case of modern Persian music, it has not happened yet. There are some small Iranian labels whom try to be specialized in this kind of music but because of financial problems and the fucked up music industry they have to release anything to survive. This way, you can't expect a label to always offer good music to its audience. Between every one or two good albums, they have to sell a lot of bulshit to earn a living and keep their business balanced. And within this internet world, you no longer need a record label to release or promote your music. Anybody can sell their music online without signing a single piece of paper. I guess in this new situation, it's mostly about having a good manager or managing agent to sort things for live gigs and things like that. Personally, I've never cared about record labels when choosing any album neither by Iranian nor foreign artists. And welcome to Iran: no original CDs, no copyright, no record companies,...



TW: Share three of your post-millennium favorite albums (2000-09) worldwide.
Sh: Brushfire Fairytales (Jack Johnson\2001): I like the simplicity and good vibe behind all his songs (I guess it comes from this fact that they are from Hawaii!). The album is produced very smartly and sounds so great as a music by a 3-piece band. You should check out drums sound in this album. They're always on a good edge of being commercial and a different rock band.

Audioslave (Audioslave\2002): One of the most powerful rock music after 2000. I know they started to be commercial after a while (and that's why Chris Cornell quit the band and they disbanded) but still it was so real and touching specially their hit song 'Like a Stone'. Again, a
very well produced album. I think it was one of the best collections of great musicians gathered in a band. Each of those guys are actually producers\engineers themselves. that's why their music sounds so rich.

On an Inland (David Gilmour\2006): I think this one doesn't need any comments. This is the latest solo album by the master of progressive rock song writing and guitar playing. Listening to his music (specially his guitar sound) is both nostalgic and rocking. There's a big change in his mood and sound in this album: He sings much softer and classical-type songs and plays most guitar parts with hollow body guitars which is a big shift by him whose always been a famous fender player. His acoustic concert was even better and they played a lot of classic Floyd songs in a completely different way.

Links:
O-Hum's Official Website
O-Hum's Fan Page on Facebook
O-Hum on MySpace

Thanks to Shahram Sherbaf for the interview