Rock and alternative music in Iran

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Iranian metal band Kahtmayan at a concert in Tehran
Iranian metal band Kahtmayan at a concert in Tehran

Since the late 1990s when president Mohammad Khatami advocated a more open cultural atmosphere in his policies, Iran has come to witness a unique blossoming of an indigenous breed of rock and hard rock musicians. The growth has been an explosive trend that continues until this day. 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. These are the children born after Iran's revolution of 1979.[1]

One of the first rock concerts ever to take place was that of an anonymous but highly acclaimed band [2] "Pezhvak". The event was so significant that it even drew a Newsweek reporter to the concert. (.wma sample 1) (2)

Soon there were bands superimposing the poetry of Hafez as their lyrics on top of classical western rock tunes and melodies peppered with sounds of traditional Persian music. (mp3 sample). [3]

Among the pioneers of this movement, the rock band O-Hum was first permitted to play in freely mixed sex concerts for Christian minorities in Tehran.[4] Today, there are underground competitions and music critics writing of these bands. And once in a while, the government allows rock concerts to take place in very limited conditions.[5] Bands like 127 and The Technicolor Dream have performed live, with English lyrics.

These are a clear indication of how Iranian bands are finding their own unique sound as they continue to attract bigger audiences and progress into maturity. Sometimes jazz, sometimes Frank Zappa, sometimes Dream Theater, the music of the new Iranian rock scene is a mix of their inspirations and creations.[6]

And for a country like Iran that until a couple of years ago banned all forms of modern western music, it is surprising to hear bands now in Iran producing rock music with female vocals thrown in, or even heavy metal music.[7]

In today's Iran, one can see books printed in Persian about Queen, Guns N' Roses and Pink Floyd in front of the Tehran University in the book bazaars. There are also state-sanctioned albums with selected works of The Beatles, Joe Satriani, Santana, The Gypsy Kings, Al Di Meola, Steve Vai, and Era, among many others.

Contents

[edit] Rising faces and sounds

With careful maneuvering, Meera was one of the first rock acts to be able to gain state approval for an official album release.
With careful maneuvering, Meera was one of the first rock acts to be able to gain state approval for an official album release.

Examples of homegrown Iranian rock bands in Iran. Some are approved by the government, other continue to operate underground because of the restrictions imposed by The Ministry of Islamic Guidance. The following is a sample list:

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 band Kathmayan 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 another homegrown Iranian Rock band called Kiosk: Adameh Mamooli (Ordinary Man), and succeeded in adding it to the iTunes Digital Music catalog, making it the first Iranian 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

[edit] Bands

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Magazines and Information portals

[edit] Articles

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