| Mazgani | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Setúbal, Portugal |
| Genres | Alternative Indie rock |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Website | Official artist site. |
| Members | |
| Shahryar Mazgani Sérgio Mendes Victor Coimbra Pedro Goncalves |
|
| Past members | |
| Alain Anastácio João Fernandez Marco Franco |
|
| Notable instruments | |
| acoustic guitar electrical guitar Double Bass drums |
|
Mazgani is an Iranian-Portuguese singer-songwriter who started playing in Setúbal in the summer of 2004. Shahryar Mazgani's family had left Iran after the Iranian Revolution.
In 2006, Mazgani was considered by the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles as one of the best 20 new European artists. His debut album, Song of the New Heart, released in 2007, contains 13 songs sung in English.
In 2009, netlabel OptimusDiscos1 in Portugal released the Tell the People EP, produced by Pedro Gonçalves of Dead Combo. Also in 2009, Mazgani came third in the International Songwriting Competition, AAA category, with the song "Somewhere Beneath This Sky"3; the competition judges included Tom Waits, Robert Smith, and other alternative music notables.
At the end of 2009, he released his first international disc, Ladies and Gentlemen introducing Mazgani, through the Fading Ways Finland record label2. It was released for the BeNeLux and Scandinavian markets. The record is also available digitally worldwide via Finetunes.
In January 2010, Mazgani performed at the Eurosonic festival in the Netherlands, after also playing the Super Bock em Stock festival in Lisbon the month before. He also performed at Europavox 2010 in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
His second full-length album, Song of Distance, was released in Portugal in April 2010 and that release was followed by a digital UK release via AWAL in October. It was produced by Dead Combo's Pedro V. Goncalves and Helder Nelson. The record hit no. 17 on the Portuguese charts.
Contents |
For 2008 self-produced debut album, Mazgani's band members were:
In 2009, and with the rest of the band in 2010, Pedro Gonçalves of Dead combo accompanied Mazgani live as well as producing the Tell the People EP.
By 2011, the line-up is as follows:
Mazgani has mentioned, in interviews or press releases, the following musical influences: