Kiosk (band)

Kiosk
Kiosk live at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco.
Background information
Origin	Tehran, Iran (past) USA (now)
Genres	Rock Blues rock Alternative rock Country rock (early)
Years active	2002–present
Members	Arash Sobhani Ali Kamali Ardalan Payvar Shahrouz Molae Tara Kamangar

Kiosk (Persian: کیوسک‎) is an underground Iranian rock band from Tehran, who relocated to North America in 2006. The band's guitarist and soloist, Arash Sobhani, moved to the United States in 2005 to release the band's first album, Ordinary Man. They have since produced more albums.^[1]

Introduction

Kiosk is an underground Iranian music band founded in 2003 by Arash Sobhani in Tehran.^[2] Like many other bands in Iran, the Islamic Republic's strict censorship laws prohibiting most forms of music, forced Kiosk to produce and play their music in the secrecy of their friends and families basements. Since Kiosk's inception their music has been politicised yet humorous. Their political and social commentary, critical of the clergy and state censorship of music, would often entail band members becoming embroiled in trouble with the state. As a result, Kiosk - like so many other Iranian bands - stayed underground until their eventual decision to move overseas; allowing them to finally move overground.

Kiosk has been based in the United States and Canada since 2006, with some of its members living in New York and some in Toronto, where their studio is way on the ground. Their immigration to the US didn’t stop them from talking about the political and cultural problems in Iran.

Current Kiosk members are Arash Sobhani, lead singer and songwriter, Ali Kamali, bass guitarist, Ardalan Payvar, keyboardist, Shahrouz Molae, drummer, and Tara Kamangar, violin.

Their music is the "turning point in the modern Iranian music in that the lyrics of their songs are, contrary to the work of most other Iranian rock bands, quite unpretentious, actual and heartful; not to mention the humor that you can sense in them".^[3]

The name of the band, Kiosk, comes from the original formation of the group when its members were gathering together in any possible place to play their music with the fear of getting arrested by the Islamic regime in Iran. Any little part of Tehran could be their Kiosk to get together, to separate from their surrounding environment and to share the ecstatic pleasure of playing together.

Works

As of 2013, Kiosk has released six albums, all of which are illegal in Iran. Their first album, Ordinary Man (Adame Mamooli), was released in 2005. they released their second album, Amor de la Velocidad (Eshghe Sor’at) on April 1, 2007. Both of these albums have received praise by young Iranians inside and outside the country as well as worldwide audiences. ^{[citation needed]} Their music opens a window to their hometown, Tehran, with sharing the unique experience of growing in an environment with enormous complexities.^[4]

Their third album, Global Zoo (Baghe Vahshe Jahani), was released on November 14, 2008. They were awarded the Best Blues Band of 2008 by the world Academy of Arts, Literature, and Media.^[5]

Their fourth album, Triple Distilled: Live At Yoshi's was released in October 2010.

The fifth album, Outcome Of Negotiations (Natijeh e Mozakerat) was released in Fall 2011

The sixth album, Parallel Establishments (Tashkilate Movazi) was released in February 2013

Discography

Albums

• 2005: Ordinary Man (Adame Ma'muli)
• 2007: Amor de la Velocidad (Eshghe Sorat)
• 2008: Global Zoo|Global Zoo (Baghe Vahshe Jahani)
• 2010: Triple Distilled-Live At Yoshi's (Se Taghtireh)
• 2011: Outcome of Negotiations (Natijeh e Mozakerat)
• 2013: Parallel Establishments (Tashkilate Movazi)

Singles

• 2008: "Ay Yarom Bia" featuring Mohsen Namjoo
• 2009: "Morgh e Sahar" featuring Mohsen Namjoo
• 2009: "Dasht e Sabz"
• 2009: "Nameh Be Sardar"

References

External links

• Official website
• Setting Things Right, Tehranbureau, PBS.