At the core of Dena Zarrin’s personality, and the music she writes as Madanii, is a sense of identity. Zarrin’s life as the daughter of Iranian immigrants in Germany informs a lot of her musical output, existing in that space between western and eastern cultural and aesthetic values, straddling the two worlds. Music had always been a part of her, but she’d gotten involved with the industry, the business side of things. “I somehow lost my way in all that. I just felt physically and mentally ill—I realised I have to do music. Even if there’s a high risk and I die poor in a ditch, I have to do it. I started the project [Madanii] around three years ago, when Trump was president of the US, a lot was going on,” she says over a Skype call. “I just felt there weren’t many second generation migrant children in music here; there weren’t many people speaking up. I felt the need to be a voice somehow and bring my cultural heritage to the forefront.”

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Image credit: Aram Tahmasebi

There used to be these stores that Siavash Amini would visit back in the late 90s or so. This was around the time that the shift from tapes and CDs to MP3s was beginning. Amini had already been introduced to rock music through the pirate tape culture in Iran — growing up in the port city of Bandar Abbas, he recalls travelling to Tehran to exchange pirated tapes and bootlegs.“Trading, recording, exchanging collections,” he says. “And you always find out the strangest stuff in there; all these strange bands that are not metal, but somehow found their way into the collection.” …

“I was born after the Islamic revolution and the Iran-Iraq war. I am the byproduct of that history. It is difficult to imagine what life could have been if neither of those events had happened. Maybe I’d be a different person. Maybe I wouldn’t exist today. …

Image credit: Siavash Naghshbandi

For his latest project, Saba Alizadeh will focus on silence. The pauses between speeches by past dictators. The little gaps they give in between emphatic phrases spoken to rouse their audiences. Silence, in fact, plays a big role in his music. …

Image credit: Dan Bodan

“I was supposed to stay longer, but I was told by the German Embassy before I went to extend my visa that I shouldn’t bother because they’d spoken to “someone who would know” and they almost definitely weren’t going to extend my stay.” …

Image credit: Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey

Applications for Border Movement Residency (BMR) Berlin 2018 – a unique 2 month tailor made program for musicians from South Asia are now open.

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Image credit: Jenny Schäfer

‘Thinking About Tomorrow, And How To Build It’ is the story of the outsider. Forming the heart of this new release, by Andreas Spechtl, is Tehran. Spechtl places the city at the centre of the 10-song record, exploring questions of fear and uncertainty, of a new tomorrow. “In all places, at all times,” he sings, “the future will collide.” …

Image courtesy: Consolidate

Independent record labels and DIY culture have made it possible for many artists across the globe to get their music to a wide section of listeners. While it may not necessarily be a profit making venture at first, there is something hugely rewarding and futuristic about the ability to nurture fresh talent without jeopordising creative freedom; a huge contrast to the former model where big record labels called the shots. There are a number of small and active record labels all over South Asia who are supporting artists and consistently releasing good music. We compiled a list of labels based in South Asia that reflect the beauty of a DIY approach.

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Image credit: Daniel Arthur Panjwaneey

A two way exchange, the Border Movement Residency (BMR) program creates unique opportunities for South Asian producers to engage with the music community in Berlin (BMR Berlin); while also offering Berlin based artists a platform to interact with musicians in South Asia (BMR South Asia).

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“The taxi driver charges 50.000 to the gates of freedom. It turns out to be a four-exit roundabout.” These words, sprinkled as they are with a restless, persuasive sense of irony, made their way into a piece musician and composer Andreas Spechtl wrote in Tehran, Iran. While there he noticed something odd, which no one around seemed to pay much attention to. Taxi drivers, offering to drive people to the renowned Azadi Square, would simply shout out “Azadi!” at crowds. The word, of course, means “freedom” in Farsi. “Freedom! Freedom!” they were proclaiming. …