RSS
Home
All Is Calm on the road, Persian melodies wih Flamenco beats
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Hamed Nikpay at his home in Palo Alto, CA
I met with Hamed Nikpay at his place of residence in Palo Alto, and was treated to a cup of hot aromatic tea amidst Iranian handicrafts and world-renowned Persian hospitality and carpets. “At the forefront of experimental music,” his official website suggests, “Hamed Nikpay’s passion for his innovative genre is embedded in his solid knowledge of fundamentals of Persian music, his ability to perform numerous Persian instruments masterfully, and his incisive interpretation and selection of Persian poetry for his songs. These artistic proclivities have enabled him to create musical paragons, which are gripping and much admired by enthusiasts of Persian and world music alike.”
One of the very first artists to show his solidarity with the people of Iran and to express his support of the recent civil rights uprising in that country, Hamed composed and performed The Owner of This Land which immediately became an anthem of sort for what later on became to be known as the Green Movement. “I saw the poem on one of the placards people carried during the silent marches, back in June [of 2009,]” he says filled with a sense of delight and satisfaction radiant in his intelligent eyes. “So I composed a piece for it, and since my friends and I acted very quickly, it became popular at once. It has been viewed 96000 on YouTube and broadcasted on BBC Persian and such.”
Hamed who left Iran in 2005 is not able to return to his homeland especially now that his revolutionary song The Owner of This Land has achieved international recognition. “They [the Islamic government of Iran] don’t allow you to work freely,” he sighs a deep sigh. “You have to get permission for whatever you do back in Iran. Such situation is extremely hard for an artist to work. I have started my life here; I am allowed to express myself in any way I want to, and don’t need to get permission or answer to anyone.”
Considering that, what you offer through your music sounds like a blend of Persian classical and Spanish Flamenco. Is it safe to say that you have created a new genre in Persian music—a genre based on what I am sure has roots in your own personality and your vast knowledge of music?
That’s correct. My current album is a mixture of Persian with Flamenco while I experimented with Jazz in my previous album. I don’t want to call it a genre because genre is a big of a word for what I do, and is more inclusive. What I do is based on ethos in music, which was the subject of my thesis as well.
Why ethos?
Well, my advising professor back in Iran mentioned that according to the philosophy of music what I do is based on ethos. I asked what it meant, he said: the fundamental characters or spirits of a culture presented in music; i.e. elements of music affecting the listener. In another word, what it takes for the audience to stay with the artist during the performance. What are the components that the musician should keep in mind?
I have noticed that your work is a bit on the wild side, a bit untamed if you will, which by itself can be really attractive, especially that you don’t just sing or play your instrument; you actually perform on the stage.
Exactly. I want it to be effective. Otherwise, what is the point? You know, the effectiveness is not just in the performance; you have to go deep into your feelings. That’s where the passion comes in and says the last word—you know, an artist’s passion, his pure emotions. When you become technical and conscious of what you do, you start controlling your passion, and ultimately you will destroy your passion. Persian classical music of course involves passion but it also controls the artist. This is what I have done; i.e. I have taken that control and run wild with it. I have entrusted it to my feelings. I put emphasis on my emotion and very much pay attention to it. I work on it. I think about it. I criticize myself constantly. I ask myself how I can make it better, channel my passion so that I can work without outside objects, and be able to transfer that feeling to people I’ve never seen before in my life.
And for most cases you don’t know what kind of a reaction you will get.
Undeniably; but I’ve always received positive reaction from my audience. I am yet to receive a negative comment. Even if my style doesn’t speak to them, they like the effect my music has on them.
Is it plausible to say that your performance differ from time to time?
It does differ, yes. It always changes. There are certain elements that come from my character and stay the same, but I can confidently claim that none of my performances are the same. I perform what I feel at the very moment I am performing. I mean, I alter my performance as much as I’m allowed to do so as a musician.
So your present feeling plays a significant role in the outcome of your show.
Yes. There are degrees to my feelings at certain points. I can confidently claim that I have learned a lot by listening to the gypsies, to Pakistan’s Qawwali music, to the music of Algiers, and by listening to our own folk music. I have started by studying our own, and then I moved to others. I had the honor of meeting and performing with Centeral Asia’s queen of Sufi music, Abida Parveen. At the time I was only twenty three. That experience had a profound effect on me. Then I was introduced to the Flamenco cantaor El Cameron. See, I’ve never studied Flamenco or Qawwali; what attracts me to these kinds of music is the feeling. In my latest album, I tried to stick to Persian and tried to paint the ambiance with Flamenco; and I consciously avoided singing as in Nuevo Flamenco. When you listen to the music of Khorasan, or to Zahedan’s, or the music of the northern parts of Iran, you feel the freedom and the artists' emotions in the compositions.
That’s where their beauty lies.
They are not into technicality. See, I started with our classical music. I was exposed to it when my mom started taking voice classes. Although I am a fusionist, I respect our classical music a lot. During my academic years, all my professors supported me but the management was against my work. They questioned what I did and believed I was trying to change Persian music. […] I have religiously studied our folk music, and I can confidently claim that I have never mixed and matched music of different parts of the world for amusement. I have listened to them and studied them a lot. Then one day I realized that all have found a common ground inside me. The meaning of my style is not that I have combined Qawwali with Flamenco or else but that they have found their place in my music without my conscious interference. All I do is to pay attention to their installment so that the result doesn’t become too overwhelming for the audience, and doesn’t seem fake. So by doing all this, I put my stamp on it.
Shall we talk a bit about your voice? I noticed that sometimes you make it sound a bit scratchy, for the lack of a better word, and you do it on purpose, obviously, since at times it becomes more obvious.
That’s a character I have created for my music and is a part of my technique which gives a certain color to my work. You can say it’s my signature.
Ok. What kind of a reaction do you get from the traditionalists in regard to this voice?
Those who listen to my music have had positive reactions. Some who mistake my music for Persian classical ask me why I warble thrice instead of five times; so they assume that I don’t know what I’m doing, and usually advise me to work on my voice.
You have many Iranians within your audience who are prejudice about Persian classical and are concerned about how you deliver your music. Those who love Persian classical would love to see it stay the way it is. I guess I am curious to know how much you consider that section of your audience. How much of an effect do they have on your work?
A major part of my listeners consists of traditionalists. When you listen to my music, you see that Persian melody is of more importance and Western harmony and orchestration act as supports for Persian melodies. You also see that I put emphasis on the traditional format of Persian music. The important thing for me is to represent Persian classical music in such way that it doesn’t lose its reverence. At the same time, I am very fond of descriptive singing. About twenty years ago, some artists composed music on modern Persian poetry—for example on such free-flowing poems by Sohrab Sepehri, Moshiri, & Akhavan Saless—which immediately became classics. Those renditions are very important to me. See, you cannot sing modern poetry the way you compose your music based on Hafiz’s ghazals. I strongly believe that modern Persian poetry should be performed in a descriptive manner; i.e. to create an image in the listener’s mind. One cannot sing a modern poem in traditional frameworks. These are what I’ve been experimenting, and keep in mind that I’m not saying others are doing it wrong. […] I’ve been focusing mainly on the art of improvisation in folk music, and have been inspired a lot by it. For instance, I love Bakhtiari nomad music. I use the same unconventional feelings that I get from the nomads in my classical performances. So this is where I started.
***
Master of many, Hamed’s main instruments are the long-necked Persian string instruments tar and setar, both direct descendant of yet another string instrument he plays, the much larger and louder tanbur. He also plays the Persian plucked-string-fretted-neck instrument called oud which is very similar to the European lute. “I have never believed in jumping from one family of instruments to another,” he claims, “like experimenting with violin or [the Persian hammered dulcimer] santur. As you know, musicians have the talent to try and play so many different instruments; but I never wanted to do so.” Hamed who uses setar as his signature instrument in Deceit, Moments, The Fire Within, and In Ecstasy of his recent album All Is Calm uses tanbur as the main instrument in Cordoba to Kurdistan in which he fuses Kurdistan’s folk music with Flamenco. “I play daf,” when asked if he plays any drumming instrument, “and believe that any musician needs to be able to play at least one rhythmic instrument to create the groove. However, I never introduce myself as a daf player.”
Hamed Nikpay is a talented young man, an artist to the core and a human being who dedicates his time and energy to raising awareness on human rights violations in Iran.
After a smashing concert in Montreal on August 15, 2009, Hamed is scheduled to perform before an enthusiastic audience at Palace of Fine Arts on Sunday, August 23. With doors open at 7pm the program starts at 8pm, and promises to feature acclaimed and celebrated artists such as Greg Ellis on percussion, Daniel Fries on Flamenco guitar, multi instrumentalist Dimitris Mahlis on lute, and Farzin Farhadi on saxophone.
Poster of Nikpay's upcoming concert in San Francisco
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
