Up-and-coming bands have all sorts of hardships to endure on the road to stardom, but few could even imagine surviving as long in the face of adversity as Iran's Ahoora. Guitarist and songwriter Milad Tangshir recently took the time to tell ROTW about his band's new album, their plans for the future and a few hard facts about life in an Iranian rock band.

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Being able to listen to and perform virtually any music you like is something taken for granted in the west, but the situation is obviously a little different in Iran. Can you describe what it was like growing up with an interest in rock and metal music, how you got into the music in the first place and how you went about forming a band?

More than a little! It was within high school days that we all started to get obsessed with music, and started to listen to many 70's progressive rock bands, and later metal ones. Now I can't seem to remember, but ever since, playing and making our own music have been all the things that matter to us. We just can’t do anything else.

Is there any significance in the name Ahoora? Or that in your logo it is only spelled with one “O” (like Ahora)?

Yes, it is actually “Ahoora”. That’s just our logo and the line above the “O” stands for the double. It is written and pronounced with double “O”s.

Although the number of metal and rock bands in Iran is very low, I understand there is a bigger number of people who are fans of the music. Which styles of metal and rock are the most popular in the underground? I’ve noticed a lot of the Iranian bands listed on metal-archives.com play black metal.

Yes, we’ve had various rock and metal genres in our country, however not really improved ones though. Black metal was also popular within our bands, but anyway the number of bands has reduced in the recent years. As for fans, I have to say that we have large number of people that listen to good music in different genres. Indie rock, progressive rock/metal and thrash metal are among their favorites.

Does being in a band like Ahoora have any effect on your day-to-day life?

It certainly does. In all aspects of my daily life; within every passing hour, it has a strong presence and influence on everything.

How important has the rise of the internet in the last ten or so years been to fans of your type of music in Iran?

It is vital. We have no access to new music unless internet. Musically it keeps us alive. It’s that simple, I can personally say that there’d be no Ahoora without internet!

Are there any other Iranian bands that you think would receive more recognition for their efforts outside your own country?

If there’d be fair chances for everybody; I’d say yes. But currently it’s very hard to be heard and get noticed. Another factor that reduces their chance is Persian vocals that minimize their chances outside of Iran. But quality-wise; I’d say yes; there are. I think Ahoora falls into that category; because it always has been easier for us to reach foreign audience rather than Iranian.

The biography on your website states that your albums have all been released illegally in Iran - are you not concerned about advertising this fact for anyone to see online? Would there be any consequences if you were “caught” distributing CDs?

To be honest I haven’t thought about that this way. Certainly there could be issues if that fact and many more ones are exposed to same important bad people! The case of distributing our CDs could be more serious and dangerous; currently I’m worried about few posters of our new album which is hanging in few café shops and bookstores; it’s all about the chance factor, and meanwhile taking chances!

It seems like of all the positions in the band, you have had the hardest time finding and keeping a drummer. Is there more of a shortage of good drummers in your region compared to, say, guitarists or bass players?

Yes. That’s a fact. In comparison to other instruments; it’s harder to find an awesome drummer in Iran. But our main reason for being like that; is that we cannot play any gigs; and the second reason is technically we cannot record drums properly in Iran studios; at least that’s my opinion. So personally I don’t see a point in keeping an additional person that has nothing to do! Our original drummer left Iran in 2006 and since we’ve had a great replacement, but after our cancelled concert in late 2006, we’ve decided to keep it without a drummer.

Are you seeking a new drummer and lead guitarist (or any other sort of musicians) or are you happy keeping the band as a three-piece for now?

Of course we’ll be adding a drummer if we’re invited to play gigs outside of Iran. But I guess there won’t be another guitar player. Since our lead guitarist left Iran in late 2007, we’ve played, composed and recorded as a trio. And I must say it feels great! We don’t feel any shallow corners in our result or feeling as a band. Actually it’s never been tighter. Also genre-wise we don’t need two guitars anymore. But an important change is that our vocalist will be playing keyboards from now on. So we’ll be able to produce more sounds from our record in our performance.

Without any studios that deal with recording your style of music, you’ve had to record all your albums by yourself - how difficult was it to get hold of all the equipment you needed to record your songs?

Very difficult, and lots of times disappointing. Lots of them had been borrowed, and many of the vital ones were absent because they had never been affordable for us. It’s the reason that we have had different qualities in our three albums. We had to learn and make mistakes to learn things. And so sometimes our songs have been sacrificed in the way.

Your new album it is very different to your older work, much less like Iced Earth and more reminiscent of prog/electro bands like Muse – is this the direction you plan to take the band in future, or is it more of an experimental side-step?

Yes, it is very different from our previous works. All our supporters have been surprised. But there was never a self-conscious obvious change in our direction. It was not something we decided to do and did it. It is just what has happened, and resulted in this album. I must say yes, we’re going to stick to our new direction and sound, because it is what we want to hear at this period of our lives. But only after recording our next album we’ll be able to say how we’ve remained faithful to our current sound.

What influenced you to change your style of music so much between the second album and now?

Lots of things musically and also in my personal life have influenced the new album. Musically we were exposed to various refreshing music. I guess the most important thing that made the difference was my vision towards songwriting. I tried to stick to one of the simplest but yet important tips from Jon Schaffer [Iced Earth]. This was focusing and writing only about what goes on with my daily life, all the things happening within just a few meters, daily experiences; fears, hopes, dreams and disappointments.

The cover artwork to Awkward Diary is quite striking, and I hope you don’t mind me saying, a big improvement over your first two albums. Did you go out of your way to use a different artist this time? And does the artwork relate to the content of the album in any way?

Yes it is certainly better than the previous ones, and it should be because it’s our latest work! Yes we’ve worked with a new artist. Richard Baxter from Australia has done the front cover. And I think it’s really great, very simple but very catchy. I think it is completely related to the album title and the overall feelings and concept of the record. It is involved with many moods represented in Awkward Diary. Otherwise it wouldn’t be the front cover of it!

How important is the lyrical side of your songwriting? Do you consider your lyrics to be as important as, or even more important, than the music itself?

It is very important. We’re very cynical and hard to please about our lyrics quality as well as music. It is vital to us, because it is a part of our music.

Zirzamin are distributing your new album – what are your expectations of this partnership compared to distributors you have used in the past?

Good question. Unfortunately our second album All in Blood with You didn’t get this chance to be available worldwide for buying. But Real2Can from London launched our debut album and made it available worldwide. But it was never a good working relationship. They were more into our story rather than our music. Most of all they were not too responding. Now it’s been two years that our debut album is available worldwide within many online stores, but we’ve had no selling reports, or any close and updating working relationship. But with Zirzamin although it is a little label with less experience, but things go smoothly and we have full control of how things are run and how we’re presented. We can reach them lots of times in a day; which was impossible with the previous one.

You have said that emigration is the long-term target for the band – is the plan to move to Canada and meet up again with your former bandmates who have already moved there, or do you have other places in mind?

Emigration is our next goal. We need to get out of Iran as soon as possible. That’d be great to meet up again in Canada. But there’s no plan for that, because we’re in no position to make choices about emigration. We have to wait for a miracle, and grab our chance wherever it may be.

Have there been any specific moments in the history of Ahoora that stand out as important, or any that are particularly special to you?

I think our achievement through our three albums; and each time more than the previous one, has been above the greatest moments. Our gigs, the one played and the two ruined ones are also very important. Another important moment for the band was contacting with Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth and his words and comments on our music and life which has been vital for keeping this thing alive. Also I think our recent album which resulted in change of style and everything, is a special delicate moment for this band.

Finally, if you have any sort of parting message for our readers, now is the time to make it:

I want to thank them all for taking their time and reading this story, and hopefully spreading it. Thank you for giving Ahoora this chance.

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Awkward Diary was released on March 2nd and is now available to purchase worldwide.

Ahoora

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