Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Ahoora (28.06.2008)
HH: Hi Guys. First of all congratulations to you for All In Blood With You. Before we start, would you please introduce yourself and your music to our readers?
Ashkan: Hello and thanks a lot! Well, we're Ahoora, which resides in Tehran. The four of us include a bassist (Mohammad Baei), two guitar players (Alireza Saeedian and Milad Tangshir) and I do the vocals. About our music I shall say we're set to be a Prog/Power and sometimes a Thrash metal band but we actually try to play whatever that touches our feelings.
HH: When did you start playing metal music and what - if there has been any - has been the driving force behind that decision?
Ashkan: Ahoora was born almost 7 years ago in 2001 and after a year and a half or so I joined the band. About Ahoora I think, like so many other bands, simply being a musician and to find a way to express the inner feelings, making something like the songs produced by the artists we've always loved and somehow feelings of belonging to a field out of all the human's disasters called art could be a driving force, but for me honestly this driving force was a telephone call and a sudden decision!
HH: What was the reaction of your families and friends?
Ashkan: Families reactions... they were supportive and helpful in the ways that they could do a thing, but I think the problem was that they didn't know what they were supporting, means that they didn't know exactly what was this all shouting and screaming thing that their children had fallen into: a dark road full of hate and violence that leads to nowhere, or something that could make them be proud someday.
HH: You call your style progressive thrash metal. Which kind of music inspires you?
Ashkan: To put it simply I'll say good music inspires us, but our favourite is Rock and Metal. From the most romantic melodies of classical rock to the most aggressive and wrathful spaces of death metal.
HH: Your music is a mix of power, thrash and progressive metal/rock with not too many influences of traditional Iranian music, while many other bands mix a lot of their traditional sound into their songs. Is there a reason for you not using such tunes?
Ashkan: I think each genre has its own styles of composing and if our music sounds to be thrash or power metal, it's because of that we've used these genres' related elements. We're Iranians but we've chosen to play a music that's originally western and we don't find it necessary to use Iranian music instruments or mix our music with traditional eastern modes.
HH: Talking about All In Blood With You. What did you expect when recording the songs and what do you think about the feedback and reviews?
Ashkan: Undoubtedly, any musician imagines him/herself performing the same songs live while recording an album, but from the first session of recording we knew that it's impossible to go on stage here and we expected not much more than what we've got now. Anyway the feedbacks and reviews have been great and unbelievable. There have been more than twenty reviews on All In Blood With You. Among them are reviews by American and European magazines and webzines which totally agree that Ahoora has its own sound and has got the potential of being a great band in the future. I think it's a really great achievement for us.
HH: What are your plans for your next record?
Ashkan: We'll continue working till the developed ideas become ready to record for the next album. I don't think there would be a huge difference but more experienced than before we'll try our best to make a killer album.
HH: What is the thing you wish most for?
Ashkan: Going on stage with Ahoora.
HH: Any last words...
Ashkan: At last I want to thank you so much for the interview and for supporting us. Good luck!
JR