Eventbox Interview with Deep House Tehran

It’s not often you hear about an electronic music event in Iran, but that might change in the future.  Artists, music producers and gallery owners are starting to collaborate to bring the music enthusiasts in Iran a wide range of electronic music, including deep house, to Iran.

We caught up with Nesa Azadikhah, an artist and music producer, who is among the Iranians pioneering the introduction of electronic music events.  She is the co-founder of Deep House Tehran, which recently hosted a public event at Mohsen Gallery.

How did Deep House Tehran start? What was the purpose of this initiative?

Deep House Tehran was an impromptu and unplanned initiative. The co-founder Farbod Darvish created an Instagram account called Deep House Tehran. It was inspired by Deep House instagram accounts created for other cities in Berlin, London, and etc. It started as a social media account and now our mission and purpose is to promote electronic music and their artists to Iranians and rest of the world.

What are the current activities of Deep House Tehran now?

We curate a weekly podcast called Tehran Nights. We have completed 60 episodes so far.  Each week, we invite a music artist and producer, mainly of Iranian decent, to share their music with our listeners. We can have up to 50,000 people listening to our podcast.

What is your vision for it in a few years from now? What are your future activities?

Right now we are working on our website. We will be able to share our podcasts and offer Deep House Tehran merchandising.  We may also look at expanding to other cities, such as Shiraz. We have had a lot of enquiries and interests for other cities in Iran.

In the long-run, we would like be a record label producer for electronic music in Iran. I definitely see Tehran hosting open outdoor events, for example on Bam-e-Tehran, for electronic music.

What prompted you to organize your first event recently?

We have had a great line up of podcasts shared online. We were looking for a chance to bring this music to the broader public. So we partnered up with Mohsen Gallery to stage our first public event at their gallery.

What were your main challenges in organizing the event?

There are limitations due to financial resources.  There were last minute and unexpected challenges.  We realized we couldn’t fit our equipment in the gallery because of an existing installation that was taking up space. So last-minute, we had to find a new place inside the gallery. We decided to relocate the event and all our equipment up to the balcony of the gallery, in an outdoor space. Luckily, it worked in our favor and created a great audio and visual experience.

When is your next event? Is it open to the public?

Our next event is in almost two months from now. For now, our events are open to the public.

What direction do you see electronic music taking in Iran? Do you see it integrating traditional or classical Persian beats and instruments?

Music genres have their own evolution and stages. As they grow, their audience grows too. Over time, their listeners also evolve. That will happen in Iran too. Electronic music will evolve and it will take a form that appeal to the Iranian listeners, e.g. it may have more ambient or melodic beats.

Definitely we can see combination of electronic music and traditional Persian instruments and beats.

How can people get involved in your events? How can they support your initiative?

People can get involved in different ways. As music artists and producers of electronic music, they can send us their demo music, if they would like to air on Tehran Nights podcast. 

We are looking for people with capabilities in translation, graphic design, and website development. They can connect with us via our Instagram account, if they want to volunteer.

In general we are very selective about who joins our team and the quality of their work.

For more information Deep House Tehran events and podcasts please check out:
Website www.deephousetehran.net
Instagram www.instagram.com/deephousetehran
Telegram telegram.me/deephousetehran
Soundcloud  www.soundcloud.com/deephouse-tehran