Parjam Parsi had an early introduction to music, learning the piano throughout his youth. It was through this that Parsi began to immerse himself in the styles of classical composers from previous generations as well as the music of contemporary composers. He then forged his musical path through composition. Currently, Parsi works as an audio engineer, producer, and composer. "Empty Spaces" is Parjam Parsi's 4th studio album, released on August 11, 2016 by Winter Music Entertainment. The album contains a beautiful and honest collection of compositions, straight from the heart, about a man who is grieving for a woman he loves. The story is based on a short story written by Parsi in 2016, about a man arriving in an unknown city called "Fear Land," where citizens have lived for thousands of years under an ancient spell.
By Kamil Bobin
Discovered via Musosoup
Hello Parjam Parsi. What strengths do you have that you believe make you a great musician?
I don't know how to answer that properly. I have found solid listeners in some places all over the world over the past 17 years. It's a few, but they're all gold. Because I choose to write/record for people like me. Regardless of the job you hold, discipline makes you stand out. Without that you have nothing. I trained as a classical pianist for years and it continues through my college years. The most important lesson I learned was discipline and dedication in hard work. It has become a curse because I am never satisfied with the sound I record every time. For my first record I lost 10kg. The process was like recording, listening, and re-recording again. Make another sound, use different effects or even make a completely entirely original piece or a new version of it.
Who inspired you to make music?
Robert Fripp forever. I consider Rick Rubin to be one of my all-time heroes. But through the years they were so many people you know. Let’s not forget about about Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John McLaughlin, Jonny greenwood and Philip Glass, Ludovico Einaudi, Dmitri Shostakovich, Krzysztof Penderecki
Your latest release is 'Empty Spaces'. Can you share with us the background of its creation and did any unusual things happen during its creation?
It was about what defines happiness and whether everyone deserves it or not. A short drama I wrote about a man who searches for the meaning of "perfect life". I was heavily influenced by Samuel Beckett and I wanted to write something related to Waiting for Godot. The absurd desire in the journey to the darkness.
He arrived in a city known as "Fear Land". The inhabitants of this city lived for thousands of years under an ancient spell.
The stranger falls in love with one of the most beautiful women in the city, and they become parents to two incredibly precious twins. But the curse suddenly enters their lives. Makes everything upside down.
On that day he woke up in the middle of the black forest near the city. As he takes steps he remembers pieces of what happened to him, he will be able to figure out what happened to him. He has lost all his memories, with no idea what happened to him. When he arrives home, he looks at 3 graves dug near his house.
In the midst of wondering where his family was and what happened to them, he hears his twins and wife singing a mystic song.
When she kisses him passionately, she asks him to join them for dinner. In the middle of dinner, the church bell sounds in the distance and the man falls to the ground.
Certainly, the entire story is longer and more detailed. It becomes more grotesque every night we take it to the stage. Every time we add more details, there is a little surprise at the end. But one day we were on break and Meredith asked for a meeting to tell us we should stop it and we did. Because she thought we had become repetitive and sooner or later we are going to be bored and when we get bored we ruin everything almost
Can you shortly describe each of the tracks that are on the album?
Look, the original music was more sound design than music to amplify the actors and scene.
Beside that we always have an ongoing argument about does mediums can fully translate or reflect each other, so Meredith asked me if I could translate the original sounds to the melodies. I did my part, but none of our studio members got satisfied easily.
Actually, I think this ongoing conversation about art and culture and even society keep Studio Winter alive. We always wanted a place for people like us. A place where anyone can create anything art related. Gets the support from members and get constructive feedback to change for the better.
How do you stay up-to-date with the latest musical trends?
I consider myself a music nerd before anything else. As well as producing any type of music, I am fascinated by hip hop culture. I remember when my father brought home Jazz Vinyl everything about them was magical. I am obsessed with synthesizer history, electronic and heavy music (extreme metal, early 2000 metalcore...)
So, i listen if i like i use these elements in my music or in my productions. I listen, listen a lot
What do you feel is the best song that you have ever released and why?
In university parallel to all our programs we gathered some incredible people (called the darkclove ensemble) and together, we were crazy about romantic composers like Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky so we went a bit far and arranged them differently like adding some electronic elements, using extra synth work stuff like that, using electric guitar, heavy detuned/distorted effects, the beauty of the music was no matter how hard you try to change them this is something wonderful about them. I do Philip Glass we did not record them we never publish them, they are still on my hard drive somewhere. To answer your question, I can listen to myself more than once or twice, but I never feel satisfied with my own sound.
Why do you want to record and release your own music?
It is actually possible to accept "no" as an answer, you know, after thousands of rejections you are willing to accept no as a response. As a human, I have some great morals :) one of them is I cannot work with anyone, everything has to be done by me. We founded the record because no one wants to work with us and it works better this way to find our listeners through these years.
Please discuss how you interact with and respond to fans.
When I'm free. I am open to any type of conversation because it forces me to read and learn, which makes my brain work better. One of the things I like about playing in small venues is that you can spend time with the audience after the show or during the performance!
In social, I talk to audiophiles about music production. We talk about the latest releases by other artists and what we can add to improve them or simply hate them for no reason.
What advice would you have for someone wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Nothing really.
What are your plans for the future?
We are preparing for some new releases for the musical acts we support. I'm doing my finest to help all musician/artists ask for anything and I have some live/private shows to perform this year.