You can listen to the audible interview here. [in persian]

The interviewer at BBC Persian, 7th Night radio program is Behzad Bolour.

Salim: Hi Behzad, and all people who are listening us, I’m Salim from Arashk Band, I play electric guitar, keyboards and also do the mastering and mixing of songs.

Pooyan: Hi, I’m Pooyan, I play electric guitar and I’m the singer of the band.

BBC Persian: Guys who have visited our website (shabe7.com) must now be familiar with your faces as your photos are now available on our website. So, when did you establish the Arashk band?

Salim: Arashk has been established in year 2001; At first Pooyan and Shahram established the band and I joined the band with some delay.

BBC Persian: Ok, so I ask Pooyan, what does Arashk mean?

Pooyan: As you know, Arashk was a great king of Parthia Empire, and also it is a Persian name.

BBC Persian: How many albums are recorded?

Pooyan: We have made 3 albums but 2 of them are finished. The Abrahadabra album and the Sovereign album are instrumental, but Yell (Faryad) album is a hard/progressive rock album which uses Persian classic poems, its style somehow differs from two other albums. Salim: As we have played together for a long time, our style has changed and the result is 3 albums with different kinds of music. The Hourmazda song [which you are currently playing] is from Yell album.

BBC Persian: We are talking to Arashk band, Pooyan and Salim, you say you play progressive rock, what do you mean of that?

Salim: I think that’s a kind of music that is more focused on solos and varying rhythms; it somehow pays more attention on the melodies.

BBC Persian: Have you had any concerts in Iran?

Salim: Up to now we have had 3 concerts in Iran; all of them were at universities, because they don’t have the problem of acquiring permission. Recently we were getting ready for another concert in Tehran, but the government canceled all of the them and they have somehow banned running concerts.

BBC Persian: So they should build a place and name it Bangers' House!!

Salim: [laughs] I absolutely agree!

BBC Persian: So Arashk band, you just get together and play? Having no concerts and no CD’s out in stores?

Salim: You know in Iran we have so many problems with publishing an album, so we decided to sell our music via our website, nowadays independent rock (indie rock) is becoming more popular among listeners.

BBC Persian: Pooyan, do you sell your new album, Yell, on your website?

Pooyan: Not yet, it will be published soon. But now the Abrahadabra is ready for purchase.

BBC Persian: Then how do you feel these days about playing music in your band? Don’t you feel hopeless?

Pooyan: Well, I don’t know, I play music because if I don’t, I can’t live, I have to play music.

BBC Persian: Where do you play? I mean do you have a place for your band?

Pooyan: Yeah, we have a place for playing, it is a small room in Shahram’s house, we get together there.

BBC Persian: And where have you recorded your music? In studi?

Pooyan: Well, better to say in our home studio, we record in our private studio and record the songs ourselves.

BBC Persian: As you must know, today, hip-hop music is more popular in Iran, and people listen to Iranian rap and hip-hop more than Iranian rock players, and also rap and hip-hop singers are composing more songs than rock bands. What do you think about that? Don’t you think one reason is that making a rap song is very easy? You’ll just need a microphone and sampled music.

Pooyan: I think, as you said it can be an important reason. And you know, in all over the world rap and hip-hop has become more popular among people, TV channels play more rap and hip-hop than rock music. In Iran, people are doing the same as other countries. People don’t pay much attention to rock music

BBC Persian: What do you think about the fact that most of the rap songs are over 18, because of the kind of language that they use?

Pooyan: Well, I know so many people [in Iran] who just listen to this kind of music because of the kind of the language being used; because they haven't heard bad words in an [Iranian] song before, so they say “Oh, how amazing, that’s cool” and they listen to that, people don’t listen to the music any more, they just listen to the words. We don’t appreciate that.

BBC Persian: But at the beginning, rock music did this too, I mean rock bands started to talk about ordinary things. But it was a movement itself; as it was against having a complicated worldview and so on and by this method they became popular among the people.

Pooyan: That could be true, but I don’t think like that!

BBC Persian: Thank you Arashk band, Pooyan and Salim, keep on playing rock music. Have a good time, bye.

Link to BBC "7th Night" radio program website