I had the pleasure of sitting down with Shahryar in early May to talk about
what has been going on with him since we last spoke almost a year ago. For
our readers who remember our first article back in August, Shahryar had just come out with his debut album appropriately titled Sweet Beginning, with hit songs including “Niaz” and “Bitab”. But that wasn’t the last we would hear from Shahryar – he has done it once again. His new album, Parseh, was officially released in March with cutting edge arrangements by Roma Kanyan and deep and intense lyrics by artists such as Jaklin and Shahyar Ghanbari. And this time, his record label (Chehreh Nama) not only produced his album but also distributed it – something that makes a huge difference in how widely the album gets distributed. After its release, feedback from his fans was amazing – the
CD has been selling at an unbelievable rate, first in Europe and now here in
the states.
“Do you know the meaning of ‘Parseh’?” Asked Shahryar as we began the interview. I actually did not know the meaning of the word when I first picked
up his CD so I had to ask! Parseh means to wander or drift. It is the name of the title track which starts off with a piano solo and continues to be a beautiful love ballad. Shahryar’s main focus this time around was to start a new concept –
poetic and intense lyrics combined with catchy beats.
“I wanted to introduce the young generation to these beautiful lyrics using good beats and rhythm,” explained Shahryar. “To turn the deep lyrics of a poet like Shahyar Ghanbari and put a 6/8 beat on it is not very common to do!”
Shahryar has also used the talent of two young poets in Iran, Mehdi Moradi and Omid Hashemi, who wrote the lyrics for the songs “Setayesh”, which is one of the hit songs of this album, and “Javuneh”, respectively. He also has a track named “Baghe Khial”, which has a vocal/euro-trance feel to it, written by a southern California poet named Bijan Saeedi. So from world famous to up and coming poets, Shahryar has created an album that will truly get you hooked.
How did this album come about? After a strenuous experience making his first album, Shahryar wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through making another album, but through the energy he got from his fans and from emails and praise from all over the world, he was inspired to make another album. After much thought and planning with arranger Roma Kanyan, in a record breaking 12 months, he
completed Parseh. If you recall from our first interview, Shahryar has his degree in Architectural Design so he explained that this CD in some ways was sketched and created like a work of art and of course lets not forget that Shahryar’s talents go beyond just singing. Having played the piano since the age of 11, he is a true musician who composes a lot of his tracks himself.
Since the release of Parseh, Shahryar has performed at a number of locations
in southern California attracting large crowds of his loyal fans everywhere he goes. In fact, turn to our “Where Was OCPC” page to see pictures from his album release party in Hollywood! Currently he is touring Europe and Canada and hopefully soon we will have the pleasure of seeing him in concert here in Orange County.