Haale

[donsaeid]

Born in New York City, Haale weaves Persian melodies and Sufi-inspired lyrics through a soundscape of tribal beats, sci-fi sonic guitars, and a twanging setar. Drawing on her Persian and urban American roots, she brings audiences into the ecstatic and electric space where the two worlds meet. GLOBAL RHYTHM has already acknowledged her impact, naming her "One of 15 artists sure to make big waves in the future...This genre-bending seamstress will make you see stars while ascending to her own."

In the unique space that vocal talents such as the Cocteau Twins, Sigur Ros, and Manu Chao explore, Haale's vocal powers lie in a world without political and ethnic borders as she mixes languages while creating her own unique expression. Her music is epic: in a world between Zeppelin and Haydeeh, Radiohead, T-Rex, and Omme Kalsoum. "Haale summoned and harnessed some of the madness of a distant desert moon...her Sufi-inspired music with rapid staccato drums and her soaring voice singing the words of the ancient Persian poet Rumi called upon the ageless magic of the moon as the sun set and the winds rose from the West in approval..."

DESERT POST WEEKLY
Haale has performed at such venues as Lincoln Center, Joe's Pub, Mercury Lounge, Levitt Pavilion, the Joshua Tree Music Festival, Temple Bar and the LA County Museum of Art.

She is currently in the studio working on her album with producer Dougie Bowne whose long line of collaborators include Cassandra Wilson, Laurie Anderson, and Iggy Pop and co-producer Joe Blaney who has produced and/or engineered for Prince, Keith Richards, and the Beastie Boys. The album will be ready in 2005.

'HAALE underscores the evolution and transformation of centuries-old art forms as they adapt to the new realities of a multiethnic city...' -- The New York Times

[Rasputin]

Pic nadareh ?!

[donsaeid]

Really Beautiful!!!

[donsaeid]

Drawing on her Persian and urban American roots, dynamic vocalist Haale brings audiences into the ecstatic and electric space where the two worlds meet.? Further enhancing her cross-cultural appeal is the lifting, mystical sound she produces on the traditional Persian instrument, the sitar, as well as the electrifying explosion generating from her guitar.? Having performed at such venues as Lincoln Center, Joe?s Pub, Mercury Lounge, Levitt Pavilion, the Joshua Tree Music Festival, Temple Bar, and the LA County Museum of Art, Haale?s music speaks loudly and passionately to audiences of all backgrounds and languages. ?Her 2001 full-length debut ?The Wide-Eyed Seamstress? received recognition from the Academy of American Poets and the Goodman Grant for Poetry; she was also named ?Best Unsigned Artist of the Year, 2003? by Global Rhythm magazine, as well as voted ?one of the 15 world music artists sure to make big waves in the future?.? ?Haale ... underscores the evolution and transformation of centuries-old art forms as they adapt to the new realities of a multiethnic city? (The New York Times).

Below, please find a brief interview with Haale:

From Tehran to the Bronx: Haale?s Music Knows No Boundaries

She may stand just a little over five feet tall, but when Haale takes the stage, the petite singer-songwriter commands the room.? With the voice of a rocker and the soul of poet, Haale has developed a singular musical style that weaves a number of her artistic influences ? from Jimi Hendrix to the Persian poet Rumi ? into seamless songs.? Her work has been wooing fans and winning over critics.

Haale has been drawn to music since she was a young girl, but the New York native didn?t used to believe her passion could also be her career. ?As a child, I knew that I wanted to be an artist, but I thought I would have to marry an artist!? That was how I felt I would get closest to it!? Born and raised in the Bronx, Haale originally planned on making her Iranian immigrant parents ? both doctors ? proud by pursuing medicine. ?I think that there was sort of a cultural thing there.? You know, first generation parents concerned that their child go into a stable career and pursue art only as a hobby."

Haale?s hobby followed her to Stanford, where she continued to write and sing even as she worked towards a degree in biology and made plans for medical school.? ?Thankfully, I picked up a guitar while I was there and everything changed ? everything shifted.?? While the young singer may have strayed from the family business, she certainly hasn?t forgotten her roots.? After cutting her teeth on tour with a fledging rock band, Haale struck out on her own, forging her own distinct sound by infusing the rock music she loved with the Persian culture she so admired.? Playing both guitar and setar, alternately singing in English and Persian, Haale built an electrifying stage show that speaks to a wide audience ? even when it speaks in Persian.? ?There?s a satisfaction that you get when you understand what the singer is saying.? But when don?t understand what they?re saying, there?s more mystery.? You can listen to a song and experience it emotionally.?

For critics and fans, her patchwork approach is part of what sets Haale?s music apart, but to Haale, her songwriting process is simply a result of the world in which we live.? ?Collage, montage, assemblage ? these things are aesthetic, artistic choices, but they?re also just the reality of our time,? she says.? ?Everything is somehow extracted from context and pasted against something else, so I think it?s a natural thing to want to cut, paste and reconstruct.?

[donsaeid]

[pachekhar]

hmmmm nice!

[knekouei]

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[knekouei]

dssdfsdsdsdsdadsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

[knekouei]

asadasdasdas

[AMIR220]

wowwwwwwww

[Dokhtar Bandari]

HAALE

As I was pacing up and down my barn waiting for my horse to give birth..my cell phone rings and its my friend Jeff.

J: hey Afy, how u doin???
A: great, waiting for Ishtar to give birth.
J: Today?
A: no yesterday... of course today you moron.
J: hey I called to tell you there is Persian chick singing at the Opera House on Saturday... you may know her, her name is Holly...
A: Who??? holly is not a Persian name and I don't know who you are talking about it, but I want to go. Get the tickets and pick me up at 6.

Saturday I saw the flayer and the tickets... Jeff, her name is Haaleh not Holly, have I not teach you anything about speaking Persian correctly? He laughs and says he has learned the dances, the singings, the food but damn the language is hard...lol ( I thought everyone in town about those things)

So anyways, we get in the Opera House and it is filled with all my friends and neighbors and no Iranians of course, since non lives in Vermont. This part of Vermont is very artsy so there were a lot of artist there too. I have drag some of these guys to some of Persian concerts before, but this one was different.

The show opened with Peter Mulvey, an amazing acoustic singer... a few minutes of break and then they set up the stage with a cello, a very peculiar looking percussion, a bass and a guitar.

The musicians arrive and she enters the stage, what a beauty, all "sharghi" looking, petite and a very obvious presence. She starts her song with a Persian song " Baz vatanam, baz vatanam arezost"... I was floored... She played the Bass and the Guitar alternatively.

Amazing voice, and she sang in Persian for an audience of 99.9% American. She said, she sings in Persian so people can feel what she feels and it does not matter whether they understand the words or not. Most of her songs were from any number of Persian poets and amazingly she finished her concert with "Dast'hay morakabi" by Forogh Farokhzad... I was completely floored by the way she put those words into song. Even her English songs were amazing.

After the concert my friend Jeff mentioned the fact that "she don't sing like you"...lol, and that may be a good thing! Most of people that were there approached me to talk to me about what she was singing and translations...and almost everyone bought her CDs, that was very cool.

I highly recommend her, here is her web site.

http://www.haale.com

[mautung]

loolllll!

[Rasputin]

Bronx-born musical artist Haale "draws on both Persian mystical and American psychedelic
musical traditions." Sample music. She is currently on a U.S. tour (see dates). Also visit haale.com.

You were born in the US and yet you infuse your otherwise western music in spurts with Persian lyrics. Can you tell us why?



Songs like Ay Dar Shekasteh, Hastee, Navayee, etc. have elements of Persian music as well as Persian lyrics in them. The styles of the drumming, the use of the setar, the drone element are all inspired by Persian music.

Is it an artistic or political choice?

It was pretty natural for me to start drawing on my Persian heritage in the composition of my music. All artists establish a palette and a vocabulary for their work that is based on what they've heard and seen through their lives. I was born in NYC and grew up all around the East Coast with Iranian parents, so I heard Persian music, Persian poetry, alongside American music and poetry. It's been a pretty natural for me to draw on both cultures in my work. It feels more authentic to blend the two than to exclude one or the other in my work.

Each song on our new album 'No Ceiling' is its own brew, some more obviously Western, such as 'Off Duty Fortune Teller' and the title track. Some like 'Zero to One' and 'Middle of Fire' wear the Persian stylings very subtly. And others like 'Ay Dar Shekasteh' and 'Hastee,' wave that flag pretty vigorously. Each song exists somewhere on the spectrum between my American and Persian heritage. Identity is a dynamic thing, and so is the art that mirrors it.

Who is your audience? When you write your songs, who do you envision?

Our audience is very diverse and so are the venues we've performed at. We've played the Bonnaroo festival, Memorial Hall at Chapel Hill, Carnegie Hall, small rock clubs, cultural centers, universities, so we've cast a pretty wide net. We've played in Hot Springs, Arkansas; Austin, Texas; Chicago, Toronto, all over.

Music is music, it doesn't really know boundaries. It's just great to play for people who have ears and want to use them, regardless of where they're from, how old they are, etc.

I don't really envision an audience when I write my songs. I write whatever I need to write when I sit down with my guitar or at the blank page. Whoever wants to listen will.

What language did you grow up thinking in, and how (if at all) did that influence your creativity?

I definitely grew up thinking in English. There was a lot of great literature around me when I was growing up, my parents are both avid readers. So we had books by James Joyce, Chekhov, Allen Ginsberg, Kafka on the shelves alongside poetry by Sepehri, Kadkani, Rumi, etc. All these writers have left their mark on my mind. I was lucky to be exposed to all of this growing up.

What are your goals musically?

I intend to continue writing songs, to continue practicing, listening, and evolving what I do.

Who were your musical influences, who/what do you aspire to and why?

The musicians that inspire me most are people like Nina Simone, Bob Marley, David Byrne, Jimmy Page, Oumou Sangare, Patti Smith, Chris Whitley, Ghammar, Hengam Akhavan, Bjork. The list continues on and on, all the artists offered something holy to music. They were or are all dead serious about their work.

I feel best when I am focused and in the process of creating something, whether it's a poem or a song. Attention is my salvation. That's why I write. It keeps me alive and engaged.

In a perfect world, where would you perform and for whom?

I'd like to perform more in Europe, Glastonbury would be awesome. There's a million venues I could name, Red Rocks, the Montreal Jazz Fest, etc. I'll just keep putting out music and it'll be great if I get the opportunity to perform as much as I want to. I really do love being on tour. I was built for that.