Using footage from their time in the studio making their latest album, Pāyān (review here), including a few shots of on-his-way-to-legendary producer Richard Behrens at Big Snuff in the trio’s native Berlin, Germany, Samavayo reveal their latest video for the track “The Mission” taken from the same record. And it’s not just studio footage either. There’s some performance-video-type shots, live shots, studio shots, behind-the-scenes shenanigans shots in idyllic black and white — pour that coffee — and some scenes of Coogans Bluff guitarist Willi Paschen in the second half, who joins founding guitarist/vocalist Behrang Alavi, bassist/vocalist Andreas Voland and drummer/vocalist Stephan Voland in putting the piece over the top.

And it is that, at least in the sense of the band giving everything they have to it. No strangers to working in a variety of styles, Samavayo make a forward charge in “The Mission,” complementing the lyrics about taking down white supremacy with intensity that bleeds through every level of the execution, whether it’s Alavi shouting out the last line of the initial verse before the careening melody of the hook kicks in, or Stephan‘s muscle-clenched hi-hat and snare work giving punkish thrust to the central riff. A midsection break builds into the rolling groove of the bridge, leaving room for the solo from Paschen — you’ll see him in the video; he shows up at 3:37 or thereabouts — which holds through the last rounds of the chorus, crafting a peak for the song that was a highlight of the record from whence it comes.

In addition to playing at “a lake somewhere in Brandburg” this coming Saturday, Samavayo have a slew of live shows and fest appearances slated for the Fall, including Aquamaria, Into the Void and a hometown spot supporting Elder, whose Nick DiSalvo also shows up on Pāyān. Go figure. While we’re on the subject of guests, Tommi Holappa of Dozer/Greenleaf and Stoned Jesus‘ Igor Sydorenko also feature on the record, making it something of a who’s-who of bands I dig to an almost embarrassing degree. Also the European heavy underground.

Should you be up for a refresher, the full album streams near the links at the bottom of this post. The video follows here, with tour dates in blue courtesy of the band.

Please enjoy:

Samavayo, “The Mission” official video

Check out the latest album ‘Pāyān’ on Bandcamp: https://samavayo.bandcamp.com/album/payan

Next shows:
05.08.2023 A lake somewhere in Brandburg, GER
11.08.2023 Frechen, Trafostation 61 Festival, GER
12.08.2023 Plattenburg, Aquamaria, GER
01.09.2023 Rostock, Doomstone Rostock, GER
02.09.2023 Bad Sulza, Saalepartie, GER
29.09.2023 TBA
30.09.2023 Leeuwarden, Into The Void, NL
10.11.2023 Freiburg im Breisgau, Brocken, GER
11.11.2023 Darmstadt, Tanksgiving Peace Fest, GER
17.11.2023 Erfurt, Bandhaus, GER
18.11.2023 Berlin, Hole44 + Elder + Steak, GER
01.12.2023 TBA
02.12.2023 Hombergshausen (Efze), Goldkehlchen, GER

Samavayo is:
Stephan Voland (Drums, Vocals)
Andreas Voland (Bass, Vocals)
Behrang Alavi (Vocals, Guitar)

Samavyo, Pāyān (2022)

Samavayo on Facebook

Samavayo on Instagram

Samavayo on Bandcamp

Samavayo website

Samavayo on YouTube

Noisolution on Facebook

Noisolution on Instagram

Noisolution store

It wasn’t how they planned it at the outset, but you can’t say Samavayo haven’t made the most of their opportunities thus far to support their best work to-date in their Pāyān LP (review here) — there’s a new lyric video for the title-track that you can see at the bottom of this post, done in support of Iranian protestors following the death of Mahsa Amini — and its immediately-on-in-my-head title hook. The three-piece will head out next month again to herald the record’s worthy cause in Germany, the Netherlands and France, and this of course follows the run they did in July and August, which took them to SonicBlast Moledo. Dudes are kind of killing it. Well damn.

This tour starts in Homberg and wraps in Köln (Cologne) at RippleFest, where they’ll join the likes of Colour Haze, Mr. Bison, Plainride and more. Good show. More on it is here.

And here’s this from the PR wire:

SAMAVAYO – PĀYĀN TOUR 2022 Vol. II

After our great summer festival shows and recently Desertfest Belgium (Antwerp) we can’t wait to play our November gigs with our new album PĀYĀN and come back to the Netherlands and France after some years! It will be a cool mix of festivals and club shows and as you see we will be meeting a lot of cool bands and friends!

PĀYĀN TOUR 2022 vol. II
11.11. MUSIKSCHUTZGEBIET / HOMBERG DE
12.11. CHECK YOUR HEAD / DORTMUND DE + Rotor, No Man’s Valley
13.11. BURGERWEESHUIS / DEVENTER NL + Bismut, Temple Fang
14.11. FUNDBUREAU / HAMBURG DE + Hundert
16.11. EFFENAAR / EINDHOVEN NL + The Machine
17.11. CAVEAU / MAINZ DE + Motor Mammoth
18.11. GLAZART / PARIS FR + Mr. Bison
19.11. WESTILL VI / VALLET FR + Mr. Bison, Greenleaf & more
26.11. RIPPLE FEST / KÖLN DE + Mr. Bison, Colour Haze, Plainride & more

Offstage

We are very proud to be part of Rockpalast history, which has produced so many great TV rock shows and also pretty excited to see how our live power and energy is transported through online streams and TV. 

Online Premiere Saturday, 22.10. 18 cet https://www1.wdr.de/fernsehen/rockpalast/back-home-corona-sessions/samavayo-rockpalast-offstage-zweiundzwanzig-100.html

Also on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOzfaPAriXg

And FB. On German TV in the night Sunday to Monday at 2:10 cet (Monday, Oct 24th) on channel “WDR.”

Due to the situation in Iran and the murder of Mahsa Amini (and meanwhile more people) we decided to put out a mostly lyrical video in support of the people and to make a statement on Mahsa Amini’s death.

Samavayo is:
Stephan Voland (Drums, Vocals)
Andreas Voland (Bass, Vocals)
Behrang Alavi (Vocals, Guitar)

https://www.facebook.com/samavayo/
https://www.instagram.com/samavayo/
https://www.samavayo.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/samavayo

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Samavayo, “Pāyān” lyric video

Samavyo, Pāyān (2022)

At this point, I’ve said a fair amount concerning Berlin rockers Samavayo‘s 2022 album, Pāyān (review here), and the fact that the three-piece had the rug pulled out from under their Spring release tour with Stoned Jesus by Russia’s invasion of that band’s native Ukraine. Setting aside for a moment the horrors of that war that is ongoing as yet another dragging proxy battle for the US supplying weapons against Russian imperialism, that was a hard way to have a record come out, and the work the band put into Pāyān deserved better.

But given that the subject has been raised before, I’ll note that there’s nothing I can tell you about Pāyān that’s going to help you understand the record better than listening to “Prophecy.” The nine-minute video for the just-under-nine-minute song was filmed at this year’s Desertfest Berlin — the trio have also been confirmed for Desertfest Belgium this October — and their progressive psychedelic flourish is suited to the manipulation of said footage that takes place, frontman Behrang Alavi leading the band through twisting rhythms derived from Persian folk and rock as bassist/vocalist Andreas Voland and drummer/vocalist Stephan Voland make each change fluid, consistent, engaging. “Prophecy” soars melodically in a way that, for a band’s seventh long-player (second for Noisolution), speaks to the ongoing nature of Samavayo‘s development and the intention to push themselves to do things they’ve never done before.

Again, I’m only telling you what the music will tell you more effectively.

“Prophecy” is the fourth clip to surface from Pāyān, so one could not accuse Samavayo of not trying to reach their audience, and as you dig into the track, I think you’ll find they’re doing exactly that.

They’ve got fests and more slated for the next few weeks, and you’ll find the dates listed under the player below.

Please enjoy:

Samavayo, “Prophecy” official video

Check our upcoming tourdates and you can order our album PĀYĀN here:
https://samavayo.bandcamp.com/album/payan

performed live at Desertfest Berlin 2022

Says Behrang Alavi, “I have waited a long time to make up for the canceled release tour with Stoned Jesus in April in some form. It is a slightly shorter tour but we are extremely looking forward to it and it will be something new to tour in the (high) summer. Some challenges especially of olfactory nature await us!”

PĀYĀN SUMMER TOUR 2022
29.7. Münster (D) – Rare Guitar
30.7. Schwalbach Open Air (D)
31.7. Würzburg – Immerhin (D)
01.8. Dresden (D) – Beatpol *
03.8. Feldkirch (A) – Poolbar Festival *
04.8. Cham (D) – La Cham **
05.8. München (D) – Free & Easy Festival *
06.8. Wolfach (D) – Moosenmättle Open Air
07.8. Salzburg (A) – Rockhouse **
13.8. Sonic Blast Moledo (POR)
* WITCH
** WO FAT

order our album PĀYĀN here:
https://samavayo.bandcamp.com/album/payan
Prophecy taken from album “Pāyān” (2022) / Noisolution

Recorded and Mixed by Richard Behrens / Big Snuff Studio Berlin
Mastered by Pascal Stoffels

Video for Prophecy created by Malachi Cull
https://www.palantirvisuals.com/
Camera by Chris Guse

Samavayo is:
Stephan Voland (Drums, Vocals)
Andreas Voland (Bass, Vocals)
Behrang Alavi (Vocals, Guitar)

Samavyo, Pāyān (2022)

Samavayo on Facebook

Samavayo on Instagram

Samavayo on Bandcamp

Samavayo website

Samavayo on YouTube

Samavayo on Twitter

Noisolution webstore

After seeing their slated Spring tour with Stoned Jesus canceled on account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Berlin-based trio Samavayo will this weekend begin a course of summer live shows including dates with Witch and Wo Fat that takes them into August, culminating with an appearance at the esteemed SonicBlast Festival in Portugal. They go, of course, in support of March’s Pāyān (review here), the band’s seventh and most expansive album yet. It’s encouraging as well to read that there’s a Fall run in the works with further festivalia, and as the band is allied with Sound of Liberation, that puts sights on events like Keep it Low, Up in Smoke, Desertfest Belgium (x2), etc. One way or the other, they’ll be busy, and fair enough. The album deserves the support.

The mention of a first US tour below is a new one to me and certainly has my eyebrows up. Could be around an appearance at Ripplefest Texas next summer? That’s just speculation, but if they’re looking to get visas, one hopes they’ve already started. Guys, if you need one of those letters that says you’re an internationally recognized act, let me know. That’s easy case to make.

From the PR wire:

SAMAVAYO PĀYĀN SUMMER TOUR 2022

We are very happy to announce our upcoming summer tour including shows with the legends WITCH and Wo Fat. After the cancellation of our April Tour with Stoned Jesus we are looking forward to finally presenting our new album PĀYĀN.

We had rad experiences at Desertfest Berlin and the Sound of Liberation Party in Munich this year but it’s always something different to play a tour with consecutive shows!

It wasn’t easy to find the gaps for us as everyone has noticed a lot is going on concerning club shows and festivals in Europe, that is why we want to thank our booking agency Sound of Liberation for doing a great job to help us get back on track!

25.6. Wiesbaden (D) – Sound of Liberation Party
16.7. Passau (D) – Rosa Laub Festival
29.7. Münster (D) – Rare Guitar
30.7. Schwalbach Open Air (D)
31.7. tba (D)
01.8. Dresden (D) – Beatpol *
03.8. Feldkirch (A) – Poolbar Festival *
04.8. Cham (D) – La Cham **
05.8. München (D) – Free & Easy Festival *
06.8. Wolfach (D) – Moosenmättle Open Air
07.8. Salzburg (A) – Rockhouse **
13.8. Sonic Blast Moledo (POR)

* WITCH
** WO FAT

What’s next?

Meanwhile we are planning a tour across Europe for November this year. There will be some Festival appearances in September and October too.

After Afghan Sky, Transcend! Exceed! and Talagh we are working on two more videos of our new album PĀYĀN!

Ripple Music US

While we are working on a first tour in the US for 2023 we have launched a cooperation with Ripple Music and our last 3 albums are now available at the Ripple US Store https://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/product/samavayo-various-vinyl-releases-payan-dakota-vatan

This happens in a time where prices of international shipping of a few vinyls from Germany will be increased from July 1st on and since there are many buyers and supporters for us in the US (since Dakota) we are happy to have this option for them!

https://www.facebook.com/samavayo/
https://www.instagram.com/samavayo/
https://www.samavayo.com/
https://www.youtube.com/user/samavayo

http://www.noisolution.de/
https://www.facebook.com/noisolution
https://www.instagram.com/noisolution/

Samavayo, Live at Desertfest Berlin 2022

Samavayo, “Talagh” official video

Samavyo, Pāyān (2022)

Berlin trio Samavayo have begun to announce live dates to support their latest album, Pāyān (review here), which came out in March and is apparently already on its third pressing through Noisolution. Not too shabby. The advent of shows is of particular note since, had all gone according to plan Samavayo would have headed out on an extensive run as direct support for Kyiv-based outfit Stoned Jesus.

Of course, all did not go to plan, and as much as one might like to think of art as separate from real-world concerns, it’s simply not. That tour got canned because of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, and while of course the stakes are higher than not being able to promote a record when there’s loss of human life and autonomy involved, the ways in which these effects ripple outward are myriad. A butterfly flapping its wings, and so on. Only this time it’s tank treads.

As I understand it — and I’m in pretty regular touch with Samavayo‘s Behrang Alavi, since his company hosts this site, thereby opening him up to any number of inconveniently timed messages from me about technical stuff — there is a tour in the works for Samavayo. I don’t know if Stoned Jesus will be involved there, as the war bleeds on, but Pāyān deserves to be played out, and having moved from one apocalyptic disaster to the next over the last several years, any show that can actually happen is only helping to make the world a better place.

So, here we have a new video for Samavayo‘s take on the ’70s Iranian disco cut “Talagh” by Googoosh, in an effort to keep Pāyān in people’s minds even as the group pivots toward the requisite plan B. And extra special kudos to them for doing something that would ever cause me to speak the words “’70s Iranian disco cut” as I just did out loud while typing the words.

Enjoy the clip:

Samavayo, “Talagh” official video

Talagh is the 3rd Single of Samavayo’s latest album PĀYĀN. Talagh was originally composed by the famous iranian singer and Disco Queen Googoosh in the 1970s.

Why we choose to remix Googoosh Talagh?

To make a remix of Googoosh Talagh felt kind of natural for us. The melodies of Googooshs song are both, oriental and western style influenced, like our music from Samavayo is too. Talagh is originally composed for the disco dancefloor. We added our spicy heavy Stonerrock sound to it, changed the arrangement and Stephan created a whole new rhythm for our version of Talagh. So we think we created a Talagh Remix with a heavy but still dance-attitude. You can dance but also mosh. Another aspect for choosing Talagh to remix was the fact, that Behrang’s Mom used to sing the song for him, when he was a kid. So there is also the sentimental aspect.

May 26th DE Desertfest Berlin
June 11th DE 17 years SOL, Munich
July 30th DE Schwalbach Open Air + 24/7 Diva Heaven
August 3rd A Poolbar Festival + WITCH
August 12th POR Sonic Blast Modelo

+ many other show to be announced

Samavayo on Facebook

Samavayo on Instagram

Samavayo website

Samavayo on YouTube

Samavayo on Twitter

Noisolution webstore

[Click play above to stream Samavayo’s new album, Pāyān, in its entirety. Album is out Friday, March 25, on Noisolution.]

Pāyān is the most expansive and engrossing Samavayo studio album to-date. Their second LP behind 2018’s Vatan (review here) to be released through Noisolution, it is their seventh full-length overall and their first since marking 20 years as a band in 2020, and it sees the Berlin-based three-piece of band founder and spearhead Behrang Alavi (guitar and vocals), bassist Andreas Voland (also organ and vocals) and drummer Stephan Voland (also vocals and other percussion) engage directly with a range of social issues lyrically and a corresponding instrumental scope, working in continued collaboration with producer Richard Behrens at Big Snuff Studio to create a style that is born of weighted-fuzz heavy rock as much as harder-edged prog, psychedelic flourish and underlying rhythmic influence from Middle Eastern styles, set to already-stuck-in-your-head hooks like “Afghan Sky” and the twice-exclamatory “Transcend! Exceed!,” “Prophecy” and closer “The Mission,” the vocals on which don’t so much recall Led Zeppelin‘s “Kashmir” as provide it a level of cultural accuracy otherwise neglected.

Granted, these patterns of aesthetic aren’t necessarily new for Samavayo. Vatan, the prior 2016 outing for Setalight Records, Dakota (review here), both also dug brazenly into their ambitiousness. With Pāyān, the difference is the sense of realization brought to bear across the album’s seven songs and 43 minutes, the clear communication of ideas and the purposefulness with which each song contributes to the listening experience of the surrounding entirety. “Afghan Sky” immediately puts the listener in a real place, and that proves pivotal to the atmosphere of Pāyān. Right away, Samavayo aren’t shying from their task.

There’s very little escapism from front to back here, whether it’s the Persian-language execution of the title-track — translating to ‘the end,’ which right away one hopes this isn’t when it comes to the band — or the venting-of-frustration in “The Mission,” which is what Metallica might’ve turned into had they been punk instead of thrash at the outset. Shades in “Pāyān” itself of post-Alice in Chains harmony in layers and the semi-aggro delivery of “Shot Shot Shot Shot” are likewise familiar ground for Samavayo to cover, but they do so with a greater attention to detail and dynamic than they have before, putting momentum side-by-side with exploration as “Transcend! Exceed!” emerges from the culmination of the title cut and careens into “Prophecy,” the latter both the longest and arguably the most progressive inclusion.

The guests beg mention. On the first three songs, and on “The Mission” at the end, Alavi and the Volands welcome outside contributors, with Elder/Delving‘s Nick DiSalvo adding to “Afghan Sky” ahead of Tommi Holappa of Dozer and Greenleaf sitting in for “Shot Shot Shot Shot” — the forward push of which finds him right at home — and Igor Sydorenko of would’ve-been-tourmates-but-for-that-Russian-invasion-of-Ukraine Stoned Jesus playing on “Pāyān” while Willi Paschen of Coogans Bluff rounds out on the closer. These are not minor names in the sphere of heavy rock and roll, and what they bring to Pāyān collectively is more than novelty, adding to the inherent personality of the pieces on which they feature through their own varied tones and playing styles.

Whatever the draw of these appearances might be on their face — and after more than two decades recording and touring, Samavayo are well entitled to such a draw — it’s greatly to the band’s own credit that none of the four guests overtake the songs on which they play. Part of that is a simple question of mixing — in no way does “Afghan Sky” punch the audience in the face with “here’s Nick!,” and the same applies to the others who follow — but it also stands as a testament to the quality of songwriting itself. That comes through as much in the jazzy punch of bass early in “Shot Shot Shot Shot” and the soul-informed vocal there as in Holappa‘s soloing, or DiSalvo‘s or Sydorenko‘s and Paschen‘s. Conclusively, Pāyān is about its songs more than anything else, as well as the album being built from them.

At the time, Dakota was the furthest along their progressive course that Samavayo had evolved. Same for Vatan those four tumultuous years ago. One of the ways in which Pāyān holds to that standard is in its plays back and forth of momentum, tempo and style. With a salvo in “Afghan Sky” (also one of the strongest and most memorable choruses) and “Shot Shot Shot Shot,” the album unfolds into the title-track, still plenty hooky but more expansive in style and requiring something of an adjustment of expectation on the part of the listener, with “Transcend! Exceed!” following to move directly into its first verse as both the shortest and most straight-ahead of the assembled material; mellow verse, rush of a chorus, careening riff in desert-reminiscent fashion.

“Prophecy” is almost too thoughtful to be as lost in itself as it tells you it is, but its later melody make it a high point both of Pāyān and of Samavayo‘s work more generally — yes that’s said in acknowledgement of how long they’ve been around — and it comes backed by the cover of Iranian pop singer Googoosh “Talagh,” which inventively combines aspects of Persian language and melody with Samavayo‘s arrangement context, bringing aspects of the band’s originals to bear in a way that is duly purposeful as the rawer-tone of “The Mission” caps with a deceptive depth of melody in its chorus offsetting the stomp and fury of the verse before.

And it’s likewise fitting that the lyrics to “The Mission” trace back to the source of so much of the conflict around which the rest of the songs are based in lines like “Undermine supremacy,” “Cut the power of the pervasive, unstoppable, pestilence,” and so on, that at least to my American ears sound distinctly critical of white supremacism and the cultural discrimination that not only led to the collapse of the government depicted in “Afghan Sky,” but is relevant to the aforementioned invasion of Ukraine and any number of other issues worldwide, be it human rights, plague, or any number of forms of violence and oppression, state or otherwise.

If the revolution is coming, Samavayo sound ready for it. In either case, Pāyān — pronounced “PIE-on,” if the title-track is anything to go by — looks boldly at the time and place of its making while further demonstrating the nuance emergent in Samavayo‘s approach and the band’s will toward ongoing sonic progress. They give no signs of stopping, and that is only for the better.

Samavayo, “Transcend! Exceed!” official video

Samavayo on Facebook

Samavayo on Instagram

Samavayo website

Samavayo on YouTube

Samavayo on Twitter

Noisolution webstore

Goodness gracious, that’s a catchy tune. Samavayo are set to release their new album, Pāyān, on March 25 through Noisolution. And I’ve locked down a full-album stream for March 23 — a couple days before; that’s how these things usually go — so I’ll spare you the blah blah blah of a review for the whole thing, except to say that the doubly-exclamatory “Transcend! Exceed!” is everything you could ask a single from it to be. Heavy, hooky, smoothly delivered and careening in its groove. It moves with an urgency that speaks to some of the sociopolitical themes of the songs that surround it, but is ultimately more about the movement in itself; the urgency becomes the need to get the listener up, or at very least to provide the encouragement to do or be more.

The Berlin trio sold quickly through the preorders for what’s called the “Club 100” edition of Pāyān, a deluxe edition limited in number to… wait for it… 100 copies, though honestly if you missed that, the regular old Club Everybodyelse edition looks fairly deluxe. Anytime I see a CD bundled with an LP I think to myself, “Yes, somebody gets it,” and that’s the case here as well. Not to veer too far into an album review, but Pāyān earns that through the band’s own performance across the songs as well as their ambition in style and message. “Transcend! Exceed!” represents something Samavayo do well — songwriting, uptempo heavy push with a physical sense of movement behind it — but ties in gracefully to the whole as well. And the video’s four minutes, flat. Short. Punchy. Right on. Like I said, everything you could ask a single to be.

Enjoy:

Samavayo, “Transcend! Exceed!” official video

Transcend! Exceed! is the second single of the new album and out on all platforms.

Camera and Edit – Milan Pfützenreuter
Electrician – Matthias Hildebrand
https://www.youtube.de/rotorbrut
https://www.facebook.com/PfuetzenrotorProduktion

Presale started

We also started the presale of the album on bandcamp https://samavayo.bandcamp.com/album/payan

Combining it with a donation action where we donate 1 euro per each merch item sale and everything buyers overpay (pay extra on top).

Club 100

The limited vinyl edition (100pcs) of our album (“Club 100”) was sold on March 6th and sold out after 25min, which we are very grateful for!

Specs

The new album comes with CD, red vinyl and blue vinyl which are limited to 300pcs incl. Poster with lyrics. The special thing is: the blue is only available through us (bandcamp, shows) and our label Noisolution, the red is in the trade (shops. mailorders etc. and club 100).

The CD is a 6page digisleeve without any plastic and 16page booklet.

Tour dates with Stoned Jesus in April:

08.04.22 – Hannover | CAFE GLOCKSEE
09.04.22 – Siegen | Vortex Surfer Musikclub
10.04.22 – Wiesbaden | Schlachthof Wiesbaden
11.04.22 – Hamburg | Knust Hamburg
12.04.22 – Nijmegen | Doornroosje
13.04.22 – Aachen | Musikbunker Aachen
14.04.22 – Dortmund | JunkYard
15.04.22 – Amsterdam | Melkweg Amsterdam
16.04.22 – Gent | Kunstencentrum Vooruit
17.04.22 – Paris | Petit Bain
18.04.22 – Nantes | Le Ferrailleur – Club Concert
19.04.22 – Toulouse | Connexion Live
20.04.22 – Bilbao | Kafe Antzokia
21.04.22 – Porto | Hard Club
22.04.22 – Madrid | SALA CARACOL MADRID
23.04.22 – Barcelona | Razzmatazz
25.04.22 – Martigny | Caves du Manoir
26.04.22 – München | Feierwerk
27.04.22 – Vienna | Chelsea
28.04.22 – Zürich | Dynamo Zürich (offiziell)
29.04.22 – Nürnberg | MUZclub
30.04.22 – Dresden | Beatpol

Samavayo is:
Stephan Voland (Drums, Vocals)
Andreas Voland (Bass, Vocals)
Behrang Alavi (Vocals, Guitar)

Samavayo on Facebook

Samavayo on Instagram

Samavayo website

Samavayo on YouTube

Samavayo on Twitter

Noisolution webstore

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Behrang Alavi of Samavayo

—

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

Since 2000 I am now the singer and play guitar for Samavayo. I began more as a singer, because that is where I musically come from and had to play some rhythm guitar but later I developed my guitar playing and the interest for equipment and sound.

In side-projects or other bands I also play guitar without any singing or play drums, but I see myself mainly as a singer and vocalist. I had just met Andreas (bass player of Samavayo) and Marco (ex-lead guitar Samavayo) at my school and was playing some acoustic guitar when they came up with the idea to have me sing in their band and play guitar. That’s how I suddenly came into the situation of playing in a band. Though I already had some major interest in heavy music. At that time I was listening to Body Count, Clawfinger, Metallica and other stuff.

Describe your first musical memory.

My first musical memory is my mother singing at Persian gatherings. That’s a Persian tradition and she was a great singer. She was often asked for singing at such parties.

When I was around 12yrs old my cousins from London gave me my first MCs, among them Michael Jackson, M.C. Hammer, Rick Astley and Paul McCartney. My oldest cousin is also a huge Queen fan, so he played a lot of that on his Piano and we sang to it.

I was 15 or 16 when I started learning playing guitar, my parents told me I can choose and I chose.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

In 20 years there have been plenty of great memories.

So many cool bands we played together and got friends with.

I think one of the great memories is our trip with Samavayo to Brazil 2014. All that excitement of flying a long trip to another continent, being there and playing shows and festivals, getting to know new people, that was amazing!
Same but quite different was our trip to Albania 2013. Besides the show we played we were on the biggest TV show and played our song “Rollin’” and people were so enthusiastic and nice.

I must admit the idea of touring with the band across the countries gives me a very good feeling in general that is why when I think of the last 20 years as a musician these images of touring and clubs and festival stages come in my mind. Definitely playing the PALP festival this year in the Alps on a Col du Lein in Switzerland belongs to the best memories!

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

As a band we’ve done some major things wrong and there were times (around 2010) when I thought maybe quit it and restart with something new. I think as a musician your belief is tested quite often.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It leads to the answer whether there is still something to say. Do I have ideas and output? Is there something I want to try/explore? Do I enjoy expressing what I express.

For me progression is rather transformation or development.

How do you define success?

As a musician I feel success when I have any sort of impact on anybody. Also as a band you set some goals you want to achieve like play that club, play with that band, play that festival and it’s great to be successful to do that.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Watch my mother die.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I would like to sing on a black or death metal track. So that’d be something I have to learn to do first.
There a some songs I would also like to cover, some great tracks of music history. Also I would love to a track in German or Russian.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

To extend people’s minds, to make them step into another world (at times), but I think it is also an essential function to define values. So it depends from what point you look at it. As a musician one essential function of art is obviously to express my self and have good times. As a consumer I want distraction and just a good feeling, being in a mood I like. I enjoy heavy riffs, great melodies, awesome rhythms, but I enjoy them a lot more when I enjoy the values that the lyrics or the band behind that riff is transporting.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Our wedding party in 2022 that my wife and me had to postpone 2 times already and the honeymoon!

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Samavayo, “Afghan Sky” official video