#shadi golchin

[swedeandsour]

Shadi Golchin on Capturing Her Iranian Heritage Through Art, Nowruz Traditions and How Her “Persian Version” is Redefining Swedish Pop Music Spaces

Performing under the name Shadi G, Shadi Golchin makes music that blurs the lines between geographical east and west. Of Iranian heritage, the Gothenburg musician gives new meaning to how Swedish pop music can be defined. Through Shadi G’s sound, fluid R&B rhythms seamlessly intertwine with Farsi-language lyrics, where traditional Iranian instrumentation finds itself no stranger to its infectious, beat-driven, synth drum production. Curious about what makes her tick and how’s she’s breathing new life into Sweden’s vibrant pop scene, we spoke to Shadi on Nowruz, the spring festival signaling new beginnings and the first day of the year on the Persian calendar. 

Hello Shadi! What our multi-talented artist tell us about what she’s been up to lately?

I'm working on my upcoming debut album. So there is a lot of preparations with this, which feels very exciting. In parallel, I'm working on some different projects, some new collaborations both in music and other art forms. Currently, a project called “The Eternal Play” I've been involved with the amazing artist duo Cooper & Gorfer is showing at Fotografiska in New York. If this whole situation allows it, the exhibit will tour to Stockholm in a few months.

The Eternal Play // :21 sec Teaser from Cooper & Gorfer on Vimeo.

What can you tell us about growing up Persian in Sweden as an artist?

Growing up with both Persian and Swedish I used to feel that I was kind of both. Not completely Persian to Persians, and then not completely Swedish to Swedes either. But after a few years I instead got the feeling, not of being half of both, but double of both. It's such a beautiful and amazing privilege to have had two cultures to grow up in. Not to say the least in music, where I've been inspired by everything from Swedish jazz, classical music to Persian music and much more.

Listen to Shadi G’s poetic words describing the dissolution of a relationship as witnessed through the changing of the seasons in track, “The Wound is the Place Where the Light Enters You”.

Shadi G · The Wound is the Place Where the Light Enters You

How did you find a cohesive harmonies in your making beat-driven melodies in both English and in Farsi?  What were some of the decisions and difficulties in making your music bilingual? Were there hesitations to how it'd be perceived?   From quite early when releasing my own music it became important to me to incorporate some Persian, and to show this part of my culture. I have heard that keeping my lyrics solely in English, could lead to it being perceived better by the audience. But this has never been a reason for me to change the way I want to express my music. I have a story that I want to tell, and the ones that feel that my music resonates with them are welcome to join me, and I am forever grateful for each and every one that genuinely appreciate my music.

Growing up what are some of the Persian artists that influenced your sound?

There are more than a few specific songs, and there have been some Persian artists that have been played frequently during my childhood; Homayoun Shajarian, Googoosh and Farshid Amin are among some of them.   Today is Nowruz, which marks the Spring Equinox, but to the many Iranian and Central Asian peoples, it marks the start of the new year in the Persian calendar. Tell us about what this tradition means to you?

Nowruz is such a special day for me. The time of the new year countdown will vary from year to year, so I remember as a child how exciting this was for me. To wake up early in the morning one year for the countdown, and celebrate later in the afternoon another. My mom sets the Nowruz table, called Haft Sin, translated to the Seven S. It's a table with seven specific things that each represent different things that you wish for in the year to come, like health and wealth and they all start with the letter “S” I also think that the time that Nowruz falls is such a beautiful one. The spring feels like a new beginning for a lot of things in nature, and it makes sense to me that a new year has it's beginning point here.

You can check out the futuristic space Shadi G’s created by the sensual tones of her falsetto ethereality on track “Mitoone” (transl. “To be able”) featuring fellow R&B artist Elijah Boothe below:

Shadi G · Mitoone (feat. Elijah Boothe)

[swedeandsour]

Shadi G - Goddess pt. 1

The latest from Gothenburg’s Shadi Golchin, the Swedish singer presents the genre-bending sound of “Goddess pt. 1″. A meditative, otherworldly R&B ballad that is not averse to the beat-driven "Goddess pt. 1″ draws from straight from Shadi’s Iranian heritage. Through the track Indo-Iranian influences, the track pairs break-beat percussion to the resonant clang of sitar and santur as her rocketing emotion from her soulful delivery is underlined by the silken glide of her intoxicating Persian-language prose. A track written about finding freedom through love, Shadi left us with these poetic verses when speaking about “Goddess pt. 1″:

“A song about deep freedom  About the unconditional love you can have, Only when knowing that you both have, The same love for yourselves”

Shadi G’s “Goddess pt. 1” is preceded by her revisit of first song “Lost” with its visceral emotion illustrated through her towering vocal prowess that’s pair to its  bumping, percussive grooves. 

“Lost”

Shadi G · Lost

“Goddess pt. 1″

Shadi G · Goddess pt. 1

[swedeandsour]

Shadi G - Space

Blues, hip-hop, soul and Persian heritage collide with Gothenberg’s Shadi Golchin, who delivers her latest track “Space” under her Shadi G moniker. Building over the snaking meander of its percussive weave and deeply-ornamented vocals, “Space” navigates through a sprawling architecture. A slow-burning track that kindles of the sultry vocal lush of Shadi G’s tender vulnerability, the slow, whimpered emotion of “Space” is magnified through the tristesse of strings and the echo of its resonant reverb. 

“Space” is preceded by the slow, sweltering heat of “Wrong Kind”; the dreamy cascade from “Mind” and the percussive, Persian daf-like thump of “Disconnection”: 

“Disconnection”

Shadi G · Disconnection

“Mind”

Shadi G · Mind

“Wrong Kind”

Shadi G · Wrong Kind

“Space”

Shadi G · Space