Multicultural Pulsebeat
For the members of the band Tapesh 2012, their dream might seem utopian right now, but they've given themselves six years to make it reality one day. By the year 2012, the eight-piece formation wants to play a concert in Iran – at least in a major venue, if not in the country's largest stadium, Azadi.
Tapesh 2012 set themselves this target on the very day they started up. Perhaps a pipe dream, considering the present cultural and political realities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Pop concerts not approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (Ershad) are still strictly forbidden. In Iran, pop music includes everything with any kind of Western influence, so anything other than classical Persian music.
Heartfelt criticism of the regime
Another hurdle is that the band Tapesh 2012 certainly don't mince words. Tapesh work with political statements, openly criticising the powers-that-be in the Islamic Republic and the oppression of the Iranian people.
In their song Throwing Stones, the musicians address the subject of public stonings: "…They put you in a hole that comes up to your chest. You just stand there so still, the blood freezes in your veins..." they sing and rap.
The musical inspiration behind Tapesh – which means pulse beat – combines an eclectic range of styles – from hip-hop to reggae and ska, all the way to electronic beats with an oriental touch.
World music from Bochum City
The story started very differently: the brothers Omid and Amin Pouryousefi set up a Persian boy band with other Iranians while still at school in the German industrial city of Bochum, back in 1991. In a space of six years, they played over 600 shows for the Iranian diaspora across Europe.
But Omid and Amin still hadn't achieved what they actually wanted. Their vision was to earn money out of their music and to use it to make political statements. The solution came out of the blue:
"My brother Amin was involved with the 1997 summer hit Samba de Janeiro and he made a lot of money on a single night," recalls Omid. "That's how we got the idea of working as DJs and producers."
An open, democratic project
The era of the Persian boy band was over. But in 2006 Omid really did make his vision reality. Following their financial success, the brothers wanted to focus on the political aspect – and Tapesh 2012 was born.
Tapesh has been an open, democratic project from the very beginning. Anyone can join in and do their bit. The multicultural band currently unites five nationalities on stage: German, Polish, Iranian, English and Byelorussian.
Music as edu-tainment
The lyrics are in three languages: German, English and Persian. The band calls its work "edu-tainment". In "Iran Story Part I & II", for example, Tapesh rap about Iran's political history over the past sixty years – in German.
America's foreign policy comes in for stark criticism, just as the Iranian theocracy. But despite the serious subject matter and the political education aspect, Tapesh don't just lecture their fans from the moral high ground. Their creative songs pass on hope and energy, encouraging people to join in and start up their own projects.
True to his name, 35-year-old Omid – which means hope – hasn't lost sight of his target, even though many pessimists consider the project utopian. "It's all about doing something, starting things up and not just complaining," he explains his motivation.
That concept has already brought the band a good few publicity coups: in 2006 they won the "creole" award for world music from North Rhine-Westphalia. And if their continued success proves them right, their dream to play not only in Germany but also in Iran may well become reality by 2012.
Pouyeh Ansari
© Qantara.de 2008
Translated from the German by Katy Derbyshire
Qantara.de
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