Pouya Ehsaei
live electronic musician, composer, sound designer, producer, radio host
Pouya produces and performs as an experimental solo artist and with his band Pouya Ehsaei Band. He is the co-founder of music and poetry project From the Lips to the Moon and the leader of the Iranian/Cuban band Ariwo and the experimental collaborative band Parasang.
Starting his musical career in the underground scene of his hometown Tehran, he has performed at acclaimed venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, Barbican Centre,Southbank Centre and the Royal Academy of Artsalongside at festivals including Montreux Jazz Festival, Womex, Womad, Fusion, Shambala and Linecheck.
“A bold, standout statement with some high-fidelity drum work” [Bleep]
Pouya's work delves into diverse compositional and sound synthesis techniques, shaping mesmerising soundscapes with industrial beats, phantom melodies, intricate miniatures, epic landscapes, fractal rhythms, and deep sub frequencies.
Pouya Ehsaei at Timcheh, Cologne
In his third solo album, Sequenced Red, Pouya guides the listener through the non-linear narratives with captivating melodies and glitched-out samples: Watch
His latest solo album RocRast (2020 - ZabteSote/Opal Tapes) is a selection of live performances on modular synthesisers:
“... forbidding and more agile, based around exceptionally spare bass sine waves, skeins of interference, crashing stepped tones and the ghosts of rhythms.” [The Wire]
Pouya’s debut album ‘There’ (2014 - Entr’acte) experiments with classical Iranian music, lush soundscapes and melodic noise:
“And over it all, like… a cloud of unknowing, an electronic shroud blocks out the light, whitewashes the history, substitutes itself for the truth; and nothing stands in its way.” [A Closer Listen]
Parasang
Industrial Sounds, Microtonal Melodies, surreal sounding acoustic Instruments, Sub laden Kicks, Deep Baselines and Polyrhythmic Beats Featuring renowned Artists from the Iranian Diaspora
A collaborative project by Pouya, Parasang unites diverse and talented musicians to create immersive, multi-sensory, and genre-bending live shows. Pouya uses various composition and production techniques to create a structure in which live musicians can interact with the electronics as naturally as with each other.
Since 2018, Parasang brought together over 70 musicians from around the world. Parasang is a seamless fusion of electronic, experimental, and jazz music, with strong cultural references to the artists' origins.
Parasang’s upcoming album Here, Once Was a Sea sees him collaborate with renowned and virtuoso musicians including Clarinet player Mona Matbou Riahi, guitarist Mahan Mirarab, vocalist-pianist Golnar Shahyar, spoken-word artist Tara Fatehi.
"Formidably integrated. A sonic terra incognita guided only by a hypnotic and dubwise focus on forward motion" - The Wire
Parasang Remote Jam during lockdown w/ Pouya in London / Regis Molina in Berlin / Yolanda Perez in Detroit/ Amir B Ash in Tehran
From the Lips to the Moon
An Exquisite Inclusive Welcoming Relaxing Exciting Mind-bending Unexpected spectacle, with riveting live music, unheard stories, mind-bending beats, fierce poetry, hypnotic visuals and a supportive community.
Founded by Pouya Ehsaei & Tara Fatehi, From the Lips to the Moon is a series of unusual music and poetry events originating in London. Somewhere between an immersive performance and a bizarre poetry night, the nights bring together a community of poets, musicians, visual artists and audiences. Wherever the event goes, it showcases the artistic and cultural diversity of that place by working with local artists and proposing new models for collaboration across disciplines, cultures and genres. The project does not sacrifice quality for the sake of diversity. Through poetry and music, it presents the depth, complexity and intersectionality of artists from diverse cultural and gender identities.
‘Without exaggeration, one of the most special, memorable, magical events I've taken part in. These events are cross-cultural in a way that is rarely experienced (even in London!) and deeply appreciated - it's not superficial, representational, it's about practice, it's about collaboration.’ Nisha Ramayya - guest poet.