MAY 2009 ISSUE 01
DNAGIRL
SARA TOUSI SOPHISTICATION & BEAUTY
DNARECORDZ? “TAKDERAKHT” by HESAM FARYAD
xposed Nooshafarin & Shahryar
clear your head
advertisement companies & children
animal-style guitar interview with REZA MANZOORI
ROCK IT CARIBBEAN STYLE CREATIVE DIRECTOR SPURGEON JAMES
ON THE COVER
DIRECTOR & DESIGNER BEN MOKRI
About DNARECORDZ:
DNARECORDZ is a collaborative effort to promote art, artistic independence and unique styles of expressions. We are not an organization but rather a small group of entrepreneurs who decided to do what’s right. We believe in creativity of any kind and support those who put efforts to achieve harmoney and beauty. In order to support the green movement and to protect our environment we decided to make the magazine available via internet.
DNARECORDZ is an opportunity to view wider spectrum of talent and filter out the media filter. I encourage any artist and any individual with true colors to shine upon us and find us, we respect you for who you are, your DNA composition is unique to you and we like to keep it that way.
ART DIRECTOR + ARCHITECT DESIGNER BEN MOKRI
ben mokri
DNARECORDZ is my way of expresing my artistic vision and storytelling through using my camera and real life stories that I am surrounded by everyday. I use different lenses for different perspectives. I am a story teller and I try honest approach in expressing my views . spurgeon james
CREATIVE DIRECTOR + PHOTOGRAPHER SPURGEON JAMES DNARECORDZ
pg 01
MAY 2009
01
XPOSED, behind the scene with director Ben Mokri Music Video, Nooshafarin & Shahryar
02
Interview with HESSAM FARYAD, ALBUM “TAKDERAKHT”
03
DNAGIRL, Hot & Sexy Iranian-Swedish model/actress Sara Tousi
04
Animal Style-Guitar interview with Reza Manzoori
05
XPOSED, behind the scene with director Ben Mokri Music Video, Arya
ONLINE SITES SUPPORTING DNARECORDZ
06
Radiojavan, social hub
-RADIOJAVAN.COM -BIDAR.TV -ISSUU.COM -join DNARECORDZ on FACEBOOK
07
Rock it Caribbean style creative director, Spurgeon James
08
with Chris Orta Singer & Artist
09
Alie Beacone living actress in Los Angeles
10
Farshid Ovji Who is Ovji?
11
Clear your head advertisement companies & children
12
Noor film festival, Los Angeles life-time achievement award to Reza Badiyi
FOR PRESS, ADVERTISEMENT & SERVICES OF DNARECORDZ PLEASE EMAIL US AT:
dnarecordzmag@gmail.com
Collaboration with DNARECORDZ: please contact us, we welcome collaboration
DNARECORDZ
pg 02
I
t’s been times that I could n’t see difference
in
joy
or in
pain
he wants to live again he has the right to do so
DNARECORDZ
pg 03
I
t is time for an exceptional work
E
xceptional Interview with Hesam Faryad in regards to his latest and his most personal album TAKDERAKHT.
see page 07
DNARECORDZ
pg 04
POSED X
THE CLOCK WAS TICKING, CREW WAS WORKING NON-STOP WHILE DIRECTOR BEHNAM MOKRI, WAS MONITORING THE PROGRESS. music video director: ben mokri artists: nooshafarin & shahryar location: one of hottest orange county’s night venues Bellagio cast: 75 extras & 10 dancers all casted from LA’s best talents crew: 12
DNARECORDZ
pg 05
- some of the known faces in the commumity that contributed to the production of Asheghaneh video: Middle Eastern/European model/actress/journalist Sara Tousi LA based Cast Director, Arthur St.John -LA based DP, Tim Wattez who worked with Ben on 40 of his projects
after going through 3 different set-ups and 14 hrs shooting time, director Ben Mokri, said the magic words “its a wrap�.
DNARECORDZ
pg 06
about hesam faryad:
a friend an aritst a world citizen born in Tehran, Iran drinks coffee for survival stays up till late and works on his music he says, he lives in Toronto, but he lives in his head he likes Sergio Leone’s directing style in “Once Upon a Time in America”
1) why is your work special? During these years, I have lived with my lyrics and my melodies, my work is a conception from my surrounding and I have tried to portrait a world filled up with human values and I have tried my work to be the mediator for my mesage. 2) why are you in this business? my serach for the unknown got me into music, singing, writing lyrics and making melodies and now that I am living in exile I use my musical sense to express my inner feelings. I believe this is my path and sooner or later I would still end up in this path. 3) Why your album and your songs are the way they are, what is your musical approach to the album? I am inspired by my culture, surrounding and the world that I live in, let me be frank, I am a creator, my lyrics, music and melodies are my creations and since my experience is unique to my life, I believe that’s what makes my approach unique and different. 4) What influences your work? During different stages of my development as a human and also as a musician I have ran into many unknowns and question marks, findings to these questions influence my work, I have to say that perhaps, my vocal abilities are the final touches of creating a marble, what I means is that a song is like a marble in which its core material are lyrics and music.
5) What are you trying to Achieve? My goal is to be popular for who I am and not famous because of what market demands from me. Being away from my country and working in a very twisted musical environment where relations have become more important than talent, I try to find audience that are the true judges of good work. 6) who is your audience? The one who wants to listen, experience and would spend time with my work. there are no boundaries to what social class or what type of people would listen to my work, I like to think of my work as universal. 7) What do you think about the Middle Eastern Music market, to be specific the Persian market in Los Angeles? It seems that music is heavily effected by the demands of the market and I should also add that we live in an interesting period of time, which we now have the option to do what we want and we did not have this luxury before. This will open up many doors and eventually we will see a wider range of music in market. 8) what is view on life? I like to use ocean as a metaphor for life, where there are times that strong waves will carry you away and there are times that you can ride on the waves. I also wonder if one can stay an adventurous and a true idealist like” Marko Polo” in the process of life. I guess I am trying to figure out whether anyone can keep his or her true colors no matter where in the world and stay honest to his imaginations like “Jules Verne” and be a good human as many poets have illustrated in their works. 9) How did you come to contact with DNARECORDZ? Well, through a common friend I came to contact with DNARECORDZ, or, we had a conversation with Ben Mokri, the founder of DNARECORDZ. Our discussion led to album distribution. I remember he said “very interesting conversation”, and a month later we were in the process of finalizing my album.. 10) Why did you choose DNARECORDZ to present your work? We live in a different time, things has changed, I am a serious person when it comes to my work, it seems that DNARECORDZ and I understand each other artistically and we both understand our everyday changing context.
DNAGIRL MYSTIC PALM SPRINGS MODEL: SARA TOUSI PHOTOGRAPHER: BEN MOKRI
PHOTOGRAPHER: KEVIN BREAK JESUS WALL STUDIO
PHOTOGRAPHER: KEVIN BREAK JESUS WALL STUDIO
is a photographer/ journalist/art director/model, graduatted from Soudderton Universiity, . Sara grew up in n Sweden, which has given her the opportunity to travell all overr Europ pe. With her artisttic mind annd baackground in She works as a frreelance phootogrrappher/joournalism around Europe, Austraalia, Canada and USA. She is currently working towards her 2nd bachhelor in psychology y at UCI. She is also actiive as an
& model in the interrnation nal market, as well as the independent film industry. coffee drinker night person photographic memory minii cooper fan fan
lovees thhe movie “Breaakfast at Tiffany’s” belieeves thhat Leo should get the Oscars got sadd when saw hollywoood blvdd for the first tim me
humannity first believess in coollectivism loves monnkey as pet enjoys visittingg the San Diego Zoo wants to livve in Africa
currently workking on a film project, soon to put on production with ben mokri
animal-style guitar interview with REZA MANZOORI
Calm, quiet but yet unpredictable His music is simple but yet very complex He values music for what it is and not for what he wants it to be
Do U know him? Many know him for his excellent performance as a soloist guitar-player with Faramarz Aslani in live concerts. Many music lovers know him for his beautiful album “Ambient Womb�, where he used harmony, simplicity and wisdom to create a collection of mood tracks. And finally, some know him for producing outstanding music for exceptional American artists such Gillian Hart.
we did a short and simple interview, just the way he likes it. Q: How are you? A: i'm fine thank you. Q: why you are who you are? A: because i'm not who i want to be. Q: why your music is the way it is? A: i sleep a lot. Q: what is your life philosphy? A: it seems that the quickest & easiest way to pass oneself off as a important celebrity is to be mean Q: what inspires you? darkness, porn, wife, drug.... A: yes all those. and nice abs. Q: how do you describe music? A: inner beauty heard outward Q: how do you approach your music? A: i'll always call first, then knock twice Q: how is your sensorial space, how is your space different A: wtf? Q: what kind of space and world you live in A: its somewhat solitary, to the point of xenophobe. i spend my days at home with my girls and the studio Q: tell us about strange experiences in life that affects you to be the way you do your music. A: as i said i sleep a lot and i think its because i'm tired of all that's been done so if its not fresh it just doesn't taste good enough.
DNARECORDZ
pg 19
“I’m not sure when i was bit by the music bug but when i was in 6th grade, all the kids in the school bus would sing “We will rock you” by Queen. However they would not keep the rhythm...just sort of mouth the lines freely. I thought to myself this is social chaos and couldn’t keep from yelling to the whole bus, as they continued singing arrhythmic over my rant...”you’re doing it all wrong! u gotta wait for the beat! ...i believe the chord D minor has a significance to me and my life that i cannot explain. I seem to run into it quite a bit. what does it mean? ...i’ve come to know that life and music are more about what you see and hear than about anything else, what is seen and being heard does not exist without the seer...or hearer. what is left is “all of life” in a song, birth and death, happiness and sadness, up and down... chaos and order...the universe ...if you create a original life for yourself you’ll never be accused of being normal. ...i guess I’m still wanting to create something new...alas we are musicians, we make music by recreating. we do not create new notes but can only rearrange/combine intervals to get more of the same. perhaps we are co-creators...no, i think we are co re-creators. it’s all been done before. ...music i define as inner beauty heard outward. what you hear on most radios is people taking care of business. its a shame that with all these musicians in LA and the world, the internet is the only place to know about them and hear their music. if only the radio stations and music video channels would care more about music than business...it only a matter of time before they do, after all...this is America. ...my daughter has a great set of ears on her. she hears and remembers the way i do and its nice to know that i don’t have to lie to her, for her ears hear the truth...she’s my favorite girl!!!” luv Reza Manzoori
DNARECORDZ
pg 20
sasan
phtographer: Spurgeon James art director: Ben Mokri
XX POSED
POSED TODAY
SUNDAY MORNING, 8:00 AM rooftop, backdrop of downtown Los Angeles artist: arya director: ben mokri producer: spurgeon james director of photography: ben stanley gaffer: joshua
i on-set photography: spurgeon james
DNARECORDZ
pg 23
about the artist: Arya is an Iranian artist based in Sweden, a great arranger and definitely a talent. video production & directing aspects: pre-production for this video took about 2 weeks, finding the location fit for the song and finding the model who can perform what’s required. .
One of the challenges of shooting this video was getting the equipment up on the rooftop. Despite of having a fairly large crew, but getting through 5 stories of old downtown buildings, takes a lot of physical strenght. Although the forecast for that sunday was clear sky, but LA sky did not open up until 11am, we realized that we should quickly get through our shots . Using one of the LA’s top dancers to bring a very surprising scene to the video, combined with heavenly shots framed by director ben mokri and dp, ben staley, a 10 hours video shoot was wrapped around 6 pm. Despite of many existing obstacles, producer, spurgeon james brought an excellent performance to this shoot,
DNARECORDZ
pg 24
RADIOJAVAN.COM DNARECORDZ
We had the chance to interview Hamed Hashemi one of the founders of Radiojavan.com, “thee”collest online radio and entertainment hub where hipsters can click radiojavan.com and enter the state of trance. Q: How was radiojavan founded and who are the faces behind it? “The Best Persian Music 24/7” is Radio Javan’s slogan. It all started over 4 years ago. After being part of a weekly Persian show at a college radio station in Atlanta, co-founder Hamed Hashemi wanted to continue being involved with Persian radio. He teamed up with Pouyan Torabi and Amir Kazemi who were involved in the Persian community in the Washington DC area. Together they launched Radio Javan, which started out as a small website that just had a landing page for links to listen to the radio. RJ was not the first online Persian radio station, there were many others at that time. But it didn’t take long for it to gain popularity and have the most number of listeners worldwide. Q: what is the mission of radiojavan? Radio Javan’s mission has always been to provide entertainment by playing a great selection of Persian music through its online radio. It’s always been a great escape for people’s daily lives so they can just simply tune in and enjoy something different.
pg 25
Q: How is Radiojavan doing? Radio Javan has grown over the years, it’s expanded its services from just being a radio station. Its website soon expanded to become an entertainmenet hub for all Iranians by having a comprehensive social network, high quality music videos, and many interactive features such as member photos, radio song requests, and community groups. One of the most interesting projects at Radio Javan is its MP3 store. It was started March 2008 as the first legal Persian MP3 store and RJ was able to partner with many of the Persian record companies as well as all independent artists who wished to have a venue for selling their music online. This project has become a great success because while people visit Radio Javan to hear music on the radio or watch music videos, they are also given the opportunity to purchase the individual songs that they may like. The MP3 store has over 20,000 Persian songs ranging from over 40 years ago to the newest releases. Radio Javan also hosts many events on the East Coast, being able to present some of the best Persian DJs and organize some of the most memorable events. RJ also helps promote different artists events by selling their event tickets on their website. So today’s mission for Radio Javan is to continue being a great source of entertainment and be heavily involved in the Persian community. Q: What are some of the obstacles in making radiojavan successful? The Persian community is definitely small. There are also many other sites who provide their content illegaly instead of trying to work with the artists and record labels. So Radio Javan has to compete with all that and find a way to attract people while at the same time helping to support the music industry. The other challenges Radio Javan has faced is being able to work closely with the record labels and bringing everyone together. RJ has been successful in working with many labels, but some labels continue to play politics instead of exposing the work of their artists to the most number of people as possible. Q: Why is radiojavan special in its work and d reputation? reputation? RJ believes that Persians deserve the best technology technology possible, and that’s been shown from their websites. websites. Using some of the latest web technologies,, RJ RJ has has been able to support the features amongst a vast vast amount of visitors. The entire website is written wrritten from scratch and tailered to the vision that RJ RJ has as well as helping to accomplish the requests re equests and feedback from the community. Q: What is the future of radiojavan? To continue growing and expanding features. feature es. Keeping up with the latest web technologies technologie es to o have a very interactive website for Persians. Persianss. Continue working with artists and labels more mo ore closely to hopefully improve the state of the e music industry.
DNARECORDZ
pg 26
photographer: spurgeon james art director: ben mokri
a dnarecordz project a collaborative project of: saeed mohamadi ben mokri shahin yusefzamani
ROCK IT CARIBBEAN STYLE CREATIVE DIRECTOR SPURGEON JAMES
Spurgeon James is happy to be a West Indian. Born in Trinidad and raised on a tiny island in the Caribbean called Nevis. He has lived in both the colorful and diverse culture in Port of Spain (Trinidad’s capital) to the unspoiled and nurturing environment of Oualie (the CaribIndian name for Nevis). After graduating High School, Spurgeon created “eXtatica”, an advertising agency that catered to the small businesses on the island, by creating eye grabbing commercials and successful advertising campaigns for clients on a modest budget. He was offered a full scholarship to study Information Technology in Mexico City but turned it down to pursue Film and Media studies in Los Angeles. He found work as a script supervisor in commercials for clients like Kellogs, Del Taco and Fuel TV. He then worked as a production assistant on many feature films and music videos eventually gaining experience to produce numerous music videos in both the American and Persian music industry. Spurgeon now focuses on eXtatica as Creative Director and has began a series of projects under the company name. The first is a short film titled “Touch”, which he directed and produced. It was the first short film to be shot successfully using the “Ultra 16mm” process and won first prize in the “My Film Diary” competition held by Small Format Magazine.
DNARECORDZ
pg 29
Q & A with CREATIVE DIRECTOR SPURGEON JAMES
behnid the scene of short film “Touch” director Spurgeon James
DNARECORDZ
pg 30
TAKDERAKHT by HESAM FARYAD will soon be released by the Indie-spirit label company
DNARECORDZ
WITH
Chris Orta
STORY & PHOTOGRAPHY BY: SPURGEON JAMES
I met with Chris Orta the evening of the Grammy Awards, an interesting coincidence. My mission was to photograph an aimless and unscripted journey to Hollywood Blvd via the subway system. I suggest we get something to eat first. No later than 30 seconds into it, were stopped by MTA Security. Are you kidding me? For taking photos outside next to a hot dog stand? His first reason was 911, his story later changed to “well you have a fancy looking camera�. I swear, there is a war on photographers in this city. Well now I am upset and decide to have a little fun with Metro.
DNARECORDZ
pg 33
We packed up and moved underground. Chris finishes his hotdog inside and I continue to take random shots of him. Soon enough, something compelling happened. Chris takes out his guitar and start to sing a song he wrote recently. I was taken back. The acoustics in the tunnel sounds amazing. People stopped what they were doing and came closer to hear the American Idol contestant, leaving some people entranced, nearly missing their trains. On the streets of Hollywood Blvd, the night is filled with the usual suspects. The superheroes, the tourist the skateboarders practicing their kick flips. Once quick stop to Virgin Records to buy some CDs then we chill outside next to some guy on the sidewalk. Chris is cool like that. He seems inspired and takes out his guitar once more and starts to play. Chris is into his own and people who seem to be walking by a mile a minute slow down and take in the music even for a brief second.
DNARECORDZ
pg 34
about
CHRIS ORTA
:
I was born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. I come from
a small family, just myself and my sister. Since I was little, my sister and I were both heavily into music. Between choir rehearsals, musicals and plays, there was school and chores around the house. Vocally I’ve had the opportunity to have some amazing mentors and teachers growing up. My high school choir was awarded a Grammy Signature Gold School by the National Academy in 1999, thanks Janie Lidey, my choir teacher. After high school, I moved to Southern California where I started to think about my music more seriously. Since, I have had the opportunity to play with some amazing artist around the area. With every passing year I have grown as an artist, vocally and lyrically. The energy out here is amazing. I have had the most exciting experience getting on stage and showing people my side of music. I try to the best of my abilities to bring to the table more than just a catchy song, or a fun melody, but a story, and an idea that resonates with whoever hears it. The most joy I have ever gotten out of playing my music was playing for a crowd of people who sang along to almost every song I wrote.
The past few years I have finally gotten to the point where I am ready to start sharing my music with everyone. I am growing more excited as time passes, preparing my songs and working in the studio to cut an album. My music style is that of a coffee shop acoustic meets an ideological muse for those who are down for a good story. Music is more to me than just entertainment, it’s a life line I use when I need to release tension, let of some steam, or just my way for some therapeutic R&R. I’m ready to share my experiences and tell my stories to influence that same effect on others.
DNARECORDZ
pg 35
Some people don’t like reality, others won’t admit to it but actress Alison Bacon loves reality. She digs deep and uses “real” experience to deliver a scene. Her recent work includes the music video “INSERT SONG HERE” by Saeed Mohammadi and she plays a young woman who is in a relationship with a drug addict. She tells us about herself, how she came about this project and her “reality”. Alison Bacon played in the music clip Tolou, directed by Ben Mokri, artist Saeed Mohamadi. In this powerful clip, alison and jesus (male talent) had the opportunity to play the role of a couple struggling with addiction. Ben Mokri, created a surreal environment in which the talents played the reality of addiction but in a surreal set-up.
ALISON SAYS: “As an actor, I love roles and projects that challenge me to consider a profound situatio n and live it truthfully although I may not actually be living anything at all like that right at the moment. Film, television, videos, are so powerful also because they can bring everyone into a world that perhaps they would otherwise never have seen, and hopefully they can understand something more about it without judgment, on a level of pure human understanding.” “At the time of this video, I was still honing my craft, as they say, or learning to really truthfully immerse myself in something in fictitious circumstances. My process is to imagine that the plot is really happening to me and use what I have actually experienced, whether the same or similar in any way, to bring it to life within me. For what an actor knows as truth within, brings life without. I too, had some intense experiences with drugs, which inspired me to work on Saeed Mohammadi's music video.”“Coming across this project was no coincidence. I found an ad through online casting, responded and we went from there. My preparation for the role consisted purely in bringing my experiences in, imaging and being truthful. The experience was great, everyone involved had such great energy and I really got a lot from the shoot. And I am impressed with the finished product. I am really glad to have been a part of this video. “The director, Ben was great to work with. He and his team were very professional and created a believable environment on set.”
Alison Bacon
DNARECORDZ
pg 36
FARSHID OVJI
he was born in Shiraz,Iran then he was reborn in Stockholm school of music he is a light coffee drinker he is a night Person he wanted to design if he was not a music producer his favorite instrument is Piano he likes the book “The Secrets” he enjoys Tony Montana screaming in the movie “Scarface”
Who are you Farshid Ovji?
I was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1972. At a early age ovji moved to Sweden where I spent 12 years before I moved to Kansas City USA. It was in Sweden that I got interested in music production. Sweden became my base for producing music, where I got the opportunity to work with different European artists but listening to music was always my “thing” you know. I went to music school in Stockholm, it was then that the feedback from friends and the people in the music world gave me the fuel to continue on my path to music production. Being a perfectionist, always puts me in trouble, I have no life, because I have my music. Denniz Pop was one of my biggest inspirations and sad to say that he died in battle with cancer in 1998, he was only 35. I remember that on Augest 30th, when I heard the news, I took some moments to digest and internalize the news. I enjoy producting music and music enjoys working with me, we are good friends now.
clear your head, its not you
we know you are a good parent, we know that you spend time with your child, that’s why we are going give you some cool information did you know that: -annually companies spend 12 billion dollars, making advertisement targetting children. -the biggest age group of children that watch tv the most are between 2 to 5 years of age. -your child watches 40 thousands advertisement on any given year. -children between the ages 2 to 18 spend 40 hours per week with electronics, tv, games and computers. They have a full-time occupation of being electronic consumer. -every child sees 360 thousands advertisement spots before graudation from high-school
DNARECORDZ
pg 37
Noor film festival is a young independent festival that promotes and showcases Iranian-American filmmakers, actors, talents and associated fields. Although Noor festival is young but yet, the quality of the films participated, the presenters and the support of the community this year guaranteed its survival for years to come. Siamak Ghahramani who is the founder of Noor film festival is a visionary young man who started this festival with help of friends and those who cared about the Iranian-American filmmakers and talents. It is important to note that some of the participants came from far distance to participate at the festival, Hossein Khandan, one of the Iranian filmmakers who submitted his fim for the festival came from China.
DNARECORDZ
noorfilmfestival.com
Noor Film Festival 2009 Los Angeles California
pg 38
Reza Badiyi, director of many American TV Series such Mission Impossible, lifetime achievement award Noor Film Festival 2009 Award Presenters: Houshang Touzie Navid Negahban Sheila Voosoogh Nazanin Boniadi Sam Golzari Aryana Farshad Nico Guilak Siamak Ghahremani Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by Michael Altman (Robert Altman’s son) to Mr. Reza Badiyi Nominees and Winners: Best Feature: Niloofar Flag of Kaveh’s castle Otis E. Director: Donkey in Lahore Flag of Kaveh’s castle In the Dark
Short: The Florist Help In the Dark Best Actor: Flag of Kaveh’s castle Niloofar In the Dark Best Actress: Niloofar Flag of Kaveh’s castle The Florist Idea/Story: Flag of Kaveh’s castle Warring Factions Donkey in Lahore Audience favorite award: Donkey in Lahore
Documentary: Donkey in Lahore Haydeh Warring Factions
DNARECORDZ
pg 39
DNARECORDZ SUMMER ISSUE: +DESIGN +ARCHITECTURE +TRAVEL +FASHION
DNARECORDZ