Le Guess Who? & U? present Khorshid Dadbeh

Khorshid Dadbeh grew up in an artistic family and started her musical journey playing Setar with her father. Later she went to the Conservatory of Tehran and learned to play Tar by playing Dastgahi music which belongs to the late classical music of Iran.

"Learning these two musical heritages gave me a profound interpretation that I try to combine and bring into my music.”

Besides her academic education, she developed her musical journey with the traditional method of ear-by-ear.

“As the music I am rooted in belongs to an old heritage of music and culture of Iran, growing up there and learning from masters gave me the possibility to keep a connection with previous generations.”

Although she plays traditional instruments with a rich background, she’s eager to create music on her own time. With this attitude, she’s open to exploring other genres and using tools that connect her to expressing her feelings through music.

<a href="https://exra.bandcamp.com/album/cristallo">Cristallo by Khorshid Dadbeh & Exra</a>

When Khorshid was living in Tehran, she used to go running in the mountains. For her, it was a big relief of heavy emotions and a moment to think more clearly. In these moments, in which she was able to get out of the urban environment, listening to improvisations of masters opened doors for her.

Creativity does not always come from inspiration: “My mother is a painter and I remember she was always going to her studio to paint for hours. She advised me to find some hours alone with myself and work to create another dimension of time.”

When she does that, playing for e few hours without distractions, she really feels that time passes differently and for her, that is a way to be more creative and to feel her emotions. New thoughts and ideas start to flow.

It has been five years since Khorshid moved from Iran to The Netherlands. It made her appreciate her cultural heritage, but at the same time, she’s trying to represent this heritage to her generation by bringing it beyond borders and adding more values by collaborating with great artists and performing in different platforms. At the same time, she sees the importance of traveling back to Iran and “updating” her knowledge.

Khorshid forms a duo (with a duduk and flute player) under the name of Hamraaz. Together they have recorded an EP which will be released around December. This release is special for her, as they have been working on the project's compositions and improvisations for the past two years.

Besides this, she has another project Night in Neyshabur that belongs to her collective, Jansouz Collective. Last year, they released their first album. This project is a combination of Electro-Acoustic music, poetry, and storytelling. Jansouz Collective perform on 30 November in Mezrab in Amsterdam.