Connect with us
Lowen Lowen

Music

Lowen: “For people who live under a dictatorship heavy metal is the perfect antidote to that oppression…”

In our latest Cover Story, Lowen vocalist Nina Saeidi talks about her exile from Iran, and how inspiring Middle Eastern culture is…

Lowen, photo by Andy Ford

Published

on

There are many things that we take for granted and one of those things is making music. However, for Nina Saeidi vocalist with London-based Middle Eastern progressive doom band, Lowen, simply being creative in her homeland of Iran comes with the risk of execution.

Mainly focusing on the displaced identity of their vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, Lowen released their beautifully crushing new album, Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran through Church Records earlier this Autumn.

In our latest Cover Story, V13 sat down with Lowen vocalist Nina to discuss her experiences, Middle Eastern culture and attitudes, and her hopes for the future.

Let’s dive straight into your excellent new record. Can you summarize the main concept running through the album?

“The main concept of the album is centred around the ‘Shahnameh’, also known as the Persian Book of Kings. It is also about the plight of Iranians fighting for their freedom against a corrupt government.”

You picked a particular chapter from the Persian Book of Kings to base the album concept around. What was it that inspired you from that chapter so much that you based the entire album around it?

“The chapter of the ‘Shahnameh’ entitled “Do Not Go To War With The Demons Of Mazandaran” is about the folly of expanding an empire based on greed and envy. It is a tale that is as relevant today as it was almost a thousand years ago.”

“The main concept is around the ‘Shahnameh’ but it is also about the plight of Iranians fighting for their freedom against a corrupt government.”

Although you were born in the UK, the history of the ancient Middle-East is something that is the core of the band. Could you talk us through your process for writing songs/albums?

“Absolutely. I was born to refugee parents who fled Iran after the revolution in 1979. The experience of growing up as someone who fits into neither western nor eastern culture is a deep creative well to draw upon and the history of both regions inspire me greatly.

The creative process of writing differs for each song but generally I form a greater concept for an album and smaller concepts for the mood and structure of songs. I give these ideas to Shem our guitarist who then starts to write riffs on guitars and then we start to flesh out the structure and transitions in the songs.

We program drums in the demos before giving them to Cal, our drummer to play and embellish with his own flair before adding vocals at the end. Although sometimes this order changes and some songs start with vocals or we come up with a strictly defined structure before the music is even there.”

V13 -  Issue75 - LOWEN

V13 – Issue75 – LOWEN

Attitudes to women in the Middle East is something that has been covered in the news in recent years. What do you think needs to be done to change that horrendous attitude?

“I’m not qualified to solve the crisis of misogyny that plagues not only the Middle East but much of the world right now. I can say however that it makes an enormous difference when people draw attention to wrongdoing and increase awareness of what is happening in countries like Afghanistan and Iran. Those governments have a track record of being less extreme when the rest of the world is watching and aware.

It also has a very powerful effect when individuals hold the people around them accountable. All peoples have the right to their own self-determination and as a collective we have the power to protect this in a thousand small ways even if it feels small in the grand scheme of things. All those little moments and actions add up.”

“The experience of growing up as someone who fits into neither western nor eastern culture is a deep creative well to draw upon…”

As someone who was born in the UK, have you ever been back to Iran? Do you still have family or friends living there?

“I have a huge amount of family in Iran but I have never been able to go there as I was born in exile. I desire nothing greater than to visit my family there and the graves of my grandparents. I would do anything to spend a day in a free Iran.”

Music, especially of the heavier nature, is again something banned in Iran. I’ve spoken to bands who form in countries under similarly strict regimes, are you aware of any underground metal scene in Iran?

“I have been told that there is a thriving underground metal scene in Iran. The moment you restrict something it becomes far more desirable and for people who live under a dictatorship heavy metal is the perfect antidote to that oppression.”

Have you ever experienced problems being an Iranian woman in a heavy metal band from fellow Iranians who may have relocated to the UK but retain similar extreme views to women and Western culture?

“I have met a lot of Iranians and only one or two have been intolerant to women, and that was not because of their Iranianness. Misogyny is not racial, it is simply a choice that people make. None of the Iranians I have met have been intolerant to Western Culture. In fact, much of western culture stems from the sensibilities of the Persian Empire – the first of its kind. The problems that women and people are experiencing in the Middle East are not Iranian or Islamic problems.

The root of this evil lies in imperialism and the machinations of the greater powers that installed the dictatorships and modern borders of the Middle East so that they could benefit from its resources through regular political destabilisation. It is much easier to control populations by instilling close minded views, but those powers have not been able to fully defeat people who have millennia of cultural history to draw on.

Head scarves and gender segregation are new and forced additions to Iranian culture, which is far more ancient and filled with examples of gender equality and freedom. For example, Farsi – the most commonly spoken language of Iran – has no gendered language for “girlfriend”, “husband” or “wife”. Your romantic partner is referred to literally as an “equal head”.”

What is your ambition with the band?

“I hope to give people a sense of connection and honour my identity. I was ashamed of how I looked and where my family was from when I was younger. I want to use history to show that every human on this planet shares the same story, and that being from one region or another doesn’t change the fact that we are all the same species on the same beautiful and savage piece of earth.”

Being so far from home, when viewing the troubles in Iran from afar, what is the most difficult thing for you?

“The most difficult thing is not being near my extended family and not being able to do as much as I would like for people that are fighting for and with their lives every day.”

We’ve talked about attitudes and the troubling situations over there but, looking at the history of the Middle East, there is more than just that. What would you say are some of the beautiful elements of that area of the world?

“It is the birthplace of civilisation, writing, poetry and science. Gardens, spices and some of the most ancient dishes we know about come from there. Even the first recorded instances of ghosts, divination and necromancy evolved in that region.”

“I have met a lot of Iranians and only one or two have been intolerant to women, and that was not because of their Iranianness. Misogyny is not racial, it is simply a choice that people make.”

Going back to the record, what do you hope a listener takes away from listening to it?

“I would love for a listener to feel connected to it.”

Just before we wrap up, what is your own personal hope for the future of not just women in Iran but the whole country?

“I hope that everyone in Iran gets to experience freedom and self-determination.”

I have an unhealthy obsession with bad horror movies, the song Wanted Dead Or Alive and crap British game shows. I do this not because of the sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll lifestyle it affords me but more because it gives me an excuse to listen to bands that sound like hippos mating.

Trending