Sholi
- Location: San Francisco, CA
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- Bio:
The story of Sholi began when Payam Bavafa and Jonathon Bafus started playing and writing music with friend Danny Milks while attending UC Davis. "Sholi was a nickname my dad ... (more) - Bio:
The story of Sholi began when Payam Bavafa and Jonathon Bafus started playing and writing music with friend Danny Milks while attending UC Davis. "Sholi was a nickname my dad gave my brother and me when we wrestled as kids. I wanted a Persian word that sounded nice in English, and Jon liked that one," Bavafa says.
The trio played locally, releasing a three-song demo shortly before Bavafa relocated to San Francisco to work as an electrical engineer for an experimental neuroscience lab with a brilliant "mad" scientist. Bavafa spent a year and a half processing brain-waves and analyzing data from studies on sleep and memory. Over time, elements of his work trickled through to his songwriting. Theories of memory explored in the lab found their way thematically into early versions of songs such as "Spy in the House of Memories", "All That We Can See", and "Out of Orbit".
In late 2007, the band recorded a politically inspired 7"entitled "Hejrat" featuring a re-interpretation of the title track, originally by 70. Iranian pop-diva Googoosh. The record was well-received by the Iranian-American community as well as American critics for its unifying and original concept, eventually leading The Believer magazine to pick up the song for their 2008 Music Issue.
Meanwhile, Saunier continued his involvement with the LP helping in the final mixing stages upon his return from tour in the Summer of 2008.
The result is an album that is as self-assured as it is introspective, as warmly familiar as it is unique, and as complex as it is digestible. Concepts of memory permeate the record, both lyrically and musically, as songs grapple with perspective and perception, conscience and consequence, understanding and upheaval. Interconnected ideas appear; songs often become self-referential, folding in upon themselves. Yet underneath the elaborate musical layers and vivid lyrical imagery, there is something straightforwardly timeless in this debut.
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