Help Iran’s Casualty Process make their first music video

Being an underground rock ‘n’ roll band is tough anywhere, but especially so in Iran, where just playing a show can get you thrown in jail. That’s exactly what happened to one of my recent discoveries, The Casualty Process. The band did not let that stop them. They continue to push back and make the music they want to make – a kind of electronic rock that makes me think of acts like Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode.

The Casualty Process has a story to tell, and the band’s ongoing Kickstarter project will help get that story out. The band wants to produce its first music video for the song On the Ground. You can find out more about that here. If they can raise $4,000 by May 31 they can pull it off. A number of gifts are available for different levels, including a copy of their debut album, [Un]even plus an extended version of On the Ground. (I have [Un]even. It’s quite good.)

Check out the band’s Kickstarter project here, and pitch in if you can. And read what I wrote about them back in December 2010

Great indie rock from Iran (you didn’t think Iran had any of that did you?)

The Casualty Process debut EP available for free download

The Casualty Process, my favorite indie rockers from Iran, just released their debut, a 5-song EP called (Un)even. Right now you can download it for free on their website. There’s also a donation button in case you’d like to send a little love their way. Their music, in case you haven’t heard it before, is edgy electronic rock, influenced by the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. Apparently the new EP has been quite popular — so popular in fact that the site got overloaded for a while yesterday. Everything seems to be working fine today.

Check out my previous article about The Casualty Process and the related band, The Plastic Wave: Great indie rock from Iran (You didn’t think Iran had any of that did you?)

Also, the Casualty Process is currently on tour in the U.S. (I hope they stop off in Austin at some point). You can see some of their live performances on their Vimeo page.

Here’s a performance featuring Saeid Nadjafi (aka Natch), Shayan Amini, and Shirley Ho in the role previously filled by Iranian female vocalist Maral Afsharian in The Plastic Wave.

The Casualty Process – My Clothes On Other Bodies from The Casualty Process on Vimeo.

 

Iranian singer Maral Afsharian (formerly of the Plastic Wave) gets write-up in Rolling Stone

Just found out someone I respect a lot is getting some respect from the mainstream music press. Rolling Stone published a great article about Iranian singer Maral Afsharian, former lead singer of the electronic rock group The Plastic Wave. She and her former bandmates are true rock ‘n’ roll rebels, by the way. They got arrested and jailed in 2007 for playing at an outdoor concert in Iran (female lead vocalists are a big no no in that country).

Former Plastic Wave alumni Saeid Nadjafi (aka Natch) and Shayan Amini are currently touring the U.S. in their group called The Casualty Process.

Check out Maral on the Plastic Wave’s “My Clothes on Other Bodies.”

And Maral’s page on Reverbnation.

You might also enjoy reading my article on The Plastic Wave, posted back in December 2010.

Great indie rock from Iran (you didn’t think Iran had any of that did you?)

Rappers dissing each other and showing off their bling… Lady Gaga wearing a dress made out of meat… Americans have forgotten what musical rebellion is. What if simply getting up on stage and performing at a rock ‘n’ roll concert could get you thrown in jail? There are places in the world where that happens. Yet there are people who love music so much, they will take that risk.

Members of The Plastic Wave went to jail for rock ‘n’ roll, literally, after participating in a concert in Teheran, Iran in 2007. Police arrested 230 members of the crowd and a number of musicians, accusing them of numerous crimes against the state and Islam, and jailing them for 21 days. Saeid Nadjafi (aka Natch) and a gifted female vocalist named Maral Afsharian were among those jailed for daring to perform music the regime didn’t like (having a female vocalist is also a big no no). Not deterred, they and a friend, Shayan Amini, formed The Plastic Wave.

The group was supposed to perform at the 2009 South By Southwest music festival in Austin, but got turned down for a visa for some inexplicable reason. Austin Dacey and his foundation, Impossible Music arranged for an American group, Cruel Black Dove to learn Plastic Wave’s songs, so they could be performed live as intended.

The Plastic Wave is no more, but Natch is carrying the torch with his electronic rock project, The Casualty Process. And in case you’re wondering, the music is very good, influenced by such acts as Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. Listen for yourself:

The Casualty Process – Code

The Plastic Wave – My Clothes on Other Bodies

Also check out Natch’s laser midi controller. Pretty cool sounds:

American music fans have become rather jaded. We might complain that there’s nothing good on the radio and think what a shame it is that the kids are growing up on bad commercial pop and rap. But the fact is, you can get on the Internet and find almost anything you want without a whole lot of effort. You just have to know where to look.

That doesn’t mean music is no longer important. Far from it. There are people in the world willing to risk jail or worse to make it. I think it would be good for us to remember that.

I read on Austin Dacey’s blog The Ethical Ear that Natch and Shayan have received permission to travel to the U.S. and perform. Hopefully they’ll get that trip to Austin, Texas that they should’ve made in 2009 and I’ll have a chance to see them play.

Natch has a bunch of other good songs up on his Soundcloud page. Give them a listen and let him know what you think. You can also find The Casualty Process on Facebook. Dative, an alternative rock group featuring Shayan and Natch, can also be found on Facebook.

Impossible Music is helping other restricted/persecuted musicians around the world get their songs out to the public. The Wall Street Journal has a pretty good article about it. Seems like a very worthy cause.