Music has become a way of documenting my life I guess. Curious and wanting to make sense of everything: then one day you think to yourself ‘I can express however I feel and it doesn’t have to make sense.’ Nothing really makes any sense, does it? And that’s the beauty of it all.
My family and I migrated to New Zealand when I was 8 years old. I didn’t speak a work of English, maybe just Hello, Goodbye and the alphabets. And as I adjusted to a new environment I was introduced to rap music, and my love for it grew. I could feel it before ever understanding the words. Expression was what really made it connect with me. It was through Rap and Poetry that I learnt English and I guess I had a lot of words of my own that I wanted to put to paper. I’ve always had a lot to say but I don’t really like talking so music helps express those thoughts. I kept my writing in books under my bed: writing has been extremely therapeutic. I remember the first time I shared any of my rhymes was at intermediate school, 11 years old. We all had to share a piece of writing. I stood in front of my class and rapped it;
‘You’re going to become a rapper’ one of my classmates said. ..and a rapper I became. Ha ha
I’m pretty sure I’ve made up some words along the way too. Songwriting to me is not about being perfect with language, it’s about capturing feelings in a song. No barriers have ever stopped me. Feelings and vibes are what drive my creative/writing process.
In high school I was lucky enough to be introduced to producing/recording. With the support of my music teachers and opportunities like Play it strange it all started to shift from a dream to a potential reality. You don’t know it at the time but those steps are life changing.
I’ve accepted the imperfections of raw songwriting. I’ve accepted myself as someone who is forever trying to realise that nothing is one thing. I’m Iranian, I’m kiwi, my culture is personalised to me and I don’t expect everything to be just one way or another. Music was what helped me adapt to a new life and it will forever be a part of me. Not to be cheesy but music is where I feel at home. And as long as I’m doing music, I can call everywhere home.
