Tuesday 25 April 2017

Interview: Aydin Zahedi of BURNT CITY



I have already wrote about Burnt City and the project's debut EP "Resurgence" here, but it's always great to know more about what it took to come up with a release, and Aydin Zahedi, the mastermind of the project, was kind enough to give us more information about the project, the release, inspiration.

What made you go for the name Burnt City?

There are few reasons, it’s the name of a 5000 years old mysterious city recently discovered in south of Iran, they have found an artificial eye which belonged to a woman (that’s why we put an eye in the cover art, if you look closely you can find it) and also a bowl which has sequential painting and by spinning it we can see an animation, I don’t want to go to details, readers can read about it online it is fascinating, I thought it is a good name for a band, also it was a name which hasn’t been taken so I could use it without any copy right issues, it is easy to remember because it is easy to visualise a burnt city.

How do you usually describe your music?

Power metal with a dash of progressive. I didn’t push for complexity in ‘Resurgence’, and there was no effort to make it technical.

What was your writing process like for the debut EP “Resurgence”?

I improvise and I record the interesting parts, and when I like a riff I start playing it over an over again, and I think about how I can expand it, usually different sections of the song are variation of the same riff, for other instruments I used to play everything with Guitar and describing the type of sound that I have in mind, but that was for the demo, Gus wrote the vocal melodies himself, same as Bob, George and Mike. So I had these demos, I sent them to the guys and they recorded their parts and they sent them back to me. In order George, Mike, Gus, Bob and then me again (Guitar solos) recorded the parts.



Who or what is your inspiration, if you have any?

I have a very long list, but for this EP I name the bands that I was listening to at the time of writing, Annihilator, Megadeth, Helloween, Dream Theatre, Symphony X, Firewind, Ark, Judas Priest. But at the moment I listen mainly to western concert music and video game and film soundtracks.

What is your favourite piece on the “Resurgence" EP?

It is hard to tell since I have memories with each one of them, but I would say the title track Resurgence is my favourite. I enjoy playing it so much.

What makes “Resurgence” different from other prog-power metal albums?

I didn’t try to be different, and I don’t think it is that different to any other prog-power metal bands, but it has it’s moments, for instance vocals are heavier and more aggressive than most of the power metal bands, and it sounds darker than most progressive metal bands. the influence of each member can be heard vividly, and the combination is very interesting, the line up and their influence can be factor that might make it differrent to some audience.

What should music lovers expect from the EP?

Deep lyrics, powerful vocals, kicks drums, jaw dropping keyboard solos, detailed bass lines, good sound and catchy choruses and rhythms.

What kind of emotions would you like your audience to feel when they listen to your music?

Anything that they can relate to, I don’t want to dictate how they should feel, It happened to me before that I related to a song in a certain way and the song writer described it in a completely different way and couldn’t have the same connection with that song again. So I rather not to dictate anything, but I would love to hear how audience feel about each song.

Are there any plans to bring Burnt City on the road?

I am working on it, I don’t think gigging with the recording members is possible since everyone is touring on different schedule and they are extremely busy, at the moment I am trying to find local musicians to play some gigs and see how it goes from there. But touring is my goal, and if everything goes according to plan I will definitely do my best to play with these guys live.

Pick your three favourite albums that you would take on a desert island with you.

Underworld by Symphony X, Scenes from a memory by Dream Theater, Queen’s greatest hits (if I can take compilation) otherwise I go with a completely different choice which is Pink Floyd’s The Wall.

Visit Burnt City's official website for more info, where you also can order the "Resurgence EP." Burnt City is also on Facebook and YouTube.

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