With his work as a composer, guitarist, producer, and lyricist, Ashkan Malayeri’s concepts and music serve as the foundation for Discolor Blind. In Tehran, Iran, Ashkan started his conflict. He briefly resided in nearby nations, including Ankara, Istanbul, and Dubai, before making his way to Europe. His interest in Scandinavian music and his admiration for musicians like Alexi Laiho and Tuomas Holopainen led him to initially plan on relocating to a Scandinavian nation. However, for linguistic and practical reasons, he ultimately decided to study music theory, guitar, and music production in England. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
Ashkan Malayeri(Discolor blind): I’m originally from Iran. I lived in England for like half a decade and then in Canada for a longer unfortunately, I finally managed to escape Canada. Well, I just wanted to make music so England was a cool place to stay and then I got a Canadian residency and I moved there and recorded a lot of my ideas that were formed in London there with all the stuff I shipped to Canada from Germany. That made Long Vivid Dream which is my first EP. And in the past year and a half I’ve been making this new record called War of Art.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
Ashkan Malayeri(Discolor blind): No, I’ve had a lot of training. I started taking guitar lessons when I was 15 and even before that I had piano lessons which I didn’t really take seriously and I was serious only when I picked up the guitar. However I stopped the guitar lessons after one year and self-taught the main portion of what I know myself… my guitar teacher actually remained a close friend for a long time. And then after that I went to music university in Iran which was actually better than most places I’ve studied at in the west. Then I went to England to study music. So I’ve done a lot. I also studied music production in London. However I know most of the things I know because I learned them myself and that’s why no-one can sound like me.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘Discolor blind?
Discolor blind: I don’t really like anybody at the moment to be honest but if you want a bunch of names I guess Nino Rota, Mahler, Eminem(who should have stopped making music in 2002) Nightwish and Children of Bodom which had the best guitarist of all time in it and Aleksi was a titanic influence on me. I probably wouldn’t have realized I have such a strong inner ear without Aleksi’s music, Dimmu Borgir are pretty cool. And stuff like portishead which has like 4 decent songs and their melodies are sampled anyway but they’re somewhat interesting. Because it’s a kickass name. That was right after an LSD trip and later on I had another cool name but Discolor Blind is better.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
Discolor blind: My music is score-based. Which means I write everything before I record them. I don’t pick up the guitar and play around on it and then come up with something, it’s the thought and the writing, I might have a guitar at hand to hear it or workout the intervals but I write everything. Most of the garbage you hear whether rock or pop and even classical(because of the invention of piano which I despise as a composition tool) is literally just the muscle memory of the musician. So that’s why the melodies and the harmonies are smoother and more extraordinary than most stuff you hear today which are unoriginal and drab. And also the many elements I use in my production. Most garbage you’ve been hearing in the 1900’s is literally just a jam by a dude on the guitar, bass and drums to keep the beat. I have piccolos, modular synths, cellos, theremin, vocals(female and male) etc. in addition to your usual guitar bass drum sound. The rhyming schemes too. I don’t think anybody besides Eminem and I can create multi syllable rhymes like that. And certainly he can’t do that with melodies. So it’s only me who can do that. If you know somebody else let me know. I had Jeff Bass who won the Oscar with Eminem and produced his first 3 records perform on ‘What Pain Brings” on my debut.
5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as METAL?
Ashkan Malayeri(Discolor blind): Well I wouldn’t call it metal. You can use rock as an umbrella term but I wouldn’t necessarily call it metal just because there are distorted guitars. I’m very original. Anybody can hear it. They said Nirvana whose biggest hit was literally stolen was original to the point they said it’s a new genre. I would say my music is way more original than Nirvana’s. I actually mention this and kill him again with the same gun on the song “Devil’s Flute” So I would say both of my records are genre-defining. So call it whatever you want. Horror Jazz is pretty cool. But yeah I guess in the beginning I used to sound like Tuomas Holopainen and Aleksi Laiho(I’m talking about my writing when I was like 16- which I’ve never released) but you know I really started to develop a new vision when I began production when I was in London.
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?
Ashkan Malayeri(Discolor blind): I’m mostly interested in the pure artistic side of it, however, I believe music can be a good tool to express certain things and in some cases it has to be done.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
Ashkan Malayeri(Discolor blind): Not really. I mean if my goal was to get with people’s wives and girlfriends maybe it would have been nicer but not when it’s not what I’m after. What I mean is I personally and artistically feel satisfied when I accomplish an artistic goal which is very difficult to accomplish. However, one can not even get heard unless they’re signed to one of the FOUR dictating labels. So knowing that I’ve composed a kick ass tune and I’m good enough to compose, orchestrate and record a classical piece with graduates of McGill university who are absolutely incredible musicians(way better than Kurt Cobain or Bieber-it’s really time to put these things in the same category haha) but have no job because of the same situation feels very fulfilling but knowing that not many people will hear it because I’m not the agent at Apple Music(this is definitely directed at Trent Reznor) is not satisfying. So it’s cool knowing somebody’s girlfriend would rather fuck me than her boring boyfriend but you know it’s not what I’m after. That however seems to be the only reward. I don’t expect anything. Garbage has made its way to the top even before Madonna existed. So it’s not like I feel like becoming better and better will get me known. Not really. Alessia Cara is huge haha
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
Discolor blind: I usually compose everything, even the vocal parts before and then once I’m done with that I begin writing the lyrics. Sometimes however the vocal part or the lyrics might be very significant and in that case the vocal part and the lyrics are what I start from and then I score it on Logic and then after I’m done scoring I perform it- I play the guitar and bass myself- and record it. I’m in Italy now but in Canada I have the best studio possible(I mean it could always get better but let’s say Electric lady in New York doesn’t have the amplifier I do, you know.) So it’s a lot of fun recording with the most high end stuff most musicians dream of and won’t be able to find even in high end studios.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
Ashkan Malayeri(Discolor blind): I don’t know about life but in the music industry there’s a very obvious problem and it’s a problem for every musician which is WE HAVE NO TOOL TO DIRECT OUR MUSIC TO AN AUDIENCE AND SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT IT And the Bieber problem which other musicians need to talk about too. If you don’t talk about it then it becomes the norm and accepted. When he first came out I heard a lot of people questioning it but do you hear that now? It’s because we stayed quiet.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
Discolor blind: Well I have a credit with an Oscar winner. Let me state this very clearly again. I composed and produced a record in 2015 and had Jeff Bass the Oscar winning producer who discovered Eminem to perform on it. I was only 26. They still keep going on about Quentin Tarantino who had Harvey Keitel on his debut… Tarantino was older than me. Tarantino had a deal with a company I was independent, and most importantly: Who the hell is Harvey Keitel… he ain’t even got an Oscar. Eminem too. They keep going on about Eminem: “Whoa, he’s working with Dre he must be good.” First of all that’s a lie. Dre wasn’t even his main producer on those records. Secondly Dre ain’t got an Oscar. Thirdly I’m the producer. He worked for me which is a bigger deal than the story that goes Dre produced it.
11. With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters, and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?
Discolor blind: Well it’s usually the stuff I start myself. And the fights I end up getting into with Silly Eyelash fans who are mostly 16 year old bi curious girls.
12. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?
Discolor blind: Writing. Live music is shite(maybe not for some people). But it’s a different medium. I’m a record maker. I make records. I don’t wanna repeat them to an intoxicated live audience. It’s like expecting Scorsese to go around performing Taxi Driver the play to a live audience to promote it. Fuck that. Live music to a album is the equivalent of a live theatre play to a film. For films there are cinemas there should be the equivalent of cinemas for music. Especially with digital music becoming like this and people not listening to the records the way they used to. So there should be places that play the RECORDS.
13. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?
Discolor blind: no
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