NforNeeka
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH… NEEKA
Q: Can you give us a description of yourself…name, birthplace…?
A: Neeka. Born in Tehran, Iran.
Q: Where did you attend school?
A: I attended a series of elementary schools throughout the world, including Asia and now I attend university.
Q: Has any particular aspect of your childhood influenced your current career path and musical choices?
A: I don’t know how my childhood influenced my career path since I always knew that music would play a major role in my life but as for my musical choices I believe that my frequent traveling enabled me to experience various kinds of music from middle-eastern to east-Asian to European and allowed my ear to develop a certain tolerance for all kinds of sounds. Also, since I obviously did not speak many of the languages that were spoken around me, I learned to appreciate the art of singing and the way in which a person can communicate the overall emotion of a song through vocal technique. I learned to use all of my senses when listening to a song rather than to be immediately influenced by one aspect of it such as the lyrics or the melody.
Q: How did you come to live in Canada?
A: After traveling for a few years with my parents, we settled in Thailand where my parents began various businesses. However, Thailand was always a stopover location for my family since they knew hat eventually when I would reach a certain age when schooling would be necessary, we’d move to Canada or the States.
Q: What led to your love of music?
A: I don’t know when my love of music began. But it certainly began at home where I’d literally wake up every morning with the voices of various Persian singers that my mother listened to. I truly do not remember a second during the day, except for when we slept of course, when music was not heard in our home. So my love certainly began at home.
Q: What began your involvement in the arts?
A: I began acting at the age of about 13 when I was part of a theatrical group called
“Troupe L’”. I worked with them all throughout high school while also performing my own monologue as well as working for TV Ontario.
Q: How did you obtain a recording contract?
A: I sent a little demo (if you could even call it that) to a Persian songwriter named Babak Radmanesh in England. Within days, I was asked to go to Manchester to meet him and his family and to seriously discuss future plans. After spending a week there, we had everything planned out and we immediately began working.
Q: Has being a recording artist been a lifelong aspiration of yours?
A: Yes, it has. It is truly the one thing (aside from acting) that makes me happy in life. Without my career, I really don’t know what I’d do. I’d be empty.
Q: Who or what was your inspiration for “Sky of Love”?
A: My first album was written and produced by Babak Radmanesh and his two sons, Siamak and Babak. Therefore they are primarily responsible for the overall atmosphere of the album. I wrote the lyrics for the French song and when writing I am always inspired by my personal relationships.
Q: How long did it take to write, create and produce the album?
A: About ten months.
Q: How would you describe your choice of style, and on this album in particular?
A: This album has something in it for everybody. It has the 6/8 music that the Persian market asks for. It has a track with warm Turkish sounds harmoniously paired with Persian lyrics. It then has an English trance-like song which combines Persian and English lyrics and which has gotten great reviews from all age groups and even from non-Iranians. And finally there’s the French song which again mixes French and Persian lyrics and it was certainly a first in the Persian industry.
Q: What genre of music would you classify it as?
A: Overall it’s pop.
Q: Which do you prefer to be known as: an artist, entertainer, writer, or singer?
A: An artist because it embodies all of the other titles.
Q: How has life changed, if at all, following the release of “Sky of Love”?
A: Life has not changed much since I continue to do everything that I did before. I also continue to live in Toronto away from the Persian industry. However, I now face the pressure of preparing a second album which I’m hoping will be better than the first one since I only wish to improve in this career path that I have chosen.
Q: How have your friends and family reacted to your decision to pursue a career in music?
A: Well, everyone always knew that I would get into the industry. It was just a matter of time before it happened. So there were no surprises for the people closest to me.
Q: Do you have any plans for live appearances?
A: I am eagerly waiting to perform live and to meet face to face the many people who have supported me and who I have yet to meet. I also love to be on stage. I will however wait until the release of my second album when I’ll have a larger repertoire.
Q: Is there an official website the fans can go to? If not, are there any plans for one?
A: We are working on one as we speak.
Q: In which languages are you fluent?
A: English, French and Farsi.
Q: How has this background influenced your vocal technique?
A: Whoever sings in different languages will agree that the voice changes from one language to another. When you’re fluent in a particular language your vocal cords are conditioned to produce sound in a certain way. I therefore sound different depending on the language that I am singing. A challenge for me has been to find my voice and to find a way to shift from one language to another without stressing it.
Q: Do you have any hopes for an English language, crossover album? If so, in which direction would you like to take your music?
A: I definitely want to crossover eventually. In fact, I am working on it as we speak. When that happens, I want to play a much larger role in the writing and the producing of the album. I am a writer and I therefore want to combine my writing with my music.
Q: What are your future aspirations? Upcoming immediate plans? Long-term goals?
A: Again, I am working on my second Persian album, which will once again include an English as well as a French track, and I am collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry. It will definitely be an amazing album since we are putting a lot of heart and soul into it. It will also be very innovative and I am certain that it will pleasantly surprise whoever listens to it.
Q: What does your status as an artist and an entertainer represent to you?
A: I feel that I have experienced many things in my life, good and bad, and that I have a lot of things to say that need to be heard.
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