Today we’d like to introduce you to Shabnam J. Kermani.
Hi Shabnam, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My life was surrounded by art, in all of its forms, and creativity from even before I was born. My mother always recounts that when pregnant with me and my sister, she played classical piano records on her belly. My family was my gateway to falling in love with the arts and the colorful world they present. My parents have always been dedicated admirers of the arts. They raised my sister and me in an environment full of art and love for art. In our house in Tehran, Iran, art, both national and international, was everywhere. Our displays were full of wooden statuettes that my father bought and collected, while small and large puzzles of famous classical paintings by artists like Raphael and Da Vinci decorated our walls. My sister and I imitated the tap dancing and ballet routines of Michael Flatley and Gillian Murphy by watching the Riverdance and Swan Lake videos. Every night, as a family, we watched either Iranian and American films and shows, and during the weekends, we enjoyed going to concerts, museums, or the theater.
More important and influential than all was music. As we were growing up, my parents played songs from the CDs that they had purchased over the years when they wanted to wake us up. Throughout my childhood and teen years, my alarms ranged from songs by artists like John Lennon, Bonnie Tyler, Enya, Yanni, Europe, Amy Winehouse, and Demis Roussos to groups like Era, Enigma, and Gregorian. When I returned home from school, Chopin or Grieg would play; when doing homework, it was time for Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman, or Dario Marianelli. At dinner time, Iranian traditional musicians like Homayoun Shajarian, or pop singers from before and after the 1979 Revolution would fill the house with their voices. I dare say that there were seldom days when no music was heard either from our stereos or the piano. All of these became reasons for my love for the arts, and specifically, for music. To our family, art was not just an escape, but a companion and a way to connect with each other. Ultimately, it was my family that motivated me to pursue this path. If it were not for my parents’ and sister’s encouragement, I would have not found this fantastic way of living through the arts.
The reason why I pursued a career focused on creating, however, was the strong passion I felt for telling stories. I previously viewed the act of composing music as unapproachable and reserved for a specific population, but I realized that it was actually an art for everyone who wanted to create. I wanted to create, and I had a story to tell. My biggest influence in realizing this and starting my first composition was the composer Ramin Djawadi. I fell in love with the music of Game of Thrones while I was still living in Iran, and I remember listening to the tracks day and night, burning CD’s with my favorite tracks, and deciphering the lyrics to “Mhysa” (or at least trying!) and singing along. Ramin Djawadi inspired me immensely, and his work and his music have guided my path in life and my career. I began writing because of his music, I applied to the Berklee College of Music because he attended there and I wanted to receive the same training and be in the same environment that he was in. And so, I always mention him as my biggest inspiration and motivation. Listening to his music brought out the storyteller that existed within me, and I will be forever grateful for that.
I applied and was accepted to the Berklee College of Music in 2019 after two years at the San Francisco State University where I double-majored in Cinema and Classics, and minored in Music. My time at Berklee granted me a fulfilling and extensive education in composition, music theory, orchestration, arrangement, ensemble performance, music technology, notation and copyist works, session management, and writing for and conducting orchestra and chamber ensembles. I was selected as one of only 6 students chosen each semester for the Berklee Advanced Orchestration and Recording Techniques course, which involved composing a piece for a full orchestra, and conducting and recording it with a live orchestra on bi-weekly basis. At Berklee, I was honored to be given the Ramin Djawadi Scholarship by the Berklee Film Scoring Department, which was something that younger me in Iran had only dreamed of.
In 2022-2023, during my Master’s at Berklee València, I received a thorough education in, and realized my passion for audio engineering, recording and music production processes (including but not limited to mixing and mastering), as well as multimedia works and installations, video production, and live visual design and performance. I developed my thesis, “Gisovān: Voicing a Revolution”, an interactive installation about the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in my home country of Iran, and showcased it in May 2023 in València and at Festival Sarao and Maison de la Conversation in Paris, France in April 2024.
I am continuously fascinated by the power of music as a storyteller that brings all people, no matter their backgrounds, together, and I fell in love with composition after moving to the U.S. in 2014. In my music, my main goal is to tell stories through sound, and bring a unique and innovative voice to the professional music industry not only as a composer, musician, and producer, but also as a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary storyteller.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My path has definitely had its challenges, and it has not been easy. My immigration to the United States was a huge change and challenge in my life that happened when I was 15 years old. It has been 10 years since my family and I moved to the United States from Iran, and I still remember how hard it was to make this decision. I knew that coming to the United States would present us with more opportunities than in Iran – especially for my field – but that meant leaving family, friends, and our familiar and stable lives in Iran behind. My mother has always reminded me during these years that it takes time to build yourself and your life again after such a big move, and she is absolutely right. For me, immigration has come with feelings of duality and uncertainty, of not knowing where “home” is, and of not properly belonging to either country. However, I am forever thankful for it as well. Moving to the United States allowed me to meet many of my greatest friends and collaborators, learn from amazing mentors, see the artists I had admired for so long in real life, realize my true passion and what I want to do, and take the steps towards making it a reality. Immigration expanded my spectrum of emotions and empathy, and gave me more stories and abilities to express and create. I am grateful to my family for making many sacrifices to make all of these possible, and I think this change brought me to where I need to be. Throughout these years, I have always had art and music to rely on, and I have tried to stay true to my background and to represent my story in my music. My ideas and compositions have always had their roots in my childhood experiences with art and in Tehran, and I have been determined to show the rich and beautiful culture of Iran throughout my professional journey. My feelings of duality are still present, I miss my country all the time, but I try to learn and absorb the best qualities in both of the worlds I am now a part of.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a composer, producer, multimedia/audiovisual artist, and educator, with a Bachelor’s degree in Film Scoring from Berklee College of Music, and a Master’s degree in Music Production, Technology, and Innovation from Berklee València. In all of my roles, I am first and foremost a storyteller. I care about what stories sound like, feel like, and what words and poetries bring them to life. And that is how I approach writing music, by always having a story or writing for a story. I always put a little bit of my experience of living in my home country of Iran, its music, traditions, and people into my music. I try to bring in some notes of my studies in archaeology and mythology, and some hints of my immigration experience into my music as well. These might not be obviously quoted or mentioned, but I think the feelings always show themselves in music. Throughout my career, I have composed original scores for numerous short films and animations in various styles of music and instrumental arrangements, as well as acting as the producer, engineer, or assistant engineer for several artists, which has given me a rich knowledge of working with musicians with different musical backgrounds. I have been playing and studying the piano for 18 years, and composing for 7 years for solo instruments, ensembles, orchestras, dance performances, and of course, films and media. Some of the films I have composed music for include “The Taste of Pomegranate” by Dir. Sean Ahmadzadeh, animations “Watched” and “Letter Flow” by Dir. Iris Kouwenberg, and “Sweet & Sour” by Dir. Nandita Goel. I was commissioned this year (2024) to compose an orchestral piece for the Joven Orquesta sierra de Madrid in honor of the Spanish heroine, Manuela Malasaña, and the music was premiered by the orchestra in Spain in May of 2024.
I have been exploring and improving my skills in multimedia and audiovisual works since my time at Berklee València. And I am currently planning on and preparing to show my installation, “Gisovān: Voicing a Revolution” for the first time in the U.S.
Throughout my life and career, some of my proudest moments include:
– creating my installation, because the making of it was extremely fulfilling, and the mission and message is very important to me.
– listening to my music being played live by the Joven Orquesta sierra de Madrid, where I could see and hear my music being brought to life.
– a very important one which I mentioned before: winning the Ramin Djawadi Scholarship at Berklee in 2021, because after years and years of hard work, I received the award given by my hero and inspiration. That moment when I was notified of the award will always stay with me, I was somewhere between crying and laughing, and I read the email around 50 times just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming! It just made me so so happy, and to this day is one of the greatest motivators in my career.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I am always open to and interested in working with other creatives. I love to bring music, visuals and other artistic media together in projects. I believe that is where you really see how all art forms are connected, and how they can work together or against each other in creating captivating works. If you are interested in collaborations, you can reach me via my website or social media and we can take it from there! You can also always see my composition and multimedia works on my website, and support me by listening to my music on streaming platforms! I have been trying to release weekly or monthly solo piano pieces, where I compose, record/program, mix and master and publish a piece in one sitting. I have been calling them “Journals” and making them has helped me to stop thinking so much and taking too long in publishing works, and to just write from the heart.
So, please reach out! I would love to meet you, make new friends, and work on cool projects 🙂
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shabnamjkermani.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shabnamjkermani/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShabnamJKermani/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabnamjafarinasabkermani/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUZORG7r-r7S5fpzX-DeYRw
- Other: https://shabnamjkermani.wixsite.com/gisovan
https://play.reelcrafter.com/jDip_aUPRSG3Ikd0sVtOAg
Image Credits
1. Jesus Martinez Retamal (main picture, first page) 2. Shirin Jafari 3. Cole Nelson 4. Ishaan Jagyasi 5. Ishaan Jagyasi 6. Amin Golchinpour
