Inspired by Persian classical, late 60's acid garage psychedelia and surf mayhem, traditional Armenian and Jewish dances, Cambodian street music, Gothic art rock, and Bollywood soundtracks, SF Bay Area based ensemble KHI DARAG walks a thin line between the modern and archaic.
"khidarag" (ki-dah-rahg), pronounced with a clearing-of-the-throat sound at the beginning, roughly translates from Armenian to mean "disgraceful scoundrel" or "person of unpredictable or outlandish nature." The group has embraced this as their namesake and mission, combining influences and cultures such as Iron Butterfly, new wave Klezmer, Mid-East pop icons such as Ofra Haza and Abdel Halim Hafez, Post-Punk Surf, Bauhaus, Black Sabbath, and soundtrack/cinematic maestros such as R.D. Burman and Ennio Morricone, to make music that has best been described as " A fictional soundtrack for a 1960's macabre thriller from the Middle East."
Formed in early 2008 by Max Baloian and Pat Moran, the group has gone on to employ a vast array of musicians culled from other top "envelope pushing" SF Bay Area ensembles such as Lord Loves a Working Man, Rupa & The April Fishes, Charming Hostess, Aphrodesia, Kugelplex, Rube Waddell, Polkacide, Sleepy Time Gorilla Museum, The SF Mime Troupe, The Sweet Snacks, Nanos Operetta, and the Japonize Elephants.
Current band line up consists of:
Max Baloian: guitar
Aharon Wheels Bolsta: dumbek, tabla, bonsuri flute, percussion
Sylvain Carton: tenor sax, flute, vocals
Jason Ditzian: clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone sax, duduk, ney, nada swarum, jaw harps, kaen
Dina Maccabee: vocals, violin, percussion
Pat Moran: bass, vocals
Doug Port: drums
Mouzhan Yousefi: vocals, organ
special live visual video manipulations created by THOMAS BATES.
Read more...