"Agah Bahari is writing cutting edge instrumental progressive rock.His guitar playing is very impressive as well" Derek Sherinian
"Agah is a great up and coming writer and guitarist who has a really fresh sounding approach that is really welcomed by me" Ric Fierabracci
"Prog rock monster" Cherry Beach Studio
"Iran's guitar monster" www.ZirZamin.se
"This (The Second Sight of a Mind) is an album that will not only have prog fans wetting themselves with glee, but will be the ultimate chaff weeder for those fun games of Friday Night Connection. (What connects Mungo Jerry, Nancy Sinatra and Kiss). Go on, guess! ... It's an album guaranteed to please the ears of the prog metal minded as the stellar band brings excellent compositions like 'Orgasmic Sense of Insanity' and 'Protectors Caravan' to life." www.the-rocker.co.uk
"There is many progressive rocker in Iran that are very technical, but Agah is a young musician that plays with passion and out of love for the music. His music is pure modern prog/rock without any national and cultural limitations." www.ZirZamin.se
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AGAH BAHARI was born on July 3, 1983 in Tehran, Iran. He started studying music at the age of seven, playing the recorder flute and xylophone. When he was ten, he moved on to the classical guitar (nylon string), but soon gave it up in favor of playing the keyboard which he played for four years.
Then, when he was fourteen, he picked up an electric guitar for the first time and hasn’t put it down since! At the time, he loved Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera and few other speed/thrash metal bands, and played rhythm guitar in this style for four years. By 2002, he was ready to play five sold-out performances for more than 1,000 people at the Tehran Art University with the band Exir. Couple of month later, he has accepted to attend world known Berklee College of Music, placed in Boston, MA, which never happened as his student visa request has been rejected by the american embassy.
Soon after, he formed his own experimental trio, D.N.A. In 2003, D.N.A. performed four shows, for over 800 people, with proceeds benefiting a charity for children with cancer. D.N.A. broke up about a year later because of the problems musicians in Iran sometimes face.Soon after, Agah was asked to write a song for a video and music exhibit called "Depression: A Multimedia Project" at the Tehran art gallery Tarrahan Azad.
In the Fall of 2004, he was invited to join the band Meera who had released their first album in both Iran and Australia. Agah performed guitar, songwriting and composing duties with the band, and recorded three new songs with them, one of which he wrote. This song later reached Number One on Iran’s music billboard.
In 2005, Agah moved to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for 5 months to attend the International College of Music (ICOM).He studied music and performed as a guest guitarist, getting his pre-foundation certificate and improved his writing skill in the songwriting workshop with Sting and Dominic Miller. He returned home to Iran and re-joined the band Meera, playing four sold-out shows. After another live performance at the Taraneh Music Institute in Tehran, he began to write and record his own music.
In June of 2006, the first song, "Revolving Universe", was recorded with members of Planet X, Derek Sherinian on keyboards, Virgil Donati on drums and Rufus Philpot on bass. The Planet X members recorded their parts in Hollywood and then added Agah’s guitar tracks, which were recorded in Tehran.
In Oct of 2006, the iranian ministry of culture announced that Agah has been officialy banned to having any performance and/or recording in Iran since 2003.Soon after, in Oct.11.2006, Agah left Tehran, Iran to Toronto, Canada.
In Jan.08.2006, Agah re-started working on his first solo album with the keyboard virtuoso and the producer, Derek Sherinian, as well as other legendary names in Prog/Fusion music, Virgil Donati and Ric Fierabracci.
In Aug.08.2008, Agah released his first solo album, The Second Sight of a Mind, independently. It led to several interests and offers from record labels, including a record deal from the world known Magna Carta. In Dec.2008, Agah signed a distribution deal with the canadian prog label, unicorn Digital, which have re-release The Second Sight of a Mind on Apr.10.2009.
.... The journey has just begun - let’s see what’s next!
http://www.agah-bahari.com/
http://www.myspace.com/agahbahari
http://go.berkleemusic.com/agahbahari
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