Obad (then named Aubade) was formed in summer of 2014, as a group of friends gathered to improvise a piece of music, which was performed that very night out on the streets of Tehran.
From that point onward some decided to continue playing and composing together, forming a band comprised of Electric Guitar (Siavash Karimi), Saxophone and Percussion (Hamidreza Keshvarpajouh), Rhythm Guitar (Sepehr Sharifi), Bass (Ali Azad), Drums (Masoud Keramat) and Didgeridoo (Saman Hosseini).
In a couple of months, the band was ready to play their first full length repertoire, and decided to perform in a Cafe for two consecutive nights with an audience of roughly 200 people to a very positive reception.
The potential was noticed by a music teaching institute named Hatra, who decided to support and promote the band, leading to the release of their first single, Caravan, in 2016. This was followed by a concert at Azadi Tower, which was well received by both critics and fellow artists. In 2016 and 2017 Obad played in an independent music festival named Days of Experimental Sounds (D.O.E.S.) curated by House no. 4, an independent Iranian musical organization.
As the band was preparing to record their debut album, differences in opinion and musical taste began to arise, resulting in a halt and consecutive hiatus and disbandment of the group.
In 2018, the lineup saw a drastic change, as two new members (Farid Farzianpour on Drums and Kiarash Radmehr on Bass) joined the band and Obad was revived with only four instruments in electric guitar, saxophone, bass and drums.
Composing was started immediately and during its initial year with the new lineup the band played at music festivals of Hatra music institute, House no. 4, TADAEX 2018, Winter JazzFest and Fajr among other smaller venues for a total number of 6 times.
In 2019 and in order to fund their recording, the band decided to play a repertoire of John Zorn in their own sound under the banner of Interplay; a series of performances, in which the music of influential musicians and composers from different eras and different styles are played. Interplay #1 was performed at various Cafes and Venues five times, and was received very well, as improvisation was the central idea, hence no two performances were the same.
Obad’s debut album has currently finished it’s recording process but the production is yet to be finalized, with hopes of a release date in the first half of 2020.
The music of Obad is a result of collective endeavor in composition, brainstorm on personal musical ideas and improvisation. Its musical form is directly influenced by each member’s musical notion and their lifelong experience in residing in a metropolis such as Tehran. The pieces tend to constantly remain undone, the same as their hometown, and its beauty and ugliness are intertwined through an order governing the chaos.
Influences and traces of jazz, fusion, progressive rock and minimal music can be heard throughout Obad’s music.