Hypernova

Frank151: How did you guys form?
Raam: Hypernova started around nine years ago, back in the year 2000. It was the beginning of Hypernova­...it wasn’t Hypernova yet. I met Kami, our drummer, at a military camp, and he knew Poya, who played guitar, and we started our first band together and played for a couple years around the underground scene in Iran. Then Poya left for Australia, and we met these guys, Kodi and Jam, through various shows and friends in the underground over there. Hypernova finally came into fruition, and we just kept playing and playing and dreaming that one day we could finally leave the shithole that we were in, actually go on a real stage and play our music for other audiences. We finally got our chance to come here in the States. We got invited to the South by Southwest Festival. We had to go through a bunch of visa issues and shit, which was devastating. But we finally got in after our visas were denied the first time.We got a New York senator [Chuck Schumer] involved. It was really crazy. We really lucked out. I guess we were at the right place at the right time.
F151: What was it like playing the underground in Iran?
R: It’s so unique because at every moment, every second, people are afraid of being caught by the police, so there’s this extra ingredient of fear, which adds a whole new dimension to the show, ’cause you have this extra adrenaline. Both the crowd and yourself, everyone’s afraid of getting caught, but they’re more concerned about partying and having a good time. So it adds a really exciting and unique experience, which we haven’t felt really over here, unless it’s been our really big shows, which have been really amazing and fun.

It’s cool, too, ’cause you have to try harder to impress people, especially in New York. That’s why we like living in the City. There’s a lot of competition. It just makes us have to work harder to really prove to ourselves that we really are meant to do this for a living. ’Cause there’s so many bands, so many musicians.
F151: What about competition in Iran?
R: Yeah, interestingly enough, in the scene in Iran people are competitive, even though no one’s ever really made it from there. We’re sort of the first ones to come from Iran, to come here as far as we have, and get signed, so we’re pioneers in a weird way. It’s funny, because back in Iran, I’d always tell the people who were competitive with us, “Dude, no one even knows us. Why are we even competing? We should be helping each other so we can leave this god-forsaken place and be able to play.” I’ve been really trying to help out other kids back home. I’ve been trying to help them get into festivals and getting them visas to come perform because I think there’s so much talent in the underground that it would be a waste if they couldn’t get their music heard elsewhere around the world.
F151: How big was the underground? How big were your shows?
R: We’d have small shows from like 30...40, to maybe a couple hundred. You always had to limit the shows because the bigger they got, the more out of control they got, the more likely you were to get caught by the police. You know the old rave culture, where you’d fill one place up and then you’d take everyone else to another afterparty? Everyone was on the move constantly. We’d always throw a show and kick everyone out really fast, to not draw attention.

But at first we didn’t know how big the scene was. We just kept playing. For the longest time we thought we were the only band. Every band in Iran thinks they’re the only band doing their genre! As the years went by, we heard about scenes in a bunch of other cities—not only in Tehran—really random, conservative cities, which you never would have thought that bands would even be playing in. Not just bands, but electronic musicians, people who do traditional music infused in a modern way. And now, because of the internet and home production, people just record themselves at home and start sharing their music.


F151: Was just practicing your instruments difficult?
R: Yeah. You couldn’t just walk down the street into any random place that has a rehearsal room. Our room was literally three stories underground. We practiced in this really small room that was in a parking lot. We had to totally isolate the sound and put a whole bunch of acoustics and stuff—and by “acoustics” I mean whatever we could find—pieces of foam and egg cartons. We had to keep changing rehearsal spaces because we were so loud they’d kick us out eventually. Sometimes you could also find an underground rehearsal spot. We’d pay someone to go and rehearse at their space.

F151: How did you guys get your instruments?
R: Instruments suck ass in Iran. There’s a really high tariff on bringing musical instruments into the country. I guess it’s sort of their way of subversively battling Westernized culture. Guitars are so expensive. A good trade would be trying to bring guitars into Iran. I remember I bought a Fender, electric, here for like $100 or $200. I sold it for like $800 over there. It was ridiculous. Because you can’t find anything or it’s so overpriced, people usually have to have their friends or relatives bring something from outside
of the country.

But with the limited equipment people have in Iran, people put out such amazing music. Not all of them are great. There’s a gem here and there. What I have the most respect for and I’m a fan of is, these kids, whatever genre they’re playing, they’re playing with their heart, and they’re putting their lives into it, ’cause it’s such a risky thing. I always admired that, even though a lot of them probably aren’t that good. But if they were given the chance, at least to rehearse as loud as everyone else, they might be able to be that next big band. We didn’t know how fucking good or bad we were. We just came here to the States, and we really sucked ass, to be honest, when we first came here. We were able to upgrade our equipment and rehearse like crazy without fear of reprisal. That obviously helped us improve our skills and get to where we are today.

F151: What about musical influences?
R: We all have different tastes in music. Kodi’s really into Queens of the Stone Age and Nine Inch Nails. I listen to a lot of ambient and classical music. When it comes to rock I like Pink Floyd and Grandaddy. Kami likes Casabian.

In the beginning, there was an influence from all these new indie bands that were coming out in the 2000s, but you learn very fast that most of these bands and these trends are very momentary. They pass. We wanted to have more substance and more depth.
F151: You mentioned Pink Floyd. Are they popular in Iran?
R: Surprisingly, yes. There are a couple of bands that are really weird that are really famous. There’s like Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Black Sabbath, and there’s also a lot of obscure ’80s music. Have you guys ever heard of Modern Talking? Samantha Fox, C.C. Catch. Really obscure ’80s, really bad pop music. Metal is pretty big in Iran. I don’t know why. I think it’s like two guys who came with their CD collection and that’s what the whole country has, ever since like 20 years ago. We used to hate it, but nowadays when we hear it it’s sort of nostalgic.

F151: You guys got signed recently by an indie label.
R: They’re called Narnack. LA based. We actually had several offers, but we decided on these guys because we had the most freedom with them. They really allow us to be ourselves instead of telling us what to do—us turning into slaves for the company, basically. That’s something we really appreciate and we’re really into. We’re so sensitive about our personal freedoms, we wouldn’t want to compromise that in any way whatsoever.
 
F151: Have you guys gotten to see a good deal of the States?
R: Oh yeah. I think I’ve gotten to see more of America than most Americans. We’ve seen like 36 states.
F151: What do you think?
R: Ah, we love it. Every state is like a different country and there’s so many cool things to experience. Every city we find the weirdest people, I don’t know how, and we party with them. It’s just really fun, being able to go on the road. You absorb so much of the local culture.

F151: What’s next for Hypernova?
R: World tours, hopefully. We’re just waiting to sort out our visas, ’cause, you know, we’re from the Axis of Evil and all. We’ve actually been invited to do tours in Europe and Japan and South America. As soon as we get that visa thing figured out, we’re going. We’re gonna be traveling. That’s like a dream come true for us. I mean, what better dream than to be able to see the world and meet beautiful people and play your own music?