SHAB

Your upcoming album, “One Suitcase” is deeply rooted in your personal journey, from leaving Iran to building a life in America. How did this experience shape the themes and emotions of the album?

The experience did not shape the album: but rather is the album.

There is no doubt that my own life was shaped by my experiences in escaping fundamentalist oppression and misogyny in Iran for a far greater, freer and more rewarding life in the West. But ONE SUITCASE – from the album title to the cover art to the melodies and lyrics - are about that experience.

I came to the West as a teenage girl with hopes and dreams but with everything that I owned in the world crammed into a single suitcase.  I had to learn the language and the culture, transforming my mindset in the process as to what was my proper role in society and to what I could aspire. I had to overhaul my sensibilities as to what it meant to be a woman and engage in romantic relationships.  I needed to unlearn what had been ingrained during my childhood in Tehran – and understand that I did not need to fear being a woman and rejoice in my femininity.

It was a lot, and I have tried to pack it all into ONE SUITCASE.

The album spans 21 tracks -  What was the creative process like in curating such a large and personal collection of songs?

The only way that we knew how to focus on our work for each studio session was to identify a theme and a vibe that we wanted to explore in that particular outing – and some days it worked, while on other days it did not. But almost every day that we spent in the studio on this album was a joy, even when it proved to be a failed effort.

With Damon Sharpe, the two of us have established manners by conjuring new grooves in the studio – and we were wondering how it would work out when we introduced high-energy and quick-thinking J-Hart into that mix. The result was mindblowing. My shifts with Eric Zayne & Naz Tokio were mostly raucous evening sessions after we had already pulled morning and afternoon shifts in Los Angeles on various endeavors, so you’d think that the energy and creativity would be a bit lacking.  But Eric & Naz invigorate and challenge you so much while still having a great creative environment that one forgets fatigue. We were composing on the fly, and sometimes working to find our ways out of musical dead-ends into which we’d wandered.

With Dallas Austin, working at his hip home studio in Atlanta was one of the joys on my 2024 year.  Dallas is much more structured in his creative approach and we knew what we would be formulating before even arriving at his home, beautifully nestled into a gorgeous, forested lot. I would get chills every time we were driving up his driveway, knowing artists such as Madonna & Pink had driven up that same car park to work there.

And back in Dallas, my studio time with Remi Rafael is always a riot. A bigger-than-life personality, Remi never flags even when he’s having a dreadful day.  With me, Remi wants to laugh and tell bawdy jokes but is super serious about his production work. Even doing the artwork for the limited vinyl run of the album was fascinating, knowing that these photos were going to convey the message of my life story. Putting this album together has been the greatest run of my vocational life.

What song on the album do you feel is the most personal or emotional for you, and why?

It would have to be my first ballad, the title song of the album – ONE SUITCASE.

When I was working on A LITTLE LOVE with Dallas Austin, we were talking about the concept behind the album and the reasons that I wanted to call it ONE SUITCASE.  When he heard the summary of my story, he froze for a moment, engaged in what appeared a Thousand Yard Stare as he contemplated my journey - and I then asked if he would help me compose the title song for the album. When Dallas re-engaged, he blurted out “I see it, I can hear it, the whole song…what a story!”

So when I returned to Atlanta to work on the song, Dallas digested what I had shared with him and had already framed up the chorus and framework of the song. And together with Galpal Naz Tokio, over the next three hours, we concluded a demo that is essentially the song that you hear on the album. You can hear ONE SUITCASE and think that it’s a song about the bittersweet resolve about leaving something fundamental to your life – whether it’s home, a love interest, or something else – but it’s also about my flight from everything that I had known to venture into a brave new world. Either way, I have been there in my life – and we probably all have at some point. And that’s why the song resonates so well with others – and why I have to fight back tears every time that I try to sing it.

You’ve been very vocal about women's rights in Iran. How does this activism translate into your music, especially in “One Suitcase?”

I am not an activist in the sense of Western political parties but rather regarding basic human freedom and dignity. And on the ONE SUITCASE album, I have two songs – WOMAN and DANCE TILL YOU’RE FREE – that ask women to stand up for their freedoms, their human dignity and choice. My birth country of Iran is controlled by a gangster regime clinging to power under the banner of religion, but with a primary tenet of their so-called theocracy being the denial of woman having equal treatment and status under the law. My Persian sisters - and other women living in various locales around the world – are controlled by governmental structures designed to reduce them to possessions and deny them of the most basic human freedoms. And these two songs were specifically meant as encouragement for these brave women to stand united and overthrow the slavery that pervades those societies.

Do you hope that your experiences as a refugee can inspire people in similar positions, especially those pursuing a music career?

Of course! But my advice to refugees would be: don’t pick pop music as your vocation, as whatever might be your talents, it is too damned hard!

You’ve taken on an ambassador role with Choose Love and pledged all album profits to the cause. What inspired you to make this commitment?

Choose Love asked and once I was thoroughly acquainted with that organization’s work, I could not have been more honored by their offer.

How deeply does this cause resonate with your journey?

The plight of refugees worldwide resonates deeply because I am one. I have been there - and am first-hand knowing of the cultural and linguistic obstacles to be overcome; to say nothing of the challenges of finding a residence, placing kids in school, finding appropriate work and even being able to provide for our family. It would be delusional of me to think that I am going to be able to use my platform to drive change on refugee issues, but to the extent that I can shine some light on this subject, I would simply be repaying those who assisted my family when we came to the West. And as my story as a refugee can serve as a heuristic experience for others unfamiliar with the plight of people caught between worlds, I encourage that learning.

As an ambassador of Choose Love, what initiatives would you like to give your attention to?

Choose Love is assisting refugees mainly found in France, Greece, and Ukraine – some refugees driven by economic concerns, others by a yearning for freedom and more simply attempting to flee a ravaged war landscape. While Choose Love has Boots On The Ground (as we say in America) in each of those and other locales, they collaborate rather closely with local refugee operations towards the provision of services and necessities.

Cross-border migration is a hot and politically-charged topic in America these days: but I am hoping in particular to be of some assistance with Choose Love’s fairly nascent American arm - as regardless of a refugee’s immigration status, whether legal or illegal, the need is still there.

You mentioned that to be a refugee is to carry both loss and survival. How has this duality shaped your music and advocacy work?

Whether you’re a pop artist, a mum, bus driver, a technologist or a footballer, we are all shaped by our past experiences – which inevitably include loss and survival. I’m paraphrasing a German quote, but Nietzsche opined that loss and suffering is inevitable in life and survival demands that we find some meaning in the suffering. Maybe this concept is too deep for this interview, but I strongly believe that suffering and overcoming loss, can not only make us stronger: but also more human in that it allows us to better appreciate and connect with the suffering of others. I know what it is like to lose a child in your womb.  I know what it is to suffer deprivation.  I am deeply familiar with the concepts of oppression and lack of freedom. Most art ultimately is a reflection of the human condition. And if that awareness gained from my own loss allows me to better connect with others who suffer, I’ll take that.

In ‘One Suitcase,’ Tracks like ‘WOMAN’ celebrate female empowerment, reflecting your advocacy for women’s rights in Iran. How important is it for you to create music that uplifts women?

You just hit a Hot Spot with me. I am so tired of our society celebrating music that degrades woman, casting them as “bitches” and “whores.” And if one of those sleazy entertainers comes at me with that mentality, they had better be packing, loaded and ready to fire. Yes, I want to empower my sisters – and anyone who does not can go straight to hell.

As someone who defied all odds to build this life, what advice would you give to young people, especially women, who feel trapped by their circumstances?

Slavery is many cases in a choice. Even in Iran, the subjugation of women by the teetering regime would end almost overnight if every Persian woman was willing to stand side by side, willing to risk their lives, in defiance of the government.  While that stance may seem harsh, the reality is that you don’t have to live that way.  If you are in an abusive relationship or discounted in your work place or abused by your government, either stand up unconditionally for what is right or get the heck outta there.  If you could send a message to your younger self, the girl arriving in America with just one suitcase, what would you say to her today? Believe in yourself and work hard towards your goal - as even if it doesn’t happen for you, the payoff is in the journey and quest rather than in the achievement. And I am living proof of that advice.

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