{"id":6432,"date":"2024-03-07T09:35:51","date_gmt":"2024-03-07T09:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/?p=6432"},"modified":"2024-03-07T09:35:52","modified_gmt":"2024-03-07T09:35:52","slug":"blog-interview-amir-ekbatani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/2024\/03\/07\/blog-interview-amir-ekbatani\/","title":{"rendered":"Blog interview: Amir Ekbatani"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe style=\"border-radius:12px\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/artist\/0OUjOqlUrj4BNqtpE9w1np?utm_source=generator\" width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" frameBorder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-435x435.jpg 435w, https:\/\/platinummind.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AMIR-EKBATANI-5000x50000-1-60x60.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div><b>Hello Amir how are you?<br \/><\/b><\/div>\n<div>Feeling good and grateful, thanks!<br \/><br \/><b>Congratulations on the release of \u201cTell Me You Love Me\u201d how does it feel?<br \/><\/b><br \/>It\u2019s nice to send this out into the world. I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time with it and I&#8217;m happy to see where it goes. So far people have seemed to really dig it and that always feels good. <br \/><br \/><\/div>\n<div><b>What\u2019s the story behind the song?<br \/><\/b><br \/>TMYLM began as a sad song about an ex-girlfriend who was not very good to me. I was so angry when I first started writing it. But I couldn\u2019t finish it while focused on the bad. So I instead focused on the good part of that relationship, which was that in the beginning\u2026it was really fun. The thrill of the chase of someone new. The ups and downs and twists and turns in navigating dating a stranger. <br \/><br \/>This particular adventure didn\u2019t end so well for me. But it began really beautifully. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes in life, but this is about a time when I didn\u2019t know I was making a mistake in chasing someone who was unavailable. I thought I could win them over and there is an excitement to that thought process. <br \/><br \/>I think it\u2019s easy to demonize our exes but we forget why it hurts so bad to lose them: because they also made us feel really good. In this particular scenario, ignorance was bliss and I haven\u2019t been able to be that dumb simp ever since. This is my homage to being a silly hopeless romantic. <br \/><br \/><b>You used a variety of vintage instruments on there &#8211; what\u2019s your go to?<\/b><\/div>\n<div><br \/>I started collecting vintage analog synthesizers before I even really knew how to create sounds on them. This song really forced me to dig deep within my instruments to create what I was hearing in my head. Although I ended up using the Juno 106 for the bulk of the sounds, I think the OB-X8 became my favorite synth in the process. It\u2019s just so powerful and musical. It\u2019s hard to NOT make a cool sound on it. <br \/><br \/><b>You\u2019re an artist from Los Angeles how did it all begin for you?<\/b><br \/><br \/>I was an athlete my whole life, having played college football. That turned into a career in fitness. Music had always been my dream but I didn\u2019t grow up playing it and I didn\u2019t know \u201cthe rules\u201d. So I went back to college for it in 2019, and slowly started building chops and confidence. In 2022, I decided to remove everything from my life that didn\u2019t serve my goals of playing\/making music for a living. I moved to Montana and built a studio where I could live and create in nature, as undistracted as possible. I just started releasing music in 2024, so\u2026.in a way, it\u2019s just now beginning. And I&#8217;ve never been more on fire for something. <br \/><br \/><b>What did you listen to growing up?<br \/><\/b><br \/>I \u00a0listened to a lot of different music. When I was a small boy I loved pop icons like Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey, Prince, and Whitney Houston. As an adolescent, I loved hip-hop. As a teenager, I listened to a lot of rock\/hardcore\/metal\/alternative. In college, I discovered Jazz and fell in love. As an adult, I found electronic music and have really enjoyed going to electronic concerts\/festivals. At the end of the day I just love real songs and unique sounds, so I&#8217;ve never been able to contain myself to one genre. I find the same for my own music. <br \/><br \/><b>You\u2019ve taught yourself how to play the keyboard, sing, and guitar. What for you was the hardest? <br \/><\/b><br \/>Singing is the hardest thing I&#8217;ve ever done in my life. It\u2019s the most vulnerable act I think a human can do, especially when you\u2019re singing your own songs. The hardest part about it is the necessity of remaining calm while being completely scared\/nervous because if you\u2019re not relaxed you run into a whole slew of issues as a singer\u2026.intonation problems, poor vocal technique, etc. On top of all the technical and emotional obstacles, you also have to be engaging the crowd in a genuine way to keep their attention and to best tell your story, while not being a total cheeseball. It&#8217;s just the ultimate act of being one&#8217;s true self, usually in front of hostile strangers. Terrifying but so fulfilling.<br \/><br \/><b>It seems you have a love for 80s pop culture, what\u2019s your favourite 80s film?<br \/><\/b><br \/>I do! I love the 1980s. I think it\u2019s between Cocktail or Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off. <br \/><br \/><b>What are you listening to at the moment?<br \/><\/b><br \/>I love the new releases by Gesaffelstein and Justice and can\u2019t wait for their new albums. <br \/><br \/><b>What are you looking forward to doing next?<\/b><br \/><br \/>I\u2019ll be releasing two more singles leading to my debut album releasing by September 2024. Working hard on that and learning a ton.<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hello Amir how are you? Feeling good and grateful, thanks! Congratulations on the release of \u201cTell Me You Love Me\u201d how does it feel?It\u2019s nice to send this out into the world. I&#8217;ve spent a lot of time with it and I&#8217;m happy to see where it goes. So far people have seemed to really &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6433,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191,118,129,52,247,31,131,132,30,37,180,149,142,73,150,243,126],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative","category-bass","category-drums","category-guitar","category-interview","category-keyboards","category-los-angeles","category-lyricist","category-music","category-piano","category-pop","category-pop-music","category-producer","category-singer-songwriter","category-songwriter","category-u-s","category-vocals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6432"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6434,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6432\/revisions\/6434"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/platinummind.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}