An Interview with Jorge Strunz and Ardeshir Farah
by Dan Liss
An Interview with Jorge Strunz and Ardeshir Farah
by Dan Liss
Touring
recently after the release of their latest album, Wild Muse, I had an opportunity
to ask Jorge Strunz and Ardeshir Farah a few questions after their concert at
Variety Playhouse. What is ever more impressive is realizing that these two
talented guitarists are bothself taught. That seems amazing when you consider
the breadth and depth of the material they play and their knowledge of music.
DL: You are from two very different parts of the world, Costa Rica and Iran. How did you meet?
AF: I heard Jorge play when he had another band, and I thought I'd like to play with him. I had moved to Los Angeles to go to the university, and after the revolution, I didn't want to go back. Another person that I had known in London who also played guitar gave me his number and I called him. That was in 1979.
DL: The style you play seems more than just flamenco. What would you call it?
JS: Most people when they think of acoustic guitar and fingerpicking styles, automatically use the term flamenco, although there is rumba and other styles within the whole repertoire of Spanish guitar playing. Maybe we could call it more Afro-Latin, but I would say that our style is more of a world music than any one culture.
DL: You don't seem to make a lot of eye contact onstage. How do you keep such a tight interplay going?
JS: It is in the timing of the measures. We know when to solo and come back by the beats. That is the way we switch cycles.
DL: What inspires your compositions?
JS: Many of them come from the terrain of my home in Costa Rica, nature and the seasons. Emotions bring out tenderness and broaden the range of the music.
DL: You originally recorded for other labels and now you have your own. How has that worked out for you?
JS: With most labels, you are just one of the groups they represent and they can't afford to put too much time into any one group's music. Now that we have our own company, we have people who really care about our music and spend all their attention on just helping us to market our music and make it better known. So they can really concentrate their efforts better. This seems to work for us.
Check out their website at: http://www.strunzandfarah.com/
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