Born and raised within the Iranian musical tradition, this project is the most personal to Farya Faraji.

One of his central aims is to challenge the dominance of Orientalist musical tropes within the global pop-cultural imagination. “Pseudo–Middle Eastern” music—a fun but limited Western style shaped by cinematic convention—has, through decades of cultural hegemony in Western media, often overridden public awareness of the true modal traditions of the region: dastgāh, makam, and the many other sophisticated musical systems spanning from India to the Balkans and Morocco. One of Faraji’s core missions is to reveal this vast musical treasure trove: the interconnected modal traditions of the broader Eastern world.

The representation of Iranian music stands at the heart of this project, with themes ranging from the rich mythology of Iran to its long and layered history.