HJirok is less a person than a concept: It is a journey into the past and its connection to the present. And somehow it is also timeless. It will sound shamanistic to some, repetitive to others. Behind all this is Hani Mojtahedy, telling a story: her story. »HJirok« was created in Erbil, in the Kurdish part of Iraq. During one of her visits there, Mojtahedy and her producer Andi Toma recorded some percussionists playing the melodies and sounds Mojtahedy grew up with. »The Sufi sound has travelled all over the world. I like to think of it as a dialogue between peoples—a dialogue based on the rhythms of the drums and the sound of their voices.« Rhythmic structures meet field recordings to create soundscapes that stand outside of time. The musician, who now lives in Berlin, has not been allowed to return to her homeland since 2010 because of her activism on behalf of the Kurdish people. Nevertheless, her music is meant to give one thing above all else: hope. »The lyrics are about a promise,« says Mojtahedy, »about the day when violence and fear will be a thing of the past. They say not to give up and to keep hoping.«
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Hjirok
