We/Or/Me's Journey To 'The Walking Hour'

By Casey Moffitt in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 1, 2013 7:00PM

Roman dramatist Lucius Annaeus Seneca said "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity," and this nugget of wisdom certainly can be applied when talking about Bahhaj Taherzadeh's journey producing his latest album, The Walking Hour, under the moniker We/Or/Me. The Irishman emigrated to Chicago about 11 years ago right around the time he began writing and performing his music. Taherzadeh is without label support and recorded the album at home on his computer, yet he still managed to attract some heavy hitters to contribute to his latest effort.

Local producer Brian Deck sought out Taherzadeh to work on a project, and Deck agreed to mix the record. Vashti Bunyan, a British folk singer who made a name for herself in the 1960s before disappearing from the scene for more than 30 years, added a vocal track to a song entitled "Time." And Anis Mojgani, a two time National Poetry Slam champion, International Poetry Slam champion and founder of the touring company Poetry Revival, also agreed to recite one of his poems on the album. "Putting this album together was exciting, maybe even more so than actually releasing it," Taherzadeh said. "All these people who became involved with it - it was quite a surprise."

The Walking Hour is deeply rooted in the sounds of British folk from the '60s and '70s, while adding a layer of ambient instrumentation. "Managing that dreamy texture with song-based music is kind of the idea where I wanted to go," Taherzadeh said. "I've been listening to a lot of Townes Van Zandt, Gary Clark, Steve Earle and of course Leonard Cohen. I've also been listening to a lot of ambient instrumental music like Philip Glass and Brian Eno." Taherzadeh works with a number of local musicians who contribute to the album playing the double bass, drums and backing vocals on The Walking Hour. Other collaborators never made it Taherzadeh's home studio to contribute. He sent files to them through email instead, and they were sent back to him with the additions. Because of this, and his attempt to mix his own work on his previous album The Sleeping City, he thought it best to ask for help mixing the album. "I did it all myself, except for the mastering," he said in regards to producing The Sleeping City. "It nearly destroyed my brain. It took over my life. And at a certain point, it just stops sounding like music." "I have a full-time job and twin girls at home," he continued. "This was during the first year and half of their lives. I thought (mixing The Walking Hour) would be a crazy thing to do at this time. If I'm going to continue to make music, I have to find a balance in life. For my own sanity and the sanity of my family, I have to find a balance."

Taherzadeh said he was thinking of people he would like to mix his new album when he received an unsolicited email from Deck. "I couldn't believe it," Taherzadeh said. "This guy has produced some of my favorite albums and he is saying he'd like to work with me." Deck said he received a copy of The Sleeping City from a colleague as the pair were talking about future projects. "I was really struck by it," Deck said. "It has intelligent lyrics, and Bahhaj has an engaging voice. There was cool guitar playing on it. It just had a lot of tasteful elements. He's an engaging songwriter, and I dig it." Deck said he rarely gets mix-only projects on his desk, and it provides a certain degree of challenge. "Usually when I receive a project to produce someone, they're right there and you know what they're after," Deck explained. "With a mix-only project, you have to try to get a clue as to what the artist is thinking. You have to get those pieces in order to put together the jigsaw puzzle. But Bahhaj was really easy to work with." Taherzadeh said working with Deck was an eye-opening experience, as it allowed him to look at his own music in a different way, having another set of ears listening to it and sharing ideas to form the album.

Deck said he was especially surprised to hear Vashti Bunyan's voice on the album as he mixed it. "She adds that element on one song," Deck said. "It seemed pretty random." As Taherzadeh explained, it actually was almost a random happening. He said he had reached out to Bunyan through her website, just to talk about his music and creating it. He said he was shocked to get a personal response from her, and more so when she asked him to send her a song. So he sent "Time" to her to see what would happen next. "I wrote the song in about five minutes," Taherzadeh said. "It was almost like a throwaway song. It has just a few words and it's pretty simple, but I liked it and I though there was space for another voice on it." He sent the song to Bunyan and asked if she would consider putting her voice on it. Weeks passed and Taherzadeh did not hear back from her. "I thought, you know, I'm not going to badger Vashti Bunyan," he said. "But I was getting to the point of mixing, so I decided to write back." What he received in turn was apologetic message with a promise to add her voice to the song. Soon afterward, Taherzadeh had Vashti Bunyan singing on his composition. "It's still surreal to talk about it out loud," he said. "It was real magic to get those tracks. To hear her voice on my song is just so crazy." "It's also exciting because now there's a tangible link to a time and place in music that has influenced my work," he continued. "I had no tangible link to 60s and 70s British folk music myself, but now I have someone from that movement on the album."

Taherzadeh also expressed his excitement to have Anis Mojgani included on the album. Mojgani recited his poem "From the Top of This Thing" on a track with the same title. Mojgani (through email) said that he met Taherzadeh through a mutual friend. The three share the same religion of Baha'i Faith, and when Taherzadeh visited Mojgani's hometown of Austin, Texas they got together. "I had actually come across some of We/Or/Me via the music blog Said The Gramophone a spell ago, so was happy to learn that I had already been introduced to Bahhaj's music if not he himself," Mojgani said. Their friend had set up a show where the both of them performed—Taherzadeh his music and Mojgani his poetry. "Spoken-word poetry was something that I was not attracted to, had any knowledge of or any interest in," Taherzadeh said. "But there is a quality in Mojgani's that inspires and got my interest." Taherzadeh sent Mojgani the music, and Mojgani sent back tracks with four different poems recited. Taherzadeh chose "From the Top of This Thing" himself. Mogjani said he often gets requests to collaborate with musicians, but rarely finds the time to follow through with them. However, Taherzadeh's song struck him. "It's a lovely song that's strong enough to stand on its own but has the space inside of it for other things to join it, which I would say is a good recipe for both collaborations, for music and poetry coming together," Mojgani said. "And time-wise it didn't take much commitment on my end, simply sitting down at home one evening and recording a handful of poems. So it all came together pretty easily on my end." Mojgani also said it was exciting Taherzadeh was working with Deck on the album. "The Moon & Antarctica, which he produced, is one of my all-time favorite albums," Mojgani said.

Taherzadeh said the We/Or/Me moniker is meant to convey a sense of community and collaboration, and he feels this latest project is a confirmation of that. "I like the idea of fostering a community through the process," he said. "It makes it more meaningful." Taherzadeh even funded the project through Kickstarter, adding to the element of collaboration. "It's pretty powerful knowing there are more people out there who feel something and want to contribute," he said. "It continues that idea of people coming together to support a project." Even Deck admits that it's not entirely surprising to see an artist like Taherzadeh, who has no backing from the music establishment, put together a project like The Walking Hour in today's music climate. "The business end of it has changed so much," Deck said. "Established people in this business better be looking for people with talent, or they are going to get left behind. I know I have a bad reputation. People think I'm not interested in working with local artists. It's hard for me to find them. I mean, I don't hang out at the clubs anymore because of how fucking old I am." However, for Taherzadeh, it's been an wild journey which encourages him to continue his musical pursuits. "It's definitely a confirming aspect to have all these people jump on board," he said.

We/Or/Me is scheduled to perform October 24 in Szold Hall at the Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N Lincoln Ave, 8 p.m., $15, all ages