THE BEDROOM WITCH

Tell us about your musical background. Where are you from and how did you get started in music?

I was born in Tehran, Iran and immigrated to the United States (specifically Los Angeles) at two years old. I grew up with musician parents. My mother is a piano, voice and multi-instrument teacher who is classically trained in piano, the tar (6-stringed Persian instrument) and voice; my dad can pick up almost any Persian instrument and play it. That said, I grew up in a musically rich environment watching my parents compose traditional Persian folk music together and began piano lessons at 6 years old with my mom.  I always wanted to write my own music. I’d hear full arrangements in my head and all that I could really translate that into as an elementary school kid was writing lyrics and singing them out loud while the compositions played in my head.  By the time I reached high school I was gifted a MicroKorg XL, a recording interface, and a drum machine that my sister left me. My experimentation with the type of music I wanted to make took off from there.  I played around with some synth styles and sounds and renamed my solo project a couple of times until I named myself The Bedroom Witch at 19. I was living in the Bay Area at that point for undergrad.  Through my sister I met a lot of queer punks that were making innovative music in San Francisco and Oakland that was very inspiring.  The more time I spent in that scene, I ended up getting asked to play more and more shows and have been performing as The Bedroom Witch since 2013.



How has your experience as a transgender artist influenced your music and songwriting?

I look at being a trans woman, making art and music, as a total gift and a blessing that fuels such a unique perspective to my craft.  I think that just being a person existing outside of society’s ideas of what’s considered to be conventional or acceptable gives me a lot of freedom in my composing and writing process to access an immaterial void that people tend to be hesitant to tap into.  My music might seem pretty structured off of a “pop” conventional type of foundation because it is but there will always be this off putting and deconstructed weirdo element to the sound that's truly informed by my own understanding of self. 

“As a trans woman, navigating through this world that actively chooses not to see girls like me and meets us with violence instead of understanding, I choose to make up my own rules of existence.”

How I move through the world, how I view interpersonal relationships, and even how I understand my own sound as an artist exists without any clear limits or definitions.  In a lot of ways, communicating my mind through art has become its own language that I’m urging people to try and decode. The cool thing about using pop as a foundation for the music is that even the most complex thoughts and ideas I have can become filtered through a palatable sonic frequency of pop structure to reach people. I could write about the strangest, most heartbreaking concept but if there’s a repetitive beat accompanying it there’s a connecting point for the listener already established.  Songs are spells and a part of that spellwork, for me, is trying to communicate how complicated my brain is through the digestibility of a verse/chorus, then repeat iteration of music.   



Are there any transgender musicians who have inspired or influenced your music or career?

My older sister. I’ve literally looked up to her my entire life and I can’t think of anyone or anything that’s influenced or inspired me more to create in the style or medium that I’m creating today.  My sister’s been in electronic bands, has her own ongoing solo project Moths Protect Me that’s a genius amalgamation of 80s freestyle, industrial and synthpop and she was also in a harsh noise trio named SBSM.  She introduced me to some of the most innovative music in my formative years and also introduced me to so many queer/trans artists and musician friends who embraced me early in my music/performance career and I owe so much of my individual creative confidence to her and the people I met through her.



Can you talk about any specific projects or songs where you've felt a deep connection with/personal journey in your music?

The entire Bedroom Witch universe/lore has been a deep and personal journey for me.  Just like that visual trope of a bulletin board with pushpins connecting the strings - everything that I create is a connecting point to a past and future concept.  In a lot of ways, the creation myth of the Bedroom Witch exists in a parallel universe to my own. Everything that happens to me in this dimension happens simultaneously in that world.  I can’t say too much right now but with my last album A Place of Hurt something happened in the very last track “Procession” that I believe manifested a major vibe shift with the trajectory of the Bedroom Witch universe and I’m excited to keep exploring more what’s happening in this world I built in my head.        



Are there any upcoming projects, tours, or collaborations you're excited about sharing? 

Right now, I’m deep in the recording and mixing phase of a new record.  It’s 8 tracks and the energy/flow of this new work is something I’m really excited about completing and sharing when it’s ready.  On November 10th I’ll be performing a show in Oakland at Spire Church with Godgifu and Pillowprince celebrating the one year anniversary of my latest release A Place of Hurt, out on Psychic Eye Records and Ratskin Records. Brought to you by Haven Goth Events and Hot Goth GF Radio.

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