ABOUT RASTAK

"Rastak," in Farsi, means a newly born plant that grows at the bottom of a tree. Sometimes it grows taller and stronger than the main tree itself. So, it can be interpreted as a plant with its roots in the ground, containing all the essential elements of life, when it is fully grown. We, the Rastak music group, like the "Rastak" natural process, have borrowed the background of our music from the roots of our history and culture. We have been using ethnic-based themes with our specific arrangement to connect with a more extensive range of the audience worldwide for years.
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Rastak is one of the most well-known bands in Iranian contemporary folk music, which was formed as an experimental music group in 1997. The group seeks to collect, record, and interpret Iranian folk music for a global audience. Rastak incorporates language, culture, and history, merging traditional instruments and forms with contemporary rhythms.

CONCERTS & FESTIVALS

Rastak has performed in many international music festivals and concerts held in Iran, England, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Chile, Poland, Turkey, Georgia, Belgium, Oman, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh [Dhaka International Folk Fest 2017], Iraq, Erbil, United Arab Emirates, etc.

Photos By: Vahid Barzegaran, Samannaz Namavar

Band Members

Rastak comprises diverse musicians who bring their talents and styles to the group. The members of Rastak come from various musical backgrounds, which has helped us create a truly distinctive sound that blends the old and the new.

Siamak Sepehri

Musician

Art Director, Co-Founder, and Tar Player

Farzad Moradi

Musician

Lead vocal, Tanbur, Divan, Setar, Dotar, Qupoz, Oud

Behzad Moradi

Musician

Lead vocal, Daf, Percussion

Dina Doosti

Musician

Kamancheh, Kamancheh Alto, Gheychak

Akbar Esmaeilipour

Musician

Oud, Tar, Setar

Majid Poosti

Musician

Percussion

Sahar Rashidi

Musician

Qanun

Guest Artists

We have been blessed to have chance working with great musicians and Ustads from different parts of Iran. Some of the musicians that we have had the pleasure of collaborating with include Gholamali Pourataee, Ashiq Imran Heydari, Mashallah Bameri, Safar Ali Ramezani, Bijan Kamkar, Vahid Asadollahi, Mohammad Ali Delnavaz, Naser Vahdati, Gholam Hossein Nazari, Ehsan Asadollahi, and Mohsen Sharifian,

Previous Members

Omid Mostafavi, Hamed Bolandhemmat, Yasaman Najmeddin, Parisa Inanloo, Yavar Ahmadifar, Mohammad Mazhari, Piran Mohajeri, Sepehr Saadati, Sara Naderi, Kaveh Sarvarian, Yaser Navazandeh, Farzad Khorshidsavar, Negar Ezazi, Saba Jamali, Reza Abedia, Sahar Ebrahim, Nima Niktab, Sara Ahmadi, Hosna Parsa, Danoosh Asadpour, Bita Ghasemi

ALBUM

Dance with Rastak

Inspired by different genres of folk dances in Iran, we chose Dance as a theme for this album. Dance with Rastak, our 6th album, is released in two audio and video editions and comprises folk songs from ethnicities such as Azerbaijan, Dezful, Kerman, Kurdistan, Khurasan, and Shiraz.

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ALBUMS

For the past two decades, Rastak's experimental music works of art, deep research, and fieldwork have focused on the sonic features of Iranian folklore and its diverse, multicultural ethnic groups resulting in different compositions like movie soundtracks, theatre text music, six music albums, and eight single tracks.
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