Nima Kazerouni aka the face and voice behind LA-based projects, Crown Plaza and So Many Wizards, has joined forces with two other local Eastside mainstays, Ryder Bach (of Body Parts) and Frank Maston (of Maston) to celebrate the holiday season and give back with pair of new tracks. “Ex-Miss” ft. Ryder Bach and “Dear Santa, This World Is Strange” ft. Frank Maston are available via bandcamp with all proceeds being donated to the Children of the Night Organization.
SeagateCreative: What was the inspiration behind the X-Mas with Crown Plaza and Friends holiday collaboration and what inspired this specific idea?
Nima Kazerouni: Well I write and record music almost 365 days of the year. For personal reasons as the holidays neared, I started to feel the magic of this season so I decided to focus a week towards making some great X-Mas tracks. I love nothing more than collaborating with my friends so naturally I got my two best buds Frank Maston and Ryder Bach involved. When I asked them, they jumped right on board.
Frank Maston: For as long as I’ve known him Nima (Crown Plaza) has recorded a Christmas or Holiday song every year. This year, I was lucky enough to be a part of such a cool project.
SeagateCreative: How did you choose the charity, Children of the Night?
Nima Kazerouni: I found out about this great organization through “Indie Music Cares” who actually put together a charity event earlier this month that So Many Wizards played. They need a lot of help and the cause is such a necessary one.
Frank Maston: It’s a cause that has meant a lot to all of us and I’m thrilled to do what I can to help support their work.
SeagateCreative: When it comes to collaboration with other bands, what tips do you have for working together on a project?
Nima Kazerouni: I think the most important things are clear communication between the collaborators and to keep an open mind. 9 times out of 10 the result will be amazing and unexpected.
Frank Maston: Yes, definitely. Also keep organized and go with your instincts and as Nima said, communication is key.
SeagateCreative: In that same vein, what’s the process of getting song collaborations completed?
Nima Kazerouni: For the Crown Plaza “Ex-Miss” track, I started with recording the basic layout of keys, vocals and a drum synth. I then sent the track over to Ryder and gave him an idea of what I was looking for but really trusted his judgment on what the song needed. After a couple of days, he laid down amazing guitar and bass lines and that was that. Ryder does amazing work with his band Body Parts and I knew that he would keep the same level of amazing with this collaboration.
For “Dear Santa, This World is Strange“, I laid down the same basic blue print of keys, vocals and guitar. I know Frank is a master at laying down percussion and anything else through his project Maston. I originally just told him to make it sound “Christmasy” with sleigh bells and other percussive elements but Frank like he always does went the extra mile and laid down a symphony of percussion tracks as well as trumpet and other horns. I laid down one really great horn track with my mouth. He doesn’t get credit for that. J
Frank Maston: Nima and I have collaborated on many songs together and it’s usually a back and forth through email. When we write songs together we’d be sitting across from each other in a room, but when we work on recordings we’ll split up and send each other tracks until we agree on something.
SeagateCreative: Do either of you have a particular ritual you perform prior to writing?
Nima Kazerouni: I always try to meditate before I write or find some other way of clearing my mind. The beach or the desert is a really helpful mind clearer, and then I just pick up an instrument and see what happens. When I like something, I’ll quickly record it through quick time movie since I have the worst memory when it comes to going back to work on it. I have libraries of ideas and luckily, multiple Seagate drives to hold them…no joke.
Frank Maston: For me it’s best to just relax and letting it happen naturally.
SeagateCreative: Is there a piece of gear or equipment that’s helped give you a creative breakthrough?
Nima Kazerouni: Finding the write keyboard always brings a surge of new material and ideas. I have about 6 keyboards ranging from the early 80’s, 90’s to current times and they all have been huge in bringing a new pallet to the table.
Frank Maston: Being able to record myself with a tape recorder at a young age was the catalyst for any creativity since. It’s endlessly important to save and hear ideas, develop them out of context.
SeagateCreative: What gear is your favorite to ignite that creative spark?
Nima Kazerouni: My latest find is a Casio HT- 700.
Frank Maston: Probably my graphic EQ because it very dramatically changes the character of a sound without much effort.
SeagateCreative: How does this gear affect your creative process.
Nima Kazerouni: It looks like a toy from the early 80’s but it’s clearly not. Right now this is my favorite instrument as I’ve programmed such amazing and inspiring tones to work with.
Frank Maston: For me, it allows you change the context of a sound until it’s what you envisioned — like using very fine grain sand paper.
SeagateCreative: Any advice you’d give to an aspiring artist?
Nima Kazerouni: The most important advice I’d give is to take all the doubt out of the equation. If what you are creating makes you excited, pursue it because there are no rules.
Frank Maston: Trust your instincts!
SeagateCreative: What’s next from you that we can look forward to after the holiday?
Nima Kazerouni: Aside from future collaborations with Ryder and Frank, I’m currently working on the follow up to Crown Plaza’s “Chem Waves Volume 1” Ep that was released in October. So Many Wizards is also recording the follow up to the debut “Warm Nothing” LP. I couldn’t be more excited and thankful for what’s been laid down so far for both projects. I can’t wait to unleash them in 2013.
Frank Maston: Lots of good things coming. Standby for another holiday song next year.
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