Dastgâmachine (Mahmood Schricker, Caleb Klager, and Jason Rule) embrace a legible and unique form of psychedelia, incorporating the sounds and production techniques of dub, techno, and musique concrete into the Dastgâ system of arranging classical Persian art music. The three come from disparate scenes and sound worlds: Mahmood (on setar) from a traditional composition background, with years of performance and soundtrack experience; Caleb (on electronics) having gone from studying jazz composition to creating full throttle techno alongside performing in jazz ensembles and live at MUTEK; and Jason (on turntables) having experience with computer music ensembles and over 15 years of radio and club DJing under their belt in multiple countries.
They honed their sound through their riotous monthly “Infinite Jest” residency at Tapestry, giving a platform for alternative musicians from the diaspora in Toronto in the middle of one of the last holdout neighbourhoods not completely subsumed by condos and placeless architecture. Shows at the Aga Khan Museum, Revival, and TD Music Hall exposed more formal audiences to experimental works not frequently heard in that calibre of venue.
Their debut self-titled EP of live excerpts from Tapestry will be released in February 2025 through Mahmood’s label Link Music Lab, founded to explore the intersections and avenues within Persian and Western composition. Link’s live nights present musicians at the forefront of electronics, jazz, and the classical musics of Iran and Europe, while club nights focus on the artists less focused on algorithms and zeitgeists over long-term visions – legacy artists (A Guy Called Gerald, The Tiger Lillies, Rana Farhan, Vladimir Ivkovic) and younger innovators alike (Elena Colombi, Korea Town Acid, Sepehr).
Dastgâmachine
