Imaad Wasif worked with Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) on the Spike Jonze directed Where The Wild Things Are movie. (Btw, excitement level for that movie? So incredibly high. But are only hipsters hyperventilating over it? Thoughts in the comments, please!)
Anyway, back to Imaad. From the Iggy blog:
Wasif grew up in Palm Springs, California, transplanted by two Indian parents who had eloped. They were both artists, natch and in the boat from India, their classical Indian records got drenched. The covers all melted together-but they still played. In the desert, he grew up listening to those and all the pop tunes that would warble in faintly over an old Sears radio. It’s those aesthetics that Wasif has since sought to combine-classical trills, pop weighed down by static, and the psych-folk inherent in a hippie-dippie desert upbringing.
His new album is due on October 13th. Check out his video for “Oceanic.” He’s backed by Two Part Beast:
Uh, so that mask is pretty terrifying. Photos of his uncovered face and other videos here.
Thx for the post – like the music. Definitely Indie rock and roll.
And heck no – the WTWTA movie is not a hipster-only love affair, I’ve been waiting for a year for it and have already read an early version of the script (let me know if anyone wants a .pdf copy). Looks soooo good. Can’t wait. Just gave the book as a gift last month at a baby shower.
Also – the Yeah Yeah Yeahs rock. Especially like the sing Maps.
not just hipsters, hip hoper, trip topper, trance dance, rude boi too.
is it me or does he have giant hands?
great song, i can imagine being in the summer festival, sun shining and hearing this. sound as a pound.
mask is indeed freaky
This makes for a good press release but I dont buy it. That said, I am excited for the movie.
wow, does he actually own this “hippie dippie” description? Those who’ve actually lived it, generally don’t hold the freak flag high when they go charging into societies they wish to occupy as an accepted peer. Although I’m sure I could get some additional job security by telling management that I trace my story back to the opening minutes of Woodstock.
You are on a hot streak cicatrix. Naseeruddin Shah, Wasif… The Voidist rocks, or folks, or some such thing.
For those who are interested, here is a draft of the script:
http://www.zshare.net/download/66014919fe092236/
Funny thing is, on the IMDB boards, lots of ‘this is a stupid hipster movie’ threads with just as many ‘stop calling this a stupid hipster movie’ responses.
I hate labels. I think the various trailers look amazing, especially the first one using Arcade Fire’s ‘Wake Up’ – very moving. Anyway, enjoy.
Also – this artist kind of looked like an Indian Vincent Gallo.
this is awesome!
Someone help me out here – why are there so many reposts of stuff on MTV Iggy? Do SM and Iggy have a partnership?
Piyush, this wasn’t written from a management press release but good catch…I checked with the writer and it’s sort of misleading. The covers got damaged, not the records. I get irritated when people exoticize themselves or their backgrounds too, and in this case Imaad didn’t. She’s going to rewrite and I’ll update this post. He talks about his family in this great interview: http://larecord.com/interviews/2008/04/05/sat-apr-5-imaad-wasif-with-two-part-beast-interview/
AT Sorry for reposting so much. SM doesn’t have a partnership with MTV Iggy, but I work here and blog over here with stuff that I think might interest SM readers. I disclosed this back in May: http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/005744.html
he seems awfully convinced that these “ragas” he admits knowing nothing about have somehow entered his subconscious and are inducing paralysis.
hey, when you’re raised on “east indian classical music,” the details are less than unimportant–it’s how it makes you ‘feel.’
seem to get http 500 errors consistently when i click on the “discuss” button or try to look at the full page version of the post.
Yes, there is an error on the genetics post- I tried refreshing after posting my comment, and ended up posting twice- Even though I cannot read it now.
What a dork.
Is it to hipsterish? Well, lets see.
So far they have “The Arcade Fire” as the music for the commerical and a guy in a mask for no damn reason on the beach just walking about, for a song off of its soundtrack.
The hipsters have ever reason in the world to pretend like they are not excited about this movie.
And there is a $600 “Max suit” costume for grown ups, so they can dress up like the kid from this movie.
Here is the costume picture if you guys want it.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/akdobbins/610-max-suit
Its not hipsters who are excited about this movie. All white people are looking forward to it.
SWPLs, hipsters. Is there really a difference? SWPL was never actually about white people. Wasif looks more like a SWPL than 99% of white people I know.
cicatrix , I just love ur posts. When can we meet??
whats a hipster?
Just saw this movie last night and thought I’d give some feedback.
It was a very well made film which really captured a lot of the things you can go through as a child, especially when the world is changing and you don’t understand why. So many emotions which conflict with each other and the world. The kid who played Max (and is actually named Max) has a face that is an expressive prism – so many scenes where he doesn’t say anything but his face would tell you everything you needed to know. So many fun scenes with the monsters but also an ongoing sense of danger and violence just peeking through. The scenes with Max and his mom are also very, very moving. It’s a film that is able to show a lot without having to say too much – and the cinematography and shots are just amazing. That is my humble opinion and I don’t want to hype it up too much – but if you don’t over-analyze in a linear way, it is very, very enjoyable. The music is very appealing as well and I will definitely be getting the soundtrack.