Sepand Samzadeh

Sepand Samzadeh (born 21 September 1975) is an American-Canadian-Iranian musician and producer. He is the co-founder, lead guitarist, and songwriter of post-progressive rock and art rock band Days Between Stations.

Early life and education

Born in Tehran, Iran, Samzadeh moved to Marbella, Spain in 1981 at the age of 6. He attended a private American Catholic school. In 1986, Samzadeh and his family moved to Toronto, Canada. In April 1989, Samzadeh’s father bought him his first guitar -a Charvel Spectrum and he started a punk rock band in high school.

Samzadeh’s family moved to Los Angeles, California and he took the SAT’s so he could attend a university in California. He was accepted to the University of Toronto’s mechanical engineering program and his family moved to Los Angeles in September 1994. After graduating with a mechanical engineering degree in 1999, Samzadeh worked three years in a steel mill in Hamilton, Ontario. In 2001, he moved to Los Angeles and began his MBA degree from Pepperdine University.

Career

In fall 2003, Samzadeh placed an ad in a local magazine and Oscar Fuentes responded.^[1] The two began composing music and Fuentes suggested a name for the band, Days Between Stations – the name of a novel Fuentes had read by Steve Erikson. In 2004, Fuentes and Samzadeh sent Bruce Soord, leader of the British band The Pineapple Thief, a CD of mostly improvised material. Soord used some of this material as the basis for the song "Saturday" on The Pineapple Thief's 12 Stories Down (Cyclops 2004).^[2]

To help flesh out their sound in the studio, the band contacted former Young Dubliners drummer Jon Mattox in 2005. Mattox joined as drummer and co-producer. The band further enlisted guitarist Jeremy Castillo, Argentinian-born bassist Vivi Rama, sax player Jason Hemmens, singer Hollie Shepard, trumpeter Sean Erick and trombonist Kevin Williams. Their eponymous debut CD was released in October 2007 on Bright Orange Records.

In 2008, Fuentes and Samzadeh began working on their second album. In 2012, Fuentes and Samzadeh, looking for a vocalist, were introduced to Billy Sherwood, who co-produced the album, co-wrote the lyrics and mixed In Extremis. Sherwood also helped arrange the song “The Man Who Died Two Times”. Peter Banks was the first to be brought into the project. Banks had praised the band on their debut album^[3] and became and instrumental force on two songs, Eggshell Man and In Extremis. Tony Levin played bass on the entire CD. Rick Wakeman and Colin Moulding delivered their contributions to Eggshell Man and the Man Who Died Two Times, respectively.

In Extremis, the Days Between Stations second album, was released May 15, 2013. The album ranked on many of 2013's top 10 Progressive rock albums.^[4]

Personal life

Samzadeh resides in Los Angeles, California and maintains a studio in San Fernando Valley. His wife, Shideh Ovaysikia gave birth to their first child in February 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Samzadeh serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls of San Fernando Valley, Val*Pac, VICA and at Pepperdine University. He has also served as a City Commissioner for the City of Los Angeles.

Discography

Compact disks

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sepand Samzadeh.

• Days Between Stations Homepage
• Days Between Stations at last.fm