theoudplayer

Proceeds to Aid Homeless in Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA – Viza is back at the Key Club for the second annual Feed the Need benefit show, set to take place the night before Thanksgiving, November 24, 2010. Viza will be joined that evening with a lineup of some of LA’s hottest bands such as Valley Circle, LeaveItAlone, Prisoners of Disguise, R-Mean and Opus Dai.  Each person attending will help benefit The Los Angeles Mission, a non-profit organization serving the homeless in Downtown Los Angeles.

“We are musicians but we are also members of the Los Angeles community, and we want to support a great cause in helping the homeless – especially during a time of year where people are supposed to give thanks,” said Viza’s Andrew Kzirian.  “This is our way of trying to make a difference – and it also gives fans a chance to contribute to a worthwhile effort,” he added.

Building off the enormous success of last year’s Feed the Need concert at the Troubadour, Viza continues to establish a strong track record of social activism on community issues including helping the destitute, donating funds for orphanages and raising awareness of human rights tragedies through genocide prevention education.  Last year’s concert raised over $1200 dollars for the Los Angeles Mission and also featured a special guest appearance by System of a Down front man Serj Tankian, who joined Viza on stage to perform the band’s single “Viktor”.

“It’s important to get the word out about these problems – and doing that through music and art helps to educate ourselves and society in a unique way,” stated Viza frontman Knoup.

Having just returned from a wildly successful European tour, Viza has already hit the studio writing new music and preparing for more international and national dates in 2010.  Stay tuned for more information on Viza shows, social justice work and other news.

The Key Club is located at 9039 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA.  This show is 18 and over. Doors open at 8 pm. Viza show time is at 11:00 pm.

For tickets ($20) and more information please visit http://www.experienceviza.com/Viza/Tour.html.

For more information on the Los Angeles Mission please visit: http://www.losangelesmission.org/Home.aspx

Through the haunting melodies of the duduk, Jivan brings a great deal of history and mystique to Viza.  “My role in Viza is to play melodies which make the rock sound become more melodic and different,” stated Gasparyan. With only one octave and limited notes, the duduk adds a mesmerizing quality to the group’s sound.  The grandson of famed duduk master Djivan Gasparyan, Jivan Jr. brings his unique style and interpretation of this ancient tradition to the hard edge of Viza’s eclectic sound.

“Of course being the grandson of Djivan Gasparyan and having a master like him in my family… his music is my main influence. I always listened to his playing, his performances on stage with different artists and I always wanted to become an artist like him. I try to listen to different styles of music because this helps to spark new ideas in my use of musical language,” stated Gasparyan. “I am very thankful to my grandfather who taught me both about how to play duduk and about life,” he added.

Jivan counts Peter Gabriel, Zucchero, Brian May, Andreas Vollenweider, Michael Brook and Serj Tankian among his musical influences.  “I have performed with the National Symphonic Orchestra of Moscow at the Kremlin and the London Philharmonic Orchestra at Windsor Castle. These collaborations make me work harder and appreciate music and working with others,” he added.

From 6 years old, Jivan went to musical school where he studied piano, vocal technique and music grammar for 7 years. Throughout his youth, Jivan observed his grandfather rehearse every day in his home – and realized he wanted to also play the duduk.  At first, Jivan did not take it seriously as a child but grew to embrace the instrument.

“When I play with Viza we are one unit on stage and we share our fun with lots of people and the energy that we get from the audience is just amazing.  It’s great to be a part of the Viza family,” stated Gasparyan.

After moving to Los Angeles at the age of 15, Jivan would reminisce by listening to his grandfather’s recordings and practicing on the duduk.  It became claer over time that initial plans of pursuing a career in medicine had to change.  Although piano was his first musical instrument, duduk (or tsiranapogh which is the real name for duduk) quickly became Jivan’s favorite instrument because of its soulful sound.

“I am very glad that I chose to play duduk because I love what I do.” Over time, Jivan has refined his performance on the piano, duduk, zurna, shvi and bass duduk while continue to explore the clarinet and saxaphone. “I always want to play more instruments,” remarked Gasparyan.

“I love life and the people that surround me. I am blessed to have great friends in different countries, great family that I love and life is great to live meaningfully,” remarked Gasparyan. “I try to treat people nicely and work to find the mistakes in myself, that way you wont blame others and will live life easier,” he added.

“I was raised to live right, honest, respectfully and to appreciate life. I was confused when I was younger not knowing what profession I should choose. I know now I chose the right one because my heart told me that’s whats mine. Now I am very honored to work with huge artists recording and sharing stages with them. I travel the world with my grandfather and Viza.”

“After all the hard work of life that I do – what’s left? I enjoy having a drink for the past that is my history not to forget, to have another drink for the present day to be thankful, and one for the future to wish us all the best.”

“TSIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!”

I had a chance to catch up with Viza fans Laurent, Dominic, Nicole and Jarno (aka the Zurich House Mafia) at our Viper Room show a few weeks ago.  They actually flew in from Zurich, Switzerland to the USA and were able to hit up a Viza show in October.  Check out the interview with the Zurich House Mafia below:

Zurich House Mafia at the Viper Room

Viza News: What were your impressions from the concert at Viper Room?

All: There is just one word for the show: “A M A Z I N G”!!! We had a really wonderful time at the show and it was a huge pleasure for us to meet you guys before the gig . Also it was quite funny to see all the reactions when K’noup said at the end of the show “thanks for the Swiss chocolate and to us for coming to the show”! I’m sure all the people there had thought we were crazy to come from Switzerland to see you guys!

Viza News: When was the first time you saw Viza? What was it about that experience that made it memorable?

Laurent & Dominic: The first time we saw you guys was at the Serj Tankian concert at the Volkshaus in Zurich (31.August 2010). We really enjoyed the style of music you were playing; it was so different to everything else we’ve heard before!  Also, the mix of the different music influences and styles really turned us into big fans.

Also the show itself was really amazing and from the first second the whole crowd was really amazed and part of the show. Normally for supporting acts it’s in our opinion quite difficult to reach the crowd and to animate them to be part of the show so you guys did that in a really amazing way!

Nicole & Jarno: The concert at the Viper Room in LA was the first time we saw Viza live. After Dominic and Laurent went to the Serj Tankian concert they gave us Viza’s disc and we both really wanted to see you guys live as well

Viza News: What inspired you to travel to Los Angeles to see the band?

All: As we’ve already planned our trip to California back in May 2010, we had a lot of time to check out if a good band will be playing somewhere around our trip. So that’s how we saw on Facebook that K’noup’s B-day party will be more or less on that day that we’ll be around LA

Viza News: Any fun stories from the trip?

All: One of our highlights during the California-Vegas trip was of course the Viza show at the Viper Room.  It was really cool to meet all the band members before the show and to see you guys performing! For Dominic and Laurent it was as well a highlight to rent a Dodge Viper for 24 hours. But all in all the whole trip was just amazing: San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Las Vegas were all beautiful cities and the people we’ve met during our trip were all very friendly and we had an amazing time. So it won’t hopefully doesn’t take too long till we’re coming back!

Viza News: Tell us about Viza fans in Zurich.

Laurent & Dominic: When we went to the Serj Tankian concert we had some more friends with us and they were all impressed by the Viza show. Also the reaction from the audience during the show let me think that there is quite a big fan base over here. And we’re all doing our best so that it will become even bigger, so that you’ve to come back to Switzerland!

Click HERE to read our October 2010 newsletter hot off the press.

Viza is headlining Mosaic IV and we just released our video montage of our Summer 2010 tour with Serj Tankian.  A global webcast of our November 24 Feed the Need II show is in the works, plus plans for more dates all over sometime soon… stay tuned!

Press Release courtesy of Hamazkayin

The Mosaic IV Concert will be held on Sunday, October 17, 2010 at the open air Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles. The evening will prove to be a mosaic of musical genres, in both Armenian and English, for all those who wish to experience five of the best bands in Los Angeles.

Go on a journey with global rockers, Viza, who will be back from an international tour with Serj Tankian formerly from System of a Down.  Experience Armenian Space Station’s epic compositions incorporating Khatchadourian stylings performed by Greg Hosharian on keyboard with the metal drum beats of Barrett Yeretsian.  Feel the fusion of the organic with the electronic as Belinda Kazanci from Echocell provides the cure for our soul hangover.  Reminisce with A Splinter as Ashot Tadevosian sings the humorous stories of our Armenian realities.  Enjoy Armenian Public Radio’s acoustic revival of Armenian folk melodies performed by Saro Koujakian, Ryan Demirjian and Mher Ajamian. This borderless yet ethnic presence, created by young Armenians from various generations of immigrant families will come to life in a celebration of Armenian sound.

The creation of an annual “Mosaic” concert is part of Hamazkayin’s goal to develop programs that will pique the interest of young Armenians and encourage their participation, while instilling in them a cultural identity.  In its fourth year, Hamazkayin’s Mosaic concerts celebrate the diverse sounds of our culture and its progression today by introducing and promoting the broad range of musical talents of young Armenians.  The past three Mosaic concerts not only introduced to the community the musical talents of our youth but also provided these up-and-coming artists the exposure that has already proven to benefit their future success.

Proceeds from the event will benefit a scholarship program for students pursuing music and art education.  Through your support of the Mosaic IV Concert, you will join in fulfilling Hamazkayin’s continuous endeavor to nourish those talents who enrich the Armenian culture within our diverse community.

To help Hamazkayin sponsor this event or to purchase tickets, please order tickets on-line at www.itsmyseat.com.  Come meet and support our mosaic of young Armenian musical talents, and help Hamazkayin fulfill its mission.

It’s our first show since coming back from Europe – and to top things off it’s K’noup’s birthday (you can buy him a drink maybe?).  Click here for details and ticket information.

It's my (K'noup's) birthday!

So in Armenia during our Viza tour through Europe, the great Djivan Gasparyan (grandfather of fellow Viza member Jivan Jr.) very graciously invited us over for dinner to welcome us to his home.  We had a great time and I had a chance to catch up and discuss music, life and pretty much anything else with the legend that is “Armenian Duduk.”  This was especially interesting for me given all the work Jivan Jr. and I do together using oud and duduk – which represents a very unique blend of Western Armenian musical tradition over the centuries (Armenian mastery of the oud in Anatolia) and Eastern Armenian music where the duduk is widely considered the quintessential representative of Armenian musical culture.  East meets West – well kind of… credit to Jake Hagopian on these shots.

That food looks so good.

Check out Viza’s most recent newsletter here.  Lots of great information on the European tour with Serj Tankian, awesome photos and video from the trip and the latest on Viza in the news.  You have to check it out!  Stay tuned for more from the band in the coming weeks…

What a tour.  We had a great time – reached out to new fans and totally rocked it man.  Now on to Philly for cheesesteaks, Sako, my brother the MASTER CHAIRMAN of the Olympics, umpiring softball and of course, the EMPEROR HIMSELF (aka the FATHER of GOD).

Viza members waiting to go on stage at Bataclan in Paris.

Athens didn't like us at all... (sarcasm)

We are at Heathrow stylin’ around.  Suguru and Shant are on their phones, Orbel is passed out, and I’m on the laptop…  Flight was not bad at all – the apparently unlimited open bar that Virgin Atlantic offers on international flights was incredible.  Only 3 more hours until our flight to Haleb.

Oh yeah and by the way here is our latest newsletter – check out our Viza blog run by Shant Mastikian too – it’s got all the latest news and updates on the band and our adventures.