One day, mysteriously, a DIY cassette tape appeared on the bookshelf in the Pittsburgh version of The Other Apartment. Kashani and Rubin discovered that the tape was secretly left on the shelf by the lead singer of the Mexican band Para Decir Adioss. Struck by the idea that a Mexico City band thought that leaving a demo tape in a Pittsburgh replica of a Tehran apartment would be a good promotional idea, the artists decided to create an exhibition based entirely on this one cassette tape.
For the exhibition The Silence, Kashani and Rubin invited musicians in Pittsburgh and Tehran to come to The Other Apartment and perform cover-versions of all the songs on the cassette. The filmed performances were screened where they were shot, in the bedroom, office, bathroom and living room of the apartment. Cassette tapes of all the cover songs were available for purchase in both the Tehran and Pittsburgh versions of the apartment.
credits
released January 24, 2020
LIST OF SONGS AND MUSICIANS:
Studio
Badolero | Bandit — Reza Omidvari (vocals), Ali Khadivi (bass), Farzan Farhangmehr (guitar), and Sina Najaflou (drums) {Tehran}
El Silencio | The Silence — Inez (vocals) and HSM (HomewoodSoundMachine): Mike Mitchell (bass), Joshua “Jrouz3” Rouse (keys), Michael “Isaiah Blue” Walker (guitar) {Pittsburgh}
Bedroom
De La Victoria A la Corona | From Victory To The Crown — Mohammad Givekesh (vocals), Ali Khadivi (bass), Farzan Farhangmehr (guitar), and Sina Najaflou (drums) {Tehran}
De Lo Peor | The Worst — The Squirrel Hillbillies: Jenny Wolsk (vocals and percussion) and Gary Crouth (vocals and guitar) {Pittsburgh}
Event Room
QuÈ Le Vamos Hacer? | What Are We Going to Do? — Niki Amiri (vocals), Rojiar Afshar (guitar), and Sina Najaflou (drums) {Tehran}
De La Victoria A la Corona | From Victory To The Crown — Mario Quinn (vocals) and James Royce (vocals and guitar) {Pittsburgh}
Bathroom Hallway
Lunallena | FullMoon — Niki Yaghmaee (violin and vocals) {Tehran}
DMA | DMA — Patrick Breiner (saxophone and vocals) {Pittsburgh}
All original songs by Para Decir Adioss: Kicha Baptiste (guitar, noise voice, lyrics), Olvido Baptiste (chorus girl), Nobody S. (bass, studio engineer), Kitty Weiss (drums, keyboard, booking management)
2019 All rights reserved. Christian Bautista Arriaga, Morelos, México.
Music Consultation in Pittsburgh: Lauren Goshinski
Music Consultation in Tehran: Sina Najaflou
Sound and video recording in Pittsburgh: David Bernabo
Sound and video recording in Tehran: Siavash Naghshbandi
The exhibition was made possible with support from Creative Capital.
The Other Apartment is a collaborative project between Pittsburgh-based artist Jon Rubin and Tehran-based artist Sohrab
Kashani that first occurred simultaneously in Kashani's apartment in Tehran, Iran, and an exact replica of that apartment and all of its contents at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh, U.S.....more