16 JUN 2020 I am Sepehr Alimagham, and I am from the San Francisco Bay Area—specifically San Jose, California. I’ve been in San Francisco for about a decade now. I am a live electronic musician, composer and sound designer. I’ve been making music for about 13 years but “professionally” for about 9. I also teach music production.

This is a deep one for me that has many layers. At the beginning of the pandemic, for me personally, it was a blessing in disguise. I was able to finally disconnect from a toxic day job, and I had a surplus of open time finally to be able to fully and wholly work on my art. I enjoyed a small renaissance and was able to produce a ton of music. The whole time I have felt like itching to go back to my “life,” to get back to playing my gigs and having fun.

But now that I truly feel this shift of consciousness going on for so many people, and humanitarian movements like BLM actually gaining momentum, I feel more okay with it *not* going back to normal. I say this because I have become so cognizant of my own privilege/life that the past of going from weekend to weekend looking for the next thrill isn’t as important right now. And I want to spend more of my energy towards fighting for causes that I thought unattainable. The current climate certainly has seemed to seep into my music and given it a new edge that feels visceral, inquisitive and serious.

It has its ups and downs. It can definitely feel like imprisonment if you do not do certain things to feed your head. As far as what has helped me:

1. Making music and art. Every day being excited about a new project to work on and using new tools/gear/processes/etc made the days go by a lot faster.

2. Biking. I hate to aimlessly run, so instead, aimlessly biking works wonders. Endorphins work wonders.

3. Reading. Reading existential novels has helped but also depressed the shit out of me, so maybe scratch that one. Read something happy.

4. Personal reflection. Taking every day to really search deep inside and think about who you are and what you want your future to look like. A lot of this introspection and thought gathering has made it a positive experience.

5. Stay off social media. Period.

Recently, the energy from people protesting injustice has been incredibly inspiring. It inspires me to change my own ways and to keep fighting. My partner’s resilient spirit and her ability to give me clarity in any situation has been very inspiring, too.

I am looking forward to the positive ways that this world will be changing after what seems to be a tipping point in time. I hope. Also, I am really looking forward to selfishly indulging in playing some shows when everything is finally over with. That is, if independent music venues survive. I am looking forward to hanging out with my friends.

People can purchase my music from bandcamp.