Arash Sobhani is an Iranian singer, guitarist and songwriter who founded Kiosk in Tehran in 2003. His songs bring colloquial Persian and humor into rock music. After moving to the United States in 2005, he continued working with Kiosk and later made recordings with Andy Fite and under his own name.56789
Recordings
5 releases, oldest first. Select one for its details and sources.
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Dar-E-Qali (The Rug Weaver's Loom)
دار قالی
- Released
- 18
- Contributors
- Raz-e Shab, Ramin Behna (keyboards), Shahrooz Khajemolaei (drums), Arash Sobhani (guitar), Houman Javid (vocals), Ardavan Anzabi-Pour (bass), Homayoon Nasiri (percussion), Farzam Rahmi (vocals), Zohreh Davoodi (vocals), Niloofar Paidar (vocals) and Farnaz Amini Rad (vocals)1812
Life & work
Early life
Sobhani was born in Tehran and spent part of his adolescence in Northern California. He inherited records by Pink Floyd, the Eagles and Supertramp from his uncle, and began playing guitar at fourteen while in the United States. He returned to Iran in 1986.10117 Hearing Bob Dylan changed what rock music meant to him: it could express his thoughts about life and society.11
He studied architecture in Iran while pursuing music, which he had been doing underground since high school.10 By 2003, he had played electric and acoustic guitar with Raz-e Shab on Dar-E-Qali.12
Kiosk and songwriting
Sobhani later traced Kiosk’s beginnings to a change in how he wrote. Trying to obtain permission for songs had led him to censor himself, so he decided to write without imagining a censorship committee’s response. That project grew into Kiosk.10 He had written songs for other singers until Babak Khiavchi, a guitarist in the band, heard his demos and encouraged him to sing them himself. Kiosk’s first album, Ordinary Man, came out in 2005, the year Sobhani moved to the United States.1365
Writing Persian for guitar and bass was a central concern for him. He drew on speech heard on streets and buses, and described humor as a way to get a point across by making a listener laugh.137 His songs could be private conversations with himself, too. In 2014 he compared writing them to keeping a notebook: sometimes to remember something, sometimes to get it out of his mind. He preferred not to identify which songs were personal, saying that doing so would change his relationship with them.14
Arrangements and stories
By 2012, Sobhani’s growing affinity with the mixture of joy and sadness he heard in Roma music had led Kiosk to add violin. Tara Kamangar, a pianist who joined the band on violin, brought that instrument into the group.11 For Call a Cab (Zang Bezan Azhans) in 2014, the musicians changed their approach to arranging. Rather than shaping every song collectively, they entrusted each to an individual arranger, including Ardalan Payvar and Mohammad Talani.14
Remembering the people who had shaped his listening led Sobhani back to Kami Tull, a seller of bootleg recordings who had introduced him to Creedence Clearwater Revival and J. J. Cale. Kiosk made Stereo Tull Presents, a concept album about him, in 2016.106
For Sweet Destiny in 2021, Sobhani began with old photographs and a story. He and his collaborators then invited visual artists to help turn it into a work combining animation and live action. They gave the artists freedom to use a different technique for each song. For Sobhani, an album could encompass a chapter of his life and thoughts.615
Later recordings
In 2023, Sobhani and the composer Andy Fite released Stone Soup, a jazz EP of six live recordings.816 His solo album DOOD followed in 2025. Working with composers from different countries on the television and music project New York Harmony helped shape the album. He recorded it in New York, Toronto and Lund.917
Sources
- 1Gallery - Arash Sobhani · arashsobhani.com
3 quotes
Gallery - Arash Sobhani
https://arashsobhani.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/%D8%AD%D8%AD%D8%AD%DB%B5.png
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbRa6dY7rTjFW4D4_W0OV9g
- 2Arash Sobhani | Spotify
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Arash Sobhani
- 3Arash Sobhani | Apple Music
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Arash Sobhani - Apple Music
- 4Arash Sobhani | SoundCloud
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Arash Sobhani From Kiosk to Solo
- 5Arash Sobhani | Biography · Arash Sobhani
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Arash Sobhani, as the vocalist, guitarist, lyricist, and songwriter of the Iranian rock band Kiosk, has recorded eleven albums since the band’s formation in Tehran in 2003 and its subsequent relocation to the United States in 2005.
- 6The Band | Kiosk · Kiosk (official site)
4 quotes
Kiosk (Persian: کیوسک) is a rock band formed in Tehran in 2003, known for its blend of musical styles and its wry lyrics confronting Iranian cultural angst.
2005: Ordinary Man (Adam e Mamooli)
2016: Stereo Tull Presents
2021: Sweet Destiny
- 7Iranian Rock ’n’ Roll Takes the Stage at S.F. Exhibition · KQED
3 quotes
“It’s about three chords. It’s about your feelings. And that’s what we did. We took what people would say on the streets — what young people would say on a bus — and (put it in our music and) that was very new. Before that, nobody did that. A lot of those things didn’t have to do with social issues. It wasn’t political in the beginning.
“If you want to say something and you don’t want to get in trouble, you have to make the other person laugh, not angry.”
Sobhani has always straddled the cultures of Iran and the United States. During his childhood, Sobhani lived for a few years in the Bay Area, where his parents had moved, but he decided to return to Iran in 1986.
- 8Stone Soup – EP – Arash Sobhani and Andy Fite – Apple Music · Apple Music
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Stone Soup - EP Arash Sobhani , Andy Fite Jazz · 2023 Preview October 1, 2023 6 songs, 26 minutes ℗ 2023 United Voice
- 9DOOD – Arash Sobhani – Apple Music · Apple Music
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DOOD Arash Sobhani Worldwide · 2025 Preview 12 September 2025 10 songs, 38 minutes ℗ 2025 RAD Arts Foundation
- 10Stars Making a Social Impact: Why & How Arash Sobhani of Kiosk Is Helping To Change Our World · Authority Magazine ·
8 quotes
I was born in Tehran, Iran. That’s where I also grew up except for a few years in my adolescence when we moved to Northern California.
When he left the country, I inherited some of his albums, such as Pink Floyd, The Eagles, Supertramp, and other rock bands.
I studied architecture in Iran, but starting in high school, was active in the underground music movement in Iran. Later, I formed the band KIOSK.
I decided to never write with censorship committees in mind. I realized I had become unconsciously conservative by censoring myself when I was writing because I wanted a song to get approved.
That is when I decided to write as if I never would apply for permission. It was liberating. That’s when a new project later turned into the band KIOSK.
He introduced me to Creedence Clearwater Revival, and most importantly singer/songwriter JJ Cale, who is an idol for me now.
Decades later, I was thinking about all the people who shaped my musical taste.
We recorded an album about his amazing journey as a concept album.
- 11Underground Iranian Band Steps Out Of The Shadows · NPR / KCCU
5 quotes
I started playing guitar when I was 14 and I was in the States
But when I heard Bob Dylan, it gave rock music a whole new dimension.
You know, it became a tool for me to express what I think about life and society and what's going on around me.
And there's a sense of joy and sadness in their music that I found I relate to more and more every day, so we decided that we had to add a violin and we're so lucky that Tara accepted to join us.
Tara Kamangar. She was actually born in the States, but she's a professional piano player, but in our band, she plays violin and we're so lucky to have her.
- 12Raz-eShab | Iranian.com
2 quotes
Ramin Behna: Piano, synthesizer Shahrooz Khajeh Molaie: Drums Arash Sobhani: Electric and acoustic guitars Ardavan Anzabi-Pour: Bass (guest musician) Homayoon Nasiri: Percussion (guest musician) Houman Javid: Vocals Farzam Rahmi: Vocals Zohreh Davoodi: Backup vocals Niloofar Paidar: Backup vocals Farnaz Amini Rad: Backup vocals
February 11, 2003
- 13Ordinary Men in Extraordinary Times: An Interview with Iranian Underground Band, Kiosk · Pop Junctions (Henry Jenkins)
3 quotes
He used to write for other people to sing and after Babak heard his demos he told him that he had to sing it himself instead of giving away such good songs.
Babak Khiavchi is the founder of Bamahang Productions, which aims to help Iranian underground music gain recognition across the globe. He is also one of the main guitarists of Kiosk.
use the Farsi language in a rock context, using guitar and bass.
- 14بازگشت به مسیر سازها · روزآنلاین؛ آرشیو بازیابیشده
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صد در صد. در واقع حرفهایی است که با خودم میزنم. وقتی دفترچه یادداشت داری٬ گاهی چیزهایی مینویسی که به یادت بماند و گاهی چیزهایی مینویسی برای اینکه از ذهنت بیرون برود.
ترجیح میدم که نگویم. چون احساس میکنم اگر دربارهشان حرف بزنم٬ رابطهی خودم با این آهنگها را از دست میدهم.
در واقع اتفاقی که افتاد - و باید زودتر از این هم رخ میداد - این بود که هر آهنگ را یک نفر تنظیم کرده. پیش از این ما همهی کارها را با هم تنظیم میکردیم و کاری که منتشر میشد٬ به نوعی برآیند نظرات همهی جمع بود. اما در این آلبوم دو - سه کار را اردلان پایور تنظیم کرد٬ برخی قطعهها را محمد تالانی تنظیم کرد و …
- 15EXCLUSIVE: The Sweet Destiny of Arash Sobhani, The Kiosk Band Leader Speaks to Kayhan Life · Kayhan Life
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Old photographs inspired this story. Such pictures have always fascinated me, because they reflect the past and influence the future. These photographs formed the basis for our story, and I thought it would be good to incorporate live-action and animation into the project.
As always, we first wrote the story and then asked our friends to help us bring it to life.
While the animation is the core component of the project, we used a different technique for each song. As a result, we asked artists from different disciplines to help. We gave them creative freedom to work on the project.
For me, however, an album encompasses a chapter of my life and thoughts.
- 16Stone Soup — Arash Sobhani & Andy Fite | Qobuz
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I Wanna Be with You (Live) Buy track 00:04:15 Arash Sobhani, Composer, MainArtist - Andy Fite, Composer, MainArtist
Label: United Voice
Taraneh (Live) Buy track 00:04:00 Arash Sobhani, Composer, MainArtist - Andy Fite, MainArtist
But I Want You (Live) Buy track 00:05:06 Arash Sobhani, MainArtist - Andy Fite, Composer, MainArtist
- 17آرش سبحانی؛ شروع یک تجربه با «دود» · Radio Farda
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یکی از نقاط عطف شکلگیری این آلبوم، تجربهٔ آرش سبحانی در پروژهٔ تلویزیونی و موسیقایی «نیویورک هارمونی» بود؛ برنامهای که او در آن با آهنگسازانی از کشورهای مختلف و فرهنگهای گوناگون همکاری کرد.
این آلبوم در استودیوهای نیویورک، تورنتو و لوند ضبط شده
- 18Dar-E-Qali (The Rug Weaver's Loom) | Apple Music
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https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/96/73/2a/mzi.cxlhcuyz.jpg/1200x630bb.jpg
https://is1-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Music/96/73/2a/mzi.cxlhcuyz.jpg/1200x1200bb.jpg
2010-10-03
Arash Sobhani, Ramin behna, Shahrooz Khajemolaei, Raz-e-Shab Band, Houman Javid
Dar-E-Qali (The Rug Weaver's Loom)
- 19Stone Soup | Spotify
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Stone Soup Arash Sobhani 2023 6 songs
- 20Engineering - Single | Apple Music
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Engineering - Single Arash Sobhani Worldwide · 2025 Preview August 31, 2025 1 song, 4 minutes ℗ 2025 RAD Arts Foundation
- 21Engineering | Qobuz
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Label: RAD Arts Foundation
Johan Bejerholm, Mixing Engineer - Arash Sobhani, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, MainArtist, Guitar (any type) - Sahar Sharifirad, Executive Producer - RAD Arts Foundation, Production Company
- 22DOOD — Arash Sobhani | Qobuz
4 quotes
Label: RAD Arts Foundation
Johan Bejerholm, Mixing Engineer - Arash Sobhani, Composer, Lyricist, Producer, MainArtist, Guitar (any type) - Sahar Sharifirad, Executive Producer - RAD Arts Foundation, Production Company
Dunya Buy track 00:04:24 Johan Bejerholm, Mixing Engineer - Arash Sobhani, Composer, Producer, MainArtist, Guitar (any type) - Hadi Khorsandi, Lyricist - Sahar Sharifirad, Executive Producer - RAD Arts Foundation, Production Company
Zibaee Buy track 00:03:02 Johan Bejerholm, Mixing Engineer - Arash Sobhani, Composer, Producer, MainArtist, Guitar (any type) - Meysam Yousefi, Lyricist - Sahar Sharifirad, Executive Producer - RAD Arts Foundation, Production Company
- 23DOOD | Spotify
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DOOD Arash Sobhani 2025 10 songs
- 24Bubble Burst in Slow Motion - Single | Apple Music
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Bubble Burst in Slow Motion - Single Arash Sobhani Worldwide · 2026 Preview May 4, 2026 1 song, 2 minutes ℗ 2026 RAD Arts Foundation
- 25Bubble Burst in Slow Motion | Qobuz
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Label: RAD Arts Foundation
Arash Sobhani, MainArtist, Lyricist, Composer, Guitar (any type), Producer
- 26Bubble Burst in Slow Motion | Spotify
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Bubble Burst in Slow Motion Arash Sobhani 2026