The success of the Zela Margossian Quintet’s debut album has been running rings around the international jazz community. Far-spanning praise for their complex, intriguing compositions and astounding instrumental textures have pushed them to release the new single Shounch, a track that pays homage to the art of breathing. Zela Margossian herself touches on what Serj Tankian of System of a Down had to do with the new single, their newfound success as a world music jazz band and why she believes people are enjoying her music.
1). What can you tell me about the song Shounch? What might have inspired it, is there anything you particularly like about the track and are there any underlying themes or ideas you’d ideally like to convey to your fans through it?
Zela: “I composed Shounch, which means ‘breath’, for a composition contest initiated by Creative Armenia and Serj Tankian (the lead singer of System of a Down). The requirement was to create a piece of music from the seven given notes by Serj. The order of the notes was not to be changed but you could alter the pitch, the rhythm, etc and come up with a tune. The seven notes can appear once and as many times as the composer wants in the track. Shounch made it to the top 100 out of the 2500 chosen entries from all around the world (as the competition was exclusive to anyone around the world).
“I wrote the tune having in mind how important it is for us to breathe and be present in the moment that we are in. Breathing, in a physical sense, makes us keep on living and on a more spiritual sense, when we inhale and exhale, there’s a sense of the body being cleansed and being renewed with that on-going cycle.
“Shounch then found its way in a bigger composition that I wrote. It is the middle track of the Triptych in the album (Katil-Shounch-Artashounch). Katil, meaning ‘drop’ (in particular ‘teat drop in this case) and Artashounch means ‘exhale’. In Shounch, the piano solo sort of represents the inhalation and the sax solo is the big release of the exhalation towards the end, which is tied to the third track Artashounch.
“So, to make it clearer, Katil is the pain after we lose someone very dear to us. It can also be losing something important to us such as a country, a home etc… Shounch is the breath that keeps us going and Artashounch is the big release and celebration of life.”
2). Could you cover a few of the highlights you’ve had since your album launch?
Zela: “After the album release, we have received very positive reviews from different sources around the world. To mention a few: Sydney Morning Herald (Aus), Everything is Noise (Canada), Heavy Blog is Heavy (USA), Voice of Armenia (Armenia) and we are awaiting a review from DownBeat magazine which will be published in June. We are very excited about that!
“As for performance highlights, we had an excellent time in Melbourne, performing at the JazzLab. A great highlight was our performance at the amazing MONA in Hobart. Performing in the beautiful Nolan Gallery was indeed a treat and we will definitely go back there to perform sometime in the future. Upcoming performances in May include a performance at the City Recital Hall in Sydney and a tour to New Zealand, performing both in Auckland and Wellington.”
3). Where and what places are resonating so well with your music? Why do you think that is? Are there any publications or demographics that you wouldn’t have expected to be into your music?
Zela: “To be honest, the reception has been great and it has been well received by both the younger and older demographic. I think the reason for that is the storytelling element in the compositions and the hybrid of genres; classical, ethnic elements/motifs and jazz. The way I compose if very organic and because I love so many genres of music, they find their ways in my compositions and I just let it be. Almost every composition has a story behind it and I don’t hesitate to have a few words conveyed to the audience about them during our performances and I think that makes them relate to it.”
