The word “allophone” is formed from the Greek roots allos, meaning other, and phone, meaning sound or voice and the group from Firenze this evening playing at the Barga Jazz Club were precisely that- another voice, another way of sounding.
Some very sharp and well fashioned pop rock with Andrea Deidda on Guitar and vocals playing off against some great guitar rifts apparently influenced by folkloric Persian music – the other guitarist and vocalist, Peyman Salimi is originally from Tehran in Iran and all tied together with a solid rhythm section Bernardo Cicchi on Bass and Federico Franchi on Drums.
Guitarist-songwriter Peyman Salimi and guitarist Andrea Deidda started playing together while attending Florence conservatory of music in 2006 . Federico Franchi joined the band a few years later and after a while they recruited bassist Marco Narcisi in 2010 and finally the band was complete.
“Allophones” recently appeared on ” T-Rumors ” festival and won the first prize competing with more than 70 bands . It was organized by Tuscany region and dedicated to unsigned bands from all over the region.
“The Allophones” sono una band, formata da 4 elementi nata a Firenze. La loro musica di riferimento è l’indie pop-rock che propongono con sofisticati arrangiamenti per chitarra e riffs in parte influenzati dalla musica folk persiana.
Federico Franchi : Drums
Andrea Deidda: Guitar & Vocals
Peyman Salimi: Guitar & Vocals
Bernardo Cicchi: Bass
Peyman Salimi (Kermanshah, 18.07.1983) made his first steps in music at the age of six when he began to play the melodica. His uncle was inspirational to the young Peyman, who right from the early school days accompanied small school choirs with the keyboard.
It was in his teens that Peyman set his heart on the sound of the guitar which he still believes as the most mysterious thing he’s ever met. Just like so many other guitar-toting young boys he listened to Django Reinherat, Chet Atkins, Andrès Segovia, Lonnie Johnson and Paco de Lucia.
He met the young guitarist and teacher Shervin when he was 16. Peyman was deeply encouraged by this new encounter to find his “musical vision” and a personal expression. They soon discovered to share a common musical ground and thus began to collaborate as a duo. Shervin was to have a profound effect on Peyman’s guitar playing, introducing him to the intricate lead technique of Latin-flamenco guitarists and the subtle skills of jazz-Latin guitar, the elements of which Peyman was eventually to weave into his style of guitar picking.
It was in this period that he wrote his first song. “I was so excited ‘cause I never imagined myself as a songwriter. My only dream was to become a guitarist “. After High School he decided to pursue music seriously and enrolled on the course ‘Classical Guitar Performance’ at the Faculty of Fine Art of the University of Tehran, although his parents did not encourage his decision. “Only now I can make sense of what they were talking about, but sometimes it’s not a question of having a choice!” says Peyman. He quit in the middle of the course and moved to Florence, Italy, and continued his classical guitar studies with Alfonso Borghese at the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vScO0eMS7RU