Shahab Zargari is an award-winning Iranian-American filmmaker and administrative faculty member of the UNLV College of Fine Arts. After years of creating original short-form streaming content, Shahab made his directorial debut with the Philip K. Dick adaptation, THE CRYSTAL CRYPT (2013), an official selection at the San Diego Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival.

He continued to hone his craft, creating original films, music videos, and a multitude of commissioned works. Shahab’s short films MY NAME IS ART (2018) and OH, THE GUILT (2021) garnered a dozen awards from a variety of prestigious festivals, including official selection to Amazon’s inaugural All Voices Film Festival, a digital festival celebrating underrepresented communities. Currently, the Docu-Dance short ‘The UNLV Shoah Project‘ is making rounds in the film festival circuit. His debut solo album, ‘New Oddities’ is out now via GC Records.

VIM Magazine: You just released the music video for your song, ‘Robotic Pleasures’ on Jan. 16 from your solo album ‘New Oddities’ which features Mo Milan of Cocoa Pastel music. How was it working with Mo Milan and how did the song come about?

Shahab Zargari: Mo is one of the most talented musicians I’ve ever known. Producer, singer, instrumentalist. She amazes me with every new track. Has since meeting her several years back at 11th Street Records. I’m a huge fan of her art and when the track was birthed, I asked her if she’d like to collaborate with this AI stuff for my solo album. She said yes. Robotic Pleasures is 100% her lyrics, her vocals. I’m humbled to have created something so delicious with her at the helm.

VIM Magazine: Sounds like a great collaboration. What else can we expect from your album?

Shahab Zargari: The album New Oddities, was an experiment using AI software to create the backbones of songs after which real live humans added layers and layers of sounds and vocals to create a true collaboration. It will be interesting to see where we go from here. One thing is for sure: the album is more of a sonic journey than a conventional album.

Still from Shahab Zargari’s ‘Robotic Pleasures"‘ Music Video

VIM Magazine: As an Iranian-American storyteller what has been your experience bringing the many stories you’ve told to film?

Shahab Zargari: Growing up in the 80s and 90s there weren’t many opportunities to enter the film world for a Persian kid like myself. So I had to do it myself. Despite the naysayers. And now, I am considered a filmmaker by peers and unknowns. The work speaks for itself. Some people like it, some don’t. And that’s ok.

VIM Magazine: You shot and edited the music video for Johnny Ruiz and The Escapers which I think was masterfully done. I love how the video takes you inside the cabin and out of the car. How did the video come along?

Shahab Zargari: My good friend Checko Salgado knew the owner of the label that was putting out the band’s 7” for distribution through legendary Daptone Records. Checko put my name in the hat as to someone who could deliver the vision they had for a video that showed the urban sprawl of downtown Las Vegas but could also be beautifully shot in black and white. So humbled they chose me. We did two separate camera tests with Johnny, trying out cameras and figuring out shooting logistics (car choreography as well as camera positions and number of takes). Then we spent another 4 shoot dates getting the coverage we needed. Much like a Marvel or Star Wars film reshoots were ordered after the initial edit in order to grab pickups and redo some footage. I’m very glad to hear you liked it. Thank you so much. It was a labor of love, and with music so good it just made it fun.

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VIM Magazine: Been listening to the Escapers since I saw the music video you directed. Any plans on submitting this music video or another video to film festivals for consideration?

Shahab Zargari: It’s a commissioned video, so I probably won’t be submitting it to festivals, but perhaps the record label will read this and submit on their own! That would be a nice way of getting the song out there!

Shahab Zargari and Heela Naqshband of GC Records accepting a Congressional Recognition Award

VIM Magazine: Along with being a musician and photographer you also have a record label, GC Records. Any releases planned for 2023? What has been your takeaway from working on the label all these years?

Shahab Zargari: The biggest takeaway is: No matter what, continue to make music for fun and with passion, even if it doesn’t lead to super stardom. Art is essential. Also: everyone these days should start their own band or label. The tools are there, use them! We created our label 24 years ago because we had to create our own opportunities. With digital distribution, the power is in your hands!!! We have a few releases in the works, but nothing to report at the moment as nothing has release dates. Keep checking gcrecords.com every so often and you won’t miss any new album drops!

“The biggest takeaway is: No matter what, continue to make music for fun and with passion, even if it doesn’t lead to super stardom.”

— Shahab Zargari

VIM Magazine: And I’m with you that everyone should start their own band or label. I would add magazines to that. I think Vegas need more music and culture centric magazines as a whole. The 30th anniversary of your record label is coming up. Any plans for how you will be celebrating the anniversary?

Shahab Zargari: Luckily, the 30th Anniversary will be 2029, so we have a little bit of time to plan and build out events and assets. What I would like to do honestly is put together a documentary chronicling the 30 years. It’s a bit of a daunting task, but I feel like it’s fully possible considering we have five or six years to work on it.

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