It’s been a few years since RVA’s Anousheh saw her name on the list of Grammy nominated artists, but a new released with the same DJ team she worked with back in 2005 is hoping for similar praise.
It’s been a few years since RVA’s Anousheh saw her name on the list of Grammy nominated artists, but a new released with the same DJ team she worked with back in 2005 is hoping for similar praise.
Anousheh, AKA Anousheh Khalili, has been a voice of note since her high school days where DJ Sharam and Ali “Dubfire” fist discovered her singing on a DC cable access show. This was before social media and smart phones, but the duo, known then as Deep Dish, managed to track her down through a connection at the old DC radio station WHFS.
“I was more in the piano indie scene, doing solo work, but they asked me to sing on a few songs,” Anousheh said in an interview with RVAMag. “I wasn’t into dance music, and it was before [EDM] hit the mainstream here.” She ended up recording a few tracks: “Flashdance” which became an overseas success and then “Say Hello,” which earned the group (including the vocalist) a Grammy Nom in 2006.
But that was a while ago and Anousheh has since developed a solo act of her own. Her powerful vocals have lead to the creation of a number of releases including The more indie-influenced The Trouble EP and the slightly more electronic, but still very much indie Make Noise.
Flashforward to about a year ago when Anousheh heard from the now-solo DJ Sharam. He asked to work with her again and sure enough the fruit of their labor is the four tracks below:
The tracks are part of Sharam’s new album Retroactive which you can scoop on iTunes now. It made it to the top of the digital music market’s dance list in its initial release.
“I’ve had fun experimenting with more hook-y stuff, it’s a fun challenge as a song writer,” said Anousheh about her time collaborating with Sharam on the new material in his DC studio. One of the highlights of the experience was a cover of The Eurythmics “Here Comes the Rain Again.”
She said she was always obsessed with Was obsessed with Annie Lennox and was particularly excited to lay the track down.
And speaking of new tracks, expect a new record from Anousheh at some point in the future. She’s reunited with local producer Josh Quarels to get back in the studio and get a new album together.
She said the new record is looking to have a bit more of an electronic feel to it, similar to the work with Sharam, but still carrying her sincere and powerful vocals and songwriting skills.
“Maybe its subconscious, I’m not sure if Sharam has influenced me, or if singing over electronic music has shaped my new point of view… getting a little dance beat behind there,” she said.
You can keep up with Anousheh on her facebook page here and her Soundcloud page here.
