Mahafsoun is a force to be reckoned with in the alternative dance and music scene, merging the art of traditional belly dance with the intensity of gothic and metal styles. Driven by her natural affinity for these diverse worlds, her performances captivate audiences by seamlessly integrating her Middle Eastern heritage with her passion for dark, dramatic aesthetics. In this interview, Mahafsoun delves into how she balances these contrasting elements, the evolution of her artistic expression, and the powerful connection she shares with fans who celebrate her distinctive blend of cultures and creativity.
Thank you so much!
I wish I had a deep, thoughtful answer to such a great question, but when I think about it, I can only say that it just comes to me naturally. This is because I'm naturally so drawn to the beauty of all of these things - metal music, gothic fashion and aesthetics, and of course the beautiful art of bellydance. I just feel so alive when I'm mixing all these things that I love, and over the years I've been so blessed to gather the most amazing, supportive and open-minded audience who have supported and loved what I do. Even if at first, experiencing the mixing of the two - metal/rock/heavy music and bellydance - may have seemed strange to them.
Such a good question! Although I sadly didn't get to truly grow up in Iran since I moved to Canada when I was a little child, I still got to grow up with the art, the music, the food and the culture. Thanks to my mom and dad. I do still remember being a child in Iran at those many, many family parties where all of the women in my family danced and danced for hours. All forms of dance, too. My aunts and cousins were so talented. Some bellydanced, some danced in the style of traditional Persian, and traditional Azerbaijani. I grew up around dance, around music. And when we moved to Canada, my mother, father and I... we held onto that part of ourselves because it's all we had from the world we lived in. We left our entire family back there. I think that this need to stay true to who I am, where I come from, really made me more drawn towards adding those Middle Eastern elements to most of the art that I make. And since I ended up falling so deeply in love with the darker aesthetics as I got into my early teens, it was just the natural way of things I guess. Haha.
Another fabulous question which I wish I had a better answer to. Unlike my incredibly talented bandmates, I don't come from a music background and making music in this capacity, with a band, was not really something I dreamt much about in the beginning. Now it is. I mean, yes, I was composing basic piano songs in the early stages of when I started sharing my bellydance online, but it was just for fun. Nothing that serious. Same with singing. It was for fun and not serious. However gradually, I began to really enjoy singing, creating music with more direction and focus, with more intention. As I don't come from a musical background, I can't really say, in clear technical terms, how I'm shaping the band's sound.
I believe that having such a talented composer like Roberto Sunga, who composes pretty much all of the songs, already gives AKHETH its unique energy and sound. The only way I can describe what I do is mainly try to blend with what is already there, and since what is already there is so incredibly crafted (I can be a big fan of my own bandmate!), it makes my job easy.
Oh absolutely! One of my earliest memories of falling madly in love with the vampire aesthetic (which is one aesthetic you'll see again and again on my feeds), was when I first saw the movie Interview with the Vampire randomly playing on TV. I was perhaps around 13. From there on, it stuck with me. Following this, the works of author Anne Rice kept my love for vampires alive. I've also been so incredibly inspired over the years by the works of the artist Enys Guerrero, someone whom I've had a pleasure of collaborating with as she created a couple of her stunning gothic artworks with my images as reference. Her art is truly what the inside of my head looks like. Where and how I would imagine myself if I lived in the perfect fantasy.
I'm thinking about this and I can't think of anything. I always felt seen with my audience, if that makes sense. They may not get every single nerdy book or movie reference I'm making, but in the stuff that matters, I feel that they understand it and feel it perfectly.
Oh YES!
Two. And both have stage blood as the main culprit.
So, some years ago I decided to add stage blood to my bellydance performances, but I never rehearsed with that stage blood, so I didn't really think it would cause much of an issue. The stage blood I use and love is very starchy and thick and while it looks absolutely incredible, dark and real, it's also very sticky. To this day I don't think many people noticed it but in middle of my live performance at a pretty big event, my hand was pretty much stuck to my hair and I had to try and discreetly free myself in middle of the dance. And when I did, my hair kind of looked disheveled at the end. I thought it was a whole mess, but I tend to be more critical of myself than others because it seemed like no one noticed.
The other story is similar. Following my first experience with stage blood, I ran some very clinical tests and watered down the fake blood I love using so much, and spilled it all over myself in the shower to see how it spilled. It seemed perfect. So I took my stage blood, mixed it with water, poured it into a gothic goblet I bought at the exact event I was performing at, and waited for my time to perform. While dancing, it was finally time to pour the blood over myself as I pretended to drink it, and all that came out was slightly stained water... because the blood part was sat at the bottom of the cup. Separated. So after all that, it looked like I took a very vampiric sip from a cup of watered-down wine and spilled some on myself. Made no sense.
Both of these stories made me laugh immediately though. They weren't massive things that happened but still, they did embarrass me and I do still laugh at myself for them.
Absolutely. Not only music but dance as well. Movement is the best way to express emotion.
As a person living with major depression, I'm someone who has only always wanted one thing - to live a great, fulfilling, loving and happy life. I want to be happy and I want to live every day fully. However sadly, sometimes I could not. Sometimes I felt such deep darkness that made no sense. Though as I get older, I understand that darkness more and more, and I no longer suffocate under it. When I created Mahafsoun, it was a tool I used to heal most of that darkness. To get it out of my system in a beautiful way, a gentle way. Now, almost 15 years later, I'm happy to say that while most of that darkness is healed, I still see Mahafsoun as this thing I have which on top of many things, I can use it to release some of that darkness, transform it into something better.
I get to do this a lot with music nowadays especially, with AKHETH. I'm so excited for us to release what we've been working on as pretty much all the lyrics are by yours truly.
I have so many beautiful memories from these incredible collaborations. The thing I remember mainly from all of them is just how it felt for me. To daydream, to reach out to these bands myself, to anticipate the performances. The excitement. I've been blessed to have made friends with some of these incredible artists, to have hours of deep and insightful conversations with them about the music world, about life. The deep conversations with my brothers in Moonspell and Orphaned Land, all incredible and deep people. And the wonderful collaborations with these artists beyond me being a bellydancer at their live events. I got to have my voice on the Moonspell song "Medusalem" reciting the chorus of the song translated in Farsi by my beloved mom. You can also hear the incredibly awesome Mark Jansen of Epica on an AKHETH track called "The Asylumn". These are all things I cherish beyond words.
One of the biggest challenges was finding a balance between art and life. Or better yet, mixing the two naturally so that I don't have to "turn on Mahafsoun mode" and "turn off Foroogh mode". I used to work and work on Mahafsoun without stopping to ask myself if I needed anything. Only stopping when my body and my mind was beginning to shut down. And a few times, it did shut down. I felt like I was in a race, with myself. To do better, do more, with the few recourses I had. So it was even harder to begin with. Meanwhile I was working and going to school as well during much of this time of my life. Overtime I learned when to slow down. I learned the hard way that you simply cannot ignore your own needs and expect to perform amazingly in life.
Oh yes! Keep an eye out on AKHETH because we will be teasing the upcoming music. We're working on quite a few things all at once, which is why it's taking a bit longer. It also doesn't help that the AKHETH members are all scattered across the world. Haha we make it work though!
