Playa Philosopher: Fred Khoshtinat

by Julie Jigsawnovich

FRED Khoshtinat is renowned for Hichkas, Xaniar and Taham videos he directed and edited. Now FRED's first official track, "If You Want Me" (Age Mano Mikhay), has debuted at www.audiocrimes.com. He also wrote the lyrics, arranged and produced the song.

Measuredly impatient, words roll off his tongue in Parsi, "Don't act like a good girl for me. You know that we don't have much time till the end of the night...so if you want me, please hurry because my cognac is losing its effect on me, girl....I don't feel like dancing tonight. We're gonna dance enough in my room." Khoshtinat walks the tightrope of frankness with devastating Persian aplomb!

This song is crunchy, subtly nettling--but pleasure overrides pain with net results that exposure to this song is physically thermodynamic. You will want to get with someone. And you'll want it now!

One of the sound layers in the mix imparts a classic video game feeling, triggering my memories of visiting an arcade in Times Square when people were getting shot there on a regular basis. Deceptively simple in content, this song has the confidence and casual appeal of psychological game marksmanship. And something about one of the repeating percussive sounds recalls expertly, gently applied whips.

I asked FRED what effect he would like this song to have on women. He said, "I want them to feel weak in the vastness of their need to a male, and they will feel like a slave to a great power of gravity that is coming from the man--and the fact that sometimes they will do anything to conquer it." Deeply impressed by his cosmic sensual metaphors, I was none the less confused by the last phrase. "The man conquering the woman or the woman conquering the man?" I asked.

"Woman conquering man," he replied.

"Bale? To Conquer implies gaining mastery over someone. It's tricky because, I think, you are going beyond a simple slave/master symbol. You are transcending. What is 'it' that the woman will do anything to conquer?" I asked.

"Gravity that is coming from the man--the attention," he replied.

I asked him to repeat his metaphors in Persian. Khoshtinat said, "mikham ehsas zaaf kone joloye shahvat niaze shadidesh be yek marde khass, ehsas kone ke bardeyi shode nesbat be in niaz va ghodrati ke az tarafe mard sater mishe va dokhtar ro mikeshoone va jazb mikone, yaade oon mavagheyi biofte ke vaseye fathe in tavajjoh va raaf kardane in niaz hazere har kari bokone hatta khodesho payin bire va koochik kone, humiliate herself."

Although I have no illusions regarding the many power dynamics of sexual attraction, I found his desire for the woman to humiliate herself troubling--partly because I believe there is more to Khoshtinat than this statement allows. A clue, perhaps, is the photo accompanying "If You Want Me" (Age Mano Mikhay.) FRED's head rests in the lap of a woman with strong-looking legs. He lies on his back, peering out at the viewer, smiling.

originally published at:
http://www.persianesquemagazine.com/2009/09/01/music-playa-philosopher/#more-919