Bam Studios was founded in 1997 in Tehran,Iran and opened its doors as the first digital recording studio in Iran in 1999. The original location in Sohrevardi Avenue was a storage basement that was cleaned out of old closets, dirty carpets, dead cats, and converted into a makeshift rehearsal space. It was managed by Kasra Ebrahimi, Babak Khiavchi, Reza Moghaddas, and Bahador Keshani.
After a year of activity, the place turned into a private recording studio and rehearsal place for the band Avijeh . Known for their pioneering work in Fusion music in Iran , the original members were Ramin Behna (Keyboards), Babak Riahipour (Bass Guitar), Reza Abaee (Kamancheh, Qeychak), and Pedram Derakhashani (Santoor). Later on, Eynollah ”Eyni” Kayvanshokouh (Drums), Ali Rahimi (Percussion), and Pasha Henjani (Ney) joined the ensemble. Babak Khiavchi (Guitar) collaborated with Avijeh for a short period of time, and in 1998 moved to the USA , while Reza Moghaddas (Keyboards) replaced him in Avijeh.
In 1998, electronics guru and sound engineer Orod Anzabipour joined the Bam Studios team, and with his addition the new team came together and planned for a bigger space with professional equipment to run a high end studio in Tehran. Reza Moghaddas, Ramin Behna, Kasra Ebrahimi and Orod Anzabipour established Bam Studios in Tehran’s Shahrak’e Gharb in 1999. They equipped the studio with the assistance of Payman Abdali who had been visiting Iran from USA and had worked with X DOT 25 Music Productions in San Francisco.
Soon after that, Bam Studios successfully recorded the music for Googoosh’s comeback album “Zartosht” in 2000 , with music and arrangements by Babak Amini, and one song by Babak Bayat. The lead vocals were later mixed in Manta Sound studios in Toronto, Canada, and the album marked Googoosh’s groundbreaking comeback to the Persian music scene after a 25 year absence. Babak Khiavchi (Guitar) joined the Googosh band for 14 sold-out concerts during the Googoosh 2000 North America Comeback Tour, at the invitation of Babak Amini (Guitar) who flew in from Iran along with Bahram Dehghanyar (composer, pianist ) and Babak Riahipour (Bass Guitar).
In 2001 Babak Naghavi joined the Bam Studios team as accountant and administrative director, and in 2002 the studio received its official license to work as both recording studios and publishing company.
In 2002 Bam Studios moved to its final home, a 2000 sq/ft, high ceiling in Tehran in Yousefabad Avenue. The board of directors came together and changed the name from Bam Studios to Bamahang.
In 2003 Bamhang published its first album as a record label, and in less than 2 years released 4 more albums:
'Zibazi' by Ramin Behna and Houman Javid
'Trial and Error' by Babak Riahipour
'Meera' by Meera
'Dance Of the Matadors' by Kaveh Nasehi and Bahram Aghakhan (co-produced with Narbon Publications)
Bamahang also joined Niavaran Musicians Association – the first non governmental musician organization in Iran. Niavaran Musicians Association was founded in 2003 in Niavaran Palace, in the North of Tehran, with the mission of organizing concerts and publishing music magazines. Four different institutions came together to support live performances for local outstanding artists and also invite various musicians from other countries. These institutions were:
Bamahang Studios (Reza Moghaddas)
Niavaran Palace (Keyvan Farzin)
Hermes Records (Ramin Sadighi)
Narbon Publication (Behrang Tonekaboni)
The result of the activity of this team was more than 70 concerts from all around the world, with up to 3500 audience per performance and the publication of Culture and Music magazine.
During the height of Bamahang's studio activity, the studio mentored and trained many young and talented sound engineers and musicians including Youri Akoup, Houtan Seyedahmadian, Pejman Saegheh, Keyvan Hossein, Mehrad Sharif-Bakhtiar, Keyvan Faraz , Ali Azizian , Somayyeh Habibian , and the late Mahziar Hadian, many of whom now own their own studios and are successful producers.
In 2004 the Bamahang Studios team reached a record of 200 albums in recording, mixing and mastering in its career.
In 2005 Reza Moghaddas immigrated to Canada and the Bamahang board of directors made the decision to sell off the studio. Beethoven Music Centre acquired the studio, licenses, equipment and crew, and after 6 months sold it to Siamak Banaei from Mahour Records. The location is currently owned by Beethoven Music Centre which bought back the place, and releases albums under the label of Ava Khorshid.
Reza Moghaddas re-united with Babak Khiavchi and together they started Bamahang Productions initially in Canada, and later moved the head office to Seattle , USA where it is currently based.
