Jasper Mars is the latest project from Arman Asadsangabi – a Nashville-based songwriter and producer. Asadsangabi is the brains behind live rock project Oddnote, an unadulterated devotion to gritty, analog rock and roll. Asadsangabi needed a home for the new genres he has been experimenting with of late and that home is Jasper Mars – one of Asadsangabi’s music alter egos.
“I feel more comfortable delving into a completely different character and aesthetic with whatever music I’m making. It’s not just the song that comes with it. It’s this whole entire mentality and physical space that I put myself in,” Asadsangabi tells EARMILK. This particular character is a chaotic and lawless one, where no rules apply and anything goes. “When you don’t put a genre to it, whatever you make is just you. It’s your soul. It’s so empowering to have that,” he says.
On “Dream Parade,” Asadsangabi pulls influences from all across the board – from early 2000’s power pop, to the rougher rock of Oddnote, and even to his parents’ old-school Persian music. The track weaves vibey synths with alt-rock guitar riffs to take the listener through a sprawling and unbound musical experience.
Between games of World of Warcraft, Runescape, and the occasional skateboarding excursion, Asadsangabi has spent the last few months making music in his bedroom with absolutely no boundaries in place. “Dream Parade” is the first of this new body of work. It will eventually become a title track on the first Jasper Mars upcoming album. The track (and upcoming singles) were created in collaboration with Asadsungabi’s musical soulmate, the yin to his yang and an old friend from college, producer Cleve Wilson.
Jasper Mars is “basically an opportunity for me to not give a fuck about any sort of song structure, not give a fuck about where it’s going to go, what it’s going to do, not care, not have any care in the world with how the production sounds,” says Asadsangabi. “Dream Parade” is a perfect encapsulation of that mission to be unapologetically yourself, with no filters.
In quarantine, Asadsangabi found himself in his own company more than ever before. Plagued with a combination of self-hate and self-pity as the monotony of his new reality set in, his thoughts went inward. He shares, “I was sick of what I was doing and at the end of the day being in quarantine made me realize this is who I am, this is who I’ve always been, and this is what I want to be."
