Interview conducted by musician and composer Mikuláš Mrva with Mohammad Reza Mortazavi and artist manager and musician Jonas Petry on the occasion of the first edition of Faun Festival 2023. The interview was conducted in English and German. Many thanks to Jonas for the simultaneous translation and everything.

Iranian-born musician Mohammad Reza Mortazavi has dedicated his musical practice to playing the tombak and daf drums. His playing of these Iranian percussion instruments, however, goes far beyond traditional concepts and is devoid of any folkloric narrative. On the contrary, Mortazavi seeks new playing techniques that take the sonic range of these instruments to another level. In his performances he enters a kind of trance state that, as he says, blurs the boundaries between body and mind. Currently based in Berlin, the artist has performed at many major music festivals - Germany's Atonal, Holland's Rewire and Sweden's Intonal - and has demonstrated his virtuosity to audiences in prestigious music halls including the Sydney Opera House and the Berlin Philharmonic. His album Ritme Jaavdanegi (2019, Latency) was named one of the best experimental recordings of the year by Pitchfork.