The dream of performing a gig in London is a common one for aspiring bands, but for those in Iran it raises more serious issues than dodgy vans, shared drum kits and lack of beer money. A new film, No One Knows About Persian Cats, follows a young indie group from Tehran struggling through a tense world of refused permits, faked passports and visas, and clandestine rehearsals in the vain hope of just one gig over here, never mind an officially approved one in their homeland. It won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes last year.

The people’s revolution: Take It Easy Hospital, who appear in the film No One Knows About Persian Cats

Though the film is a fiction, its director Bahman Ghobadi uses a documentary style with real musicians. One heavy metal band is seen rehearsing in a filthy cowshed in the countryside. Another group waits hours for their neighbours to leave before playing on the roof of their tower block using clothes to muffle the drums. Ashkan Koosha, the frontman of the main band featured, Take It Easy Hospital, has been imprisoned for 21 days for playing a concert.

He and his bandmate Negar Shaghaghi have finally made it over here, performing to promote the film in Brixton this month. Next week three unconnected concerts take place at the ICA, organised by Iranian cultural organisation Bar-Ax and principally featuring acts which now work outside Iran.

Breaking boundaries: Kiosk’s Arash Sobhani has a gig at the ICA lined up

Pop music was outlawed for almost two decades after the country's 1979 revolution. Though a scene of sorts exists today, the ominous-sounding Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance ensures that only the tamest fare can be heard in public concerts. Rock and rap are still considered beyond the pale and women are only allowed to sing backing vocals.

Bands who fail to conform are forced underground, though some will consider compromise. In the film, Koosha is heard suggesting: “If we want to get a permit, we need to sound more cheerful.”

San Francisco-based Arash Sobhani, whose deep, laconic voice will grace the gypsy rock of Kiosk at the ICA on 17 March, preferred leaving Iran to diluting his sound. “We had our lyrics rejected because we mentioned the air pollution in Tehran,” he tells me. “In the Eighties, every musician remembers being stopped by police just for carrying instruments. If you're not in the small circle of opportunists who praise the system and its so-called values in their works, you are not allowed to practise your art.”
Classically trained Mamak Khadem, an Iranian long based in Los Angeles, is also performing her blend of Persian poetry and Greek, Turkish and Armenian musical influences at the ICA. She chooses not to play in Iran because she would be confined to women-only audiences. “The unfortunate thing is most Iranian artists have learned to censor themselves to stay out of trouble and have become comfortable with it,” she says. “But I have been encouraged these past few months witnessing another, more activist side of the Iranian youth.”

A long way from home: Los Angeles-based Mamak Khadem will play at the ICA this month

She means the side the world saw around election time in June last year — a young, intelligent population, internet-savvy enough to use Twitter and YouTube to make their voices heard. Ironically, while British and American bands complain about web bootlegs and illegal downloads, the internet is the only way many of their Iranian contemporaries can be heard. Dreams of fame and fortune are too far-fetched — one gig without reprisals would be a rare feat.

It's saddening to report that the music featured in No One Knows About Persian Cats has little to recommend it to British ears. The indie rock, blues and hip hop are weak facsimiles of familiar styles. In fact, this Western mimicry seems to be what the Ministry finds objectionable.

However, as the film shows, if these musicians weren't spending so much time dodging police, muffling rehearsal spaces and having to buy $5,000 forged documents, they would have the freedom hopefully to create something world class. They deserve the chance.

No One Knows About Persian Cats premieres at the Brixton Ritzy, together with a live show from Take It Easy Hospital, on 23 March (0871 704 2065, www.picturehouses.co.uk), before the film's release on 26 March. The soundtrack is released on 22 March by Warner Music. The Bar-Ax Presents … concerts take place on 17-19 March at the ICA, SW1 (020 7930 3647, www.ica.org.uk).

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