Damnedge

Damnedge Biography

Born to an artistic family and in a country famous for poetry, majestic mountains and mysticism, music came naturally to Jamal. "I remember my childhood in Persia like a dream of a romantic era gone by..."

Spiritually and musically inclined, from a young age he kept an impressive music collection and friends always reached out to him for music, in fact he still listens to his cassette tape collection today. But perhaps his first profound connection with electronic music was as a child listening to Jean Michel Jarre on his first Walkman.

At 19, his dad told him, "the best university is life itself" and encouraged him to travel the world. These simple words ignited a life long zeal for exploring and discovering both his inner and outer worlds. While traveling he decided to learn how to play Daf, a Sufi drum used in the trance ceremonies of dervishes. Drumming he considers the father of all trance and later in the Slocan Valley of Canada, in a märchen-like community, he found himself playing and busking with friends.

Encouraged by the positive reactions to the sound of the Daf he continued to play elsewhere, inducing trance-like states in the spiritual communities around the world. Being a global citizen he also picked up a passion for world music, instrument collecting and new sounds, some which he recorded from street musicians.

He rekindled his relationship with DJing when he moved back to S.E. Asia in 2010 and started attending the Psytrance parties on Koh Phangan, Koh Tao and of course in Kuala Lumpur where he resides today. Now a member of Malaysia"s leading Psytrance music, culture and arts collective, Epic Tribe, he works closely with this family to promote a Psytrance culture which the region quite rightfully deserves.

Jamal views Psytrance as an organic universe. One that is independent of judgement and needs no spoken words. It is a place of pure raw energy that unites artists, dancers, producers, DJs, healers and those in need of healing through sonic frequencies. This is a universe where everyone is a piece of the puzzle and has an equally important role in the great balance...

He finds it difficult to describe music conventionally. His sets are described using terms like "intenseuphoric", "cosmorgasmic" and contain elements which he says are a bit "heavier but happier"! He considers this fervent spiritual state "The Edge", the connecting bridge of our world to the beyond...

Like a neon fairy tale, his sets contain tracks meticulously handpicked by him which are a reflection of his immense devotion to this genre and the love and energy that he wants to bestow. His belief of the highest form of a gift... One of simple love, ecstasy, dance, joy, bliss, smiles and happiness...

Always allowing the crowd to be his best judge you often find him mingling with people after his sets or communicating with the dance-floor through his smiles while he is playing and keeping them on that damn edge! A give and take he considers essential...

His future plans and dreams are to produce his own music and currently he is in the learning process. Also very recently he has started experimenting with Chill Out and ambient music under the name of "Sonoluminescence".

He says: "I see beat as the essence of all life. Not only did the universe apparently start with a big bang (!) but we all begin life with a heart beat and this continuous beat goes on till we die. To me Psytrance is like life. It is the heart beat..."