Last month saw a return visit to Tbilisi by Azerbaijani Experimental/Immersive Doom Pop band, DiHaj. Scheduled to play at the annual Tbilisi Open Air Festival, DiHaj also performed at the birthday party of veteran Georgian rocker Lado Burduli and at Vake Park’s Backstage 76. Great band.
Diana Hajiyeva (better known by her stage name DIHAJ) is an Azeri producer, musician and singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Baku, Azerbaijan Diana graduated from the Baku Music Academy with a Bachelor’s Degree in Choral Conducting. She began producing experimental music while attending The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance in London, where she became involved with the local underground music scene. It was shortly after graduation when she launched DIHAJ, a live trio, comprised of two other musicians: Ali on drums and Anar on electric guitar, with Diana herself producing and providing lead vocal. Ethereal guitar sequences, melancholic breathy vocals punctuated by progressive drum patterns create a peculiar sonic texture, which DIHAJ describes as “immersive doom pop”. Great festival.
I interviewed the band for the BBC’s Azerbaijan Service when they were in town earlier this year for the Caucasus Music Awards, but now a recording I made of the band performing at Lado Burduli’s birthday party and some photos from Backstage 76.
DiHaj, Backstage 76, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2016
