Last year, the MsMojo team asked for ideas for more music-themed content. Coming on the heels of Ed Sheeran’s Azizam (“my dear” in Persian), I suggested we follow up our Iran-themed clips—Incredible Inventions and Influential Iranians—with a Top 10 list of iconic Iranian songs.
While helping with the research, I went down a rabbit hole. I became enchanted with the voices of Googoosh, Hayedeh, Mahasti, Nahid, and the haunting sounds of Shajarian and others. These were artists I had heard of but never truly explored. As I listened, I was struck by how beautiful the Persian language is—how simple words, stitched together, become poetry that feels almost musical in itself.
That led me to a question: if these same words were sung in English, would they still carry that beauty?
As a writer always drawn to a challenge, I began experimenting—translating lines, reimagining lyrics, and adapting songs across genres. An Iranian pop track became a hard rock riff-driven anthem; a traditional classic evolved into modern pop-rock. That was the nucleus of ARYA: Songs from Iran, through which I translated twenty songs over the summer of 2025. ARYA became the spark to relaunch SoundMojo.
Initially, the plan was straightforward: translate the songs and pair each with an artist—Iranian or not—best suited to bring it to life. I reached out to artist representatives, sharing adapted versions (for example, Shâyad became Maybe, something I imagined for someone like Miley Cyrus). Unsurprisingly, these outreach efforts didn’t gain traction.
By the fall, it became clear that the concept was difficult to convey. These reinterpretations were far removed from the originals, and most artists struggled to grasp the vision.
We began production on one track, but progress slowed significantly following the January 2026 massacre in Iran, as members of the production group were based there.
At WatchMojo’s 20-year anniversary event that same month, a colleague asked about the project. I explained both the creative ambition and the logistical challenges. I asked Rob Flis (my Inside podcast co-host and a musician) and Joe Pacheco (a colleague and musician) to develop sample riffs and hooks—essentially demos to help communicate the concept to artists. After a weekend of trying, they felt they couldn’t quite capture what I was aiming for.
Another colleague suggested using AI (knowing that a century before, someone suggested using the electric guitar, and half a century ago, someone suggested synthesizers, and so on). I was initially resistant, but I recognized it could serve as a powerful tool for producing demos.
Out of a mix of frustration and emotion—especially given the situation in Iran—I decided to rework Ey Iran into Free Iran. I asked Rob and Joe to experiment with emerging tools to create a demo.
As we refined our prompts and better articulated each song’s vision, the outputs improved significantly. Each demo became more aligned with what I had originally imagined. Each song build on the previous songs I was producing.
From there, the concept expanded.
With ARYA underway, I began exploring another idea: taking classical music and reinventing it as modern rock and heavy metal, complete with original lyrics. O Fortuna became Fame & Fortune, The Barber of Seville became The Butcher of Seville. This evolved into BALANCE.
From there, the next step felt natural: CURRENT, a project blending EDM with instrumental, guitar-driven rock. These are ultimately covers, which we license the way you would any song you want to cover, and reinterpret as a cohesive sonic journey.
Meanwhile, while working on ARYA, I was inspired to write original Iran-themed songs. These became part of ERAN, including Javid Shah, an homage to protesters whose final words embodied their pursuit of freedom, and Lion & Sun, a tribute to Iran’s historic Shir-o-Khorshid flag.
Looking ahead, the D-release will be DASH, the soundtrack to the scripted DASH production under WM Studios, currently in development with a Hollywood writer. I have a whole slate of albums in the works now… with music videos being produced for most/all tracks over time.
Technology has always expanded the boundaries of music—from electric guitars to synthesizers. I believe AI represents the next frontier, enabling artists to experiment, iterate, and create in new ways. While I remain cautious about fully embracing it, I see it as a powerful tool for prototyping and ideation.
Ultimately, my goal is to take these songs beyond demos—bringing in artists to re-record them and perform them live. I am now in talks to develop and produce one of two shows: one is an American Idol-style casting process to assemble a “supergroup” that could then tour. The other breaks down each song as an episode with its history, the story of it being re-imagined, and finding the artist in the world best suited to bring it to life, on stage.
Much like WatchMojo helped define a new format in the 2010s—blending B-roll, voiceover, and ranking pop culture—I see parallels today with how YouTube disrupted traditional media. This is about pushing creative boundaries once again. I can talk about my plans for SoundMojo in perpetuity, or just do it. It is, like WatchMojo was a decade ago for me, quite liberating, and rewarding.
Check out the SoundMojo channel for the songs… and tell me what you think. The feedback has been very good, especially on ARYA. And, yes, if you are a musician and any of the songs and genres suit your style, definitely reach out to me ash at watchmojo dot com.