Sote

[IR]

Photo by Arash Bolouri.

Ata Ebtekar, better known as Sote, is an electronic music composer and sound artist based in Tehran, Iran. Over the last two decades, he has published his work via established labels such as Warp, Sub Rosa, Opal Tapes, Morphine, Digitalis, and Repitch, among others.

Ebtekar’s compositions and installations weave expansive sonic tales that display his passion for all types of music. This, in addition to his extensive involvement in sound art and academia, have led him to compose a wide variety of musical styles. Ebtekar’s works always exhibit a strong engagement with electro-acoustic techniques, microtonal systems, and polyrhythmic motifs.

Sote holds a strong belief that rules and formulas must be questioned and deconstructed, which pushes him to alter and challenge musical codes, tonalities, and rhythms. His vivid, singular soundscapes employ various synthesis strategies and DSP techniques, both in analogue and digital environments. 

Much of his output deals with a continual analysis of beatless electronic music, but with a maximalist aesthetic – as heard on a record like Hardcore Sounds from Tehran, which was featured on The Quietus’ Top 100 albums of 2016 list. 

Ebtekar has worked with celebrated audiovisual composer Tarik Barri, as well as performers Arash Bolouri and Behrouz Pashaei, merging electronics with traditional acoustic instruments to create a Persian techno apocalypse, as heard in the previous CTM commission and resulting album, Sacred Horror in Design.

A driving force behind Tehran’s vibrant electronic music scene, Ebtekar is a co-founder of the SET Festival in Tehran. For CTM 2019, he will premiere a brand new hardcore inspired set. 

As If We Had Power

Berghain, Fri 01.02.2019, 22:00

Opium Hum, Gabber Modus Operandi, MCZO & Duke, Sote, Casual Gabberz, Putas Vampiras, Sentimental Rave, DJ AZF

CTM x SET Festival

HAU1, Wed 01.02.2017, 19:00

9T Antiope, Siavash Amini, Sote with Tarik Barri, Arash Bolouri and Behrouz Pashaei

Contemporary Sound in Iran

Kunstquartier Studio 1, Thu 02.02.2017, 12:00

Sote, Siavash Amini, Sara Bigdeli Shamloo, Karl Smith

Un Tune V

HAU2, Fri 30.01.2015, 20:00

Sote, Senyawa