In a city as multicultural and musically diverse as Toronto, it’s not uncommon to stumble across new artists and groups who are actively reshaping the current music landscape as we know it today. Dastgâmachine is no exception to this. This Toronto-based trio has created its own niche of psychedelia by combining Persian classical music with electronic, dub, and turntable-driven soundscapes. This fusion results in an avant-garde genre with traditional roots, yet is set in motion by innovation.
The trio consists of Mahmood Schricker (on setar), who offers a strong foundation in traditional composition along with years of performance and soundtrack experience, Caleb Klager (on electronics), who blends his extensive jazz composition background with high-energy techno music, and Jason Rule (on turntables), who has over 15 years of experience as a radio and club DJ across multiple countries, adding a layer of global perspective to the trio.
At the heart of Dastgâmachine is the ancient Dastgâh system, the modal foundation of Persian classical music. This deeply emotional and improvisational framework, which consists of specific scales, melodies, and emotional themes, has shaped Iran’s sounds for centuries. Each Dastgâh is based on a specific scale and has its own set of melodic pieces that serve as building blocks, also known as gushehs. These gushehs allow musicians to both develop and improvise their musical creations within a structured framework, allowing them to tell a story and evoke emotion through each performance. This allows artists to be deeply expressive using their interpretations while creating and performing their music.
By uniting this classical foundation with modern production tools like synthesisers and turntables, Dastgâmachine creates a sound that feels both familiar and new. Their music not only brings together generations but also intertwines the deep emotional roots in classical Persian music with the high energy of techno beats. Each performance feels like a journey that connects both time and space: the East to the West, and the past to the present
What sets Dastgâmachine apart is how intentional their fusion is. The trio uses sound with traditional and new wave frameworks to explore identity, home, and belonging. At their live shows, the experience goes beyond sound. Their performances are paired with psychedelic projections, swirling visuals and shifted lighting that move with the rhythms of the music. When these abstract visuals meet the layered mix of the setar and electronic beats, it creates a dreamy and mystical atmosphere that transports you to a space that feels both ancient and futuristic..
Dastgâmachine is more than just a local band. It is an evolving statement on what it means to carry tradition forward without being constrained by it. In performances across Toronto’s underground and experimental scenes, from small-scale venues to shows at TD Music Hall, they have created an immersive experience that blends sound, heritage, history, and storytelling. Their music doesn’t just echo the past, it reimagines it. Their performances prove that ancient frameworks are not only able to co-exist with new-wave systems, but they can complement and amplify each other. As many of us navigate living in diaspora, the music of Dastgâmachine reminds us that tradition isn’t something that we leave behind, but can be something that we reimagine, reconstruct, share with other communities, and carry into the future.
