." >> [laughing] [speaking in farsi] >> i live in a suburb called, uh, karaj, 30 kilometers from tehran. i live there with my wife. >> [speaking in farsi] >> hmm, kind of, nie and bong life. [laughs] culture in general educates people, and, en-- enlightens people to know more, to become, uh, more familiar with their rights, and demanding that from, you know, the authorities, whomever it is in their own parts of the world, and, um, to not settle for less when they can actually settle for more. but in our society, because of the political system and the political changes, especially in the last 30 years, uh, the role of culture has been kind of forgotten and not really well respected. i'm not very fond of playing in tehran right now, because, um, it's kind of difficult to-- you know, for getting permissions, things like that, and i don't think it's time for music. it's time for musicians to be a part of the population and be there with them. uh, living in iran, there is no choice, but, um, becoming political. it's nice to be here at this moment, especially now that we're experiencing thes