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Soleo came together after vocalist/guitarist Amir Gholizadeh created and shared his own bizarre guitar-tuning style with his now-bandmates Tynan Evans (bass) and Nick Golias (drums). That, and a concept about Gholizadeh’s family history, became the inspiration for their unconventional sound, oftentimes labeled as “Middle Eastern progressive rock.” 

The band merges western progressive motifs and a dash of metal with traditional Persian music Gholizadeh grew up listening to. Their self-titled debut album, “Soleo”, has the cinematic feeling of classics like The Wall and Tommy, though to say they necessarily sound like those bands or like their progressive contemporaries is imprecise.

The album, which was released on Tragic Hero Records, is inspired by the true story of Gholizadeh’s family fleeing their home country after it was overtaken by extremists. While it follows that specific journey, the band also says the music functions as a standalone concept. Gholizadeh explains, “To say this is exclusively my family’s story would be short-sighted. A lot of people leave their homes and start a new life somewhere else — some of them under better circumstances and others under worse. So, although the story is unique, the concepts are pretty universal. Our hope is that people will draw their own stories from these songs.”