DT: MARCH 1, 2023

FM: KELLY WALSH/MITCH SCHNEIDER, SRO PR

LOS ANGELES-BASED
ECLECTIC MUSICIAN/SONGWRITER
IAN GOTHE
UNVEILS FIRST NEW SINGLE IN TWO YEARS
“AMPHITRITE”
VIA BLACKBIRD RECORD LABEL
WITH A STRIKING VIDEO
OUT TODAY, MARCH 2

WATCH HERE

DIGITAL SINGLE AVAILABLE THIS FRIDAY, MARCH
PRE-SAVE NOW HERE

“Ian Gothe certainly knows his way around a guitar and very well might be one of the greatest guitar players you haven’t heard.”
– Glide Magazine (7/20/22)

IAN GOTHE has today, March 1, shared an impassioned new single “Amphitrite,” marking the Los Angeles-based acoustic guitarist, singer, and songwriter’s first new music since his 2021 single “Upside Down” and 2020 debut album Memento. Scheduled for a March 3 digital release via Blackbird Record Label, “Amphitrite” showcases IAN’s eclectic blend of genres including world, classical and folk alongside prog rock and jazz stylings. Pre-save “Amphitrite” now at https://smithmusic.ffm.to/662582898125. Watch the video premiere of “Amphitrite”—directed by award-winning film director Prince Bagdasarian (Showtime’s Abducted) and blending concept scenes with IAN’s performance at the Covina Center For The Performing Arts, in Covina, California—on VEVO HERE and/or streaming below.

Based on the tales from Greek mythology of the song’s namesake, Amphitrite, the Goddess of the sea and wife of Poseidon, the single’s haunting music video shows the plight of Amphitrite, who is bound to the sea, being lured to land by IAN’s music and the toll such a journey takes on one’s body, mind and soul.

“‘Amphitrite’ was inspired by a painting I saw at an art exhibition titled ‘Goddess Of The Sea,’” shares IAN, who composed the song. “I’ve seen many images and have heard many stories about Amphitrite before but had never personally connected with anything until seeing that painting. Upon arriving home, a spark for my soul to speak was ignited, I picked up my guitar and the music began to flow.  The stirring that started inside haunted me until it was done.  When the song was complete, I felt a deep sense of peace. I hope that listeners may embark on a journey of their own upon hearing it and find a similar sense of peace when the music stops.”

IAN elaborates about the meaning behind “Amphitrite” music video: “To me the video evokes the emotion of a sense of yearning desire with urgency with no peace until one takes the journey to the source. The power that music has, like love, can cause one to travel great distances, to the point of getting lost, exhausted, and potentially found. It is a rite of passage to leave a place of safety and venture out to answer that call, exhausting as it may be, and possibly return, with a new knowledge of oneself.”

IAN, an Armenian-American born in Iran who came to Los Angeles as a teenager, spent much of his adolescence traveling across continents in search of a home. His initial musical inspiration came from a recording of the Doors’ “Spanish Caravan” which came full circle when he released a cover of the classic track on his 2020 debut album MEMENTO which caught the attention of The Doors’ guitarist Robby Krieger who said: “I love it! It’s tough to cover Doors songs because the originals are so iconic. But Ian wasn’t afraid to stick to the original format and did a great job of capturing the feel.”

MEMENTO featured performances by all-star musicians Derek Frank (Shania Twain, Gwen Stefani), Tamir Barzilay (Macy Gray, Tal Wilkenfeld), Sam Babayan (The Dirty Diamond) and Fernando Perdomo (Jakob Dylan, Fiona Apple), the latter of which IAN would reunite with to produce his 2021 single “Upside Down.”

IAN will further work with Perdomo on his next planned release, co-producing and recording a tribute album to one of IAN’s favorite bands, the English progressive rock group Camel, due this winter. IAN has also been working on new original material and plans to release his second full-length album shortly thereafter.

For more information on IAN GOTHE, please visit:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

SRO PR ASSETS: www.sropr.com/portfolio/iangothe

###

For press inquiries, please contact:
SRO PR
Kelly Walsh – kwalsh@sropr.com
Mitch Schneider – mschneider@sropr.com

DT: JULY 21, 2021

FM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/KELLY WALSH

IAN GOTHE
SHARES NEW SINGLE + VIDEO
‘UPSIDE DOWN,”
HIS FIRST NEW MUSIC SINCE HIS 2020 DEBUT ALBUM

THE MOODY GUITAR-DRIVEN ROCKER,
PRODUCED BY THE LOS ANGELES-BASED ARTIST AND FERNANDO PERDOMO,
LAMENTS HOW ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY IS AFFECTING OUR QUALITY OF LIFE

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

Coming off his 2020 debut album Memento, acclaimed guitarist, singer and songwriter IAN GOTHE has today (July 21) shared the video for his new single “Upside Down” via Blackbird Record Label. The moody guitar-driven rocker, produced by the Los Angeles-based artist and the revered Fernando Perdomo, laments how advanced technology is affecting our quality of life. Watch the evocative video, lensed by director Martin Yernazian, here. It was premiered yesterday (July 20) via Glide Magazine. The single will be available this Friday (July 23) at all streaming platforms here: https://smithmusic.ffm.to/iangothe_upsidedown.

“Ian Gothe certainly knows his way around a guitar and very well might be one of the greatest guitar players you haven’t heard,” noted Glide in its article (7/20/21). “With influences that dabble in ’70s British prog with a buff songwriting flair, Gothe combines shades of Jethro Tull and early King Crimson with a mixture of hearty folk.” The outlet added: “With his well-worn raspy vocals and dexterous guitar workmanship, Gothe’s ‘Upside Down’ awakens as a modern-day ‘Deep Track’ wonder.”

“Upside Down” marks IAN’s first new recording since Memento which presented a collection of wistful original songs and covers, reflecting his travels around the world and eclectic taste in music. It also featured GOTHE‘s stellar guitar playing. Robbie Krieger from The Doors praised Ian’s rendition of “Spanish Caravan,” noting: “I love it! It’s tough to cover Doors songs because the originals are so iconic. But Ian wasn’t afraid to stick to the original format and did a great job of capturing the feel.” Guitar Player premiered Ian’s music video for the song, calling it “a beautiful, deeply personal cover.”

“I co-wrote it with my friend Cody LePow,” GOTHE says about “Upside Down.” “When he stopped by one evening, I said: ‘I’m sick and tired of corporations shaking me for information, always wanting to know our location…we should write a song about it.’ Cody replied, ‘you just did.’ So I grabbed a pen, and while writing, a fire engine siren got the dogs in the neighborhood to start howling. Cody commented: ‘the dogs are howling, cops on the chase, it seems like I’m in outer space.’”

GOTHE wrote the guitar riff next, created a demo and sent it to Perdomo, a multi-instrumentalist and producer who’s featured in the music documentary Echo in the Canyon, and who LA Weekly dubbed as “the millennial answer to Todd Rundgren.“ Working together in the recording studio turned out to be a nearly telepathic experience. “Fernando is highly gifted and the fastest and hardest working musician I know,” Gothe says, “but we also have similar tastes in music.” “If I describe a certain sound that I’m looking for, he knows what it is before I finish my sentence.”

“Upside Down” is accompanied by a music video that’s directed and edited by Martin Yernazian, marking the fourth video they’ve collaborated on. “Martin has what some would call an old-school approach to his directing work,” Gothe says. “I would describe it more like an eclipse, raw and present.” Making music videos is a creative outlet that Gothe has enjoyed very much lately: “My last two videos have been story-driven, and it’s so much fun to see and be a part of the process of having my vision come to life,” he says. “Part of me has always wanted to be a cinematographer.”

GOTHE now has enough songs to record a follow-up album to Memento. But he has also started an additional project with Perdomo: a tribute album to the English progressive rock band Camel.

“They’re one of my all-time favorite bands, and the soundtrack of my life,” he says. “I’m co-producing this project with Fernando, since he also is a huge Camel fan. We just had Durga McBroom come in to record backing vocals for one of the tracks. Years ago I saw Durga perform with Pink Floyd, and I never would have guessed that years later she’d be singing in one of my projects.”

Credit: Martin Yernazian

For more information on IAN GOTHE, please visit:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

SRO PR ASSETS: www.sropr.com/portfolio/iangothe

###

For press inquiries, please contact:
SRO PR
Mitch Schneider – mschneider@sropr.com
Kelly Walsh – kwalsh@sropr.com

DT: OCTOBER 23, 2020

FM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/KELLY WALSH

MULTICULTURAL ACOUSTIC GUITARIST-SINGER-SONGWRITER
IAN GOTHE

JOINS FORCES WITH AMERICANA-UK
TO REVEAL MUSIC VIDEO + Q&A FOR
“LIEZAH”
(ORIGINALLY PERFORMED BY ENGLISH OUTFIT THE CORAL)

DIRECTED BY
PRINCE BAGDASARIAN

TRACK FEATURED ON IAN’S DEBUT ALBUM
‘MEMENTO’

OUT NOW VIA BLACKBIRD RECORD LABEL

Photo credit: Fred Mendoza

“With excellent musicianship and an engaging arrangement, Gothe makes the song his own.”
–Andrew Frolish, Americana-UK (10/21/2020)

Los Angeles-based acoustic guitarist-singer-songwriter IAN GOTHE spent much of his adolescence traveling across continents in search of a home. Born to an Armenian family in Iran, his family relocated to England before the revolution and he later made his way to the United States. Being able to experience music from his vast cultural upbringing influenced his eclectic style which fuses musical genres and language barriers alike. On his debut album MEMENTO—co-produced by IAN and Grammy-winning producer with engineer Jim Scott (Wilco, Tom Petty) and released this past February via the California-based Blackbird Record Label—IAN pays tribute to these influences including a lively cover of “Liezah” by the revered British rock group The Coral. He has partnered with the UK-based site Americana-UK to premiere the song’s cinematic music video which was shot in multiple locations throughout Southern California. Watch it streaming below or via YouTube here and read a Q&A with IAN below.

The music video is based on IAN’s “story of a modern-day Robin Hood,” and features actress + model Katie Shorey as Liezah while being directed by Prince Bagdasarian whose current film Abducted is airing now on Showtime, and his directorial debut feature film Abstraction has garnered various awards at festivals after its release in the U.S. by Breaking Glass Pictures in 2015. Read more about the track and the making of the video in a Q&A below with IAN.

IAN GOTHE Q&A ABOUT THE “LIEZAH”
TRACK + VIDEO

What did you want the video to communicate?

IAN GOTHE: “This is the fifth video from the album.  Just like the previous four, I wanted each to be different from the previous one.  In this video, I didn’t want the focus to be on me–I wanted it to be on the main character, Liezah, for which actress Katie Shorey did a great job.  I wanted the video to be entertaining, to tell a fun short story.  So I wrote the story of a modern-day Robin Hood.”

Where was the video filmed?

“There were different residential properties utilized in Glendale, Montrose and La Crescenta. The nighttime driving footage was shot in Montrose, the laundromat footage was filmed in City of Sylmar and the outside city/horse footage was captured in the Acton.”

Any interesting anecdotes to relate during the making of the video?

“On the last day of filming, we were heading to Saddleback Butte State Park to capture some desert footage and possibly some footage at an abandoned gas station near the park.  On our way there in a 1968 Firebird, the car stalled on us on the freeway and we were still about an hour and a half away from our destination.  About ten minutes later while waiting for a tow truck, the car started again, and we got off the first exit to a safe location.  The car was running now but we didn’t want to take the chance to drive to the desert and get stuck there, so instead of calling it a day, we said let’s see if we can find an interesting location near here that we can use.  After driving in the area for about 15 minutes, we stopped in front of a barn that looked cool.  We got out and I started playing/singing the song. What happened next was really cool–a few horses came down the hill and stood in front of me and started to intensely listen to the song, and we said that’s it! This is the location! And the horses ended up in the video.  The car stalling on us was a happy accident.”

What led you to cover this song by the British group The Coral?

“Whenever I hear the song, it takes me back to the time when I lived in England.  Reminds me of the good times I had there.”

What do you feel the song possesses that inspired you to do your own version?

“Well, I love the lyrical imagery of the song.  Also just like me, I think at one point or another everyone has had a Liezah in their lives, a woman who was not particularly nice to them, but no matter what she did, you still love her.”

Your version of the song had beautiful production touches. Can you walk about what you feel producer Jim Scott added to the track?

“Yes, it was a pleasure working with Jim.  It was Jim who asked me to play the electric sitar on this song.  Another cool instrument that Jim had in his studio that we used on this song was a vintage marxophone. One more thing that I’m personally proud of in this video is the intro music that I played on the pedal harp.”

MEMENTO features performances by all-star musicians Derek Frank (Shania Twain, Gwen Stefani), Fernando Perdomo (Jakob Dylan, Fiona Apple), Tamir Barzilay (Macy Gray, Tal Wilkenfeld), and Sam Babayan (The Dirty Diamond).

The album’s leading single was a cover of The Doors’ “Spanish Caravan” premiered via Guitar Player magazine (10/30/19) and garnered praise from The Doors’ guitarist Robby Krieger who said: “I love it! It’s tough to cover Doors songs because the originals are so iconic. But Ian wasn’t afraid to stick to the original format and did a great job of capturing the feel. There’s a new flamenco/rock movement happening now in Europe–maybe Ian will lead the way!”

Three additional singles were released during the campaign: his original track “Take Me Home,” which is sung entirely in Armenian, opening track “Andalusian Moondance” and “Blood On the Rooftops In Montrose.” The latter is IAN’s homage to Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett for which the intro to the song is from Hackett’s “Blood On The Rooftops,” from the Genesis album Wind & Wuthering, paired with an original piece by IAN.

Stream/download MEMENTO at http://smarturl.it/IanGothe.

For more information on IAN GOTHE, please visit:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM

SRO PR ASSETS: http://www.msopr.com/ian-gothe

###

For press inquiries, please contact:

SRO PR
Mitch Schneider – mschneider@sropr.com
Kelly Walsh – kwalsh@sropr.com