March is Women’s History Month and despite it being 2023, women are continuing to fight for basic human rights — in this country and around the world. One of the biggest female rights movements right now is taking over Iran. Jejune had the pleasure to photograph and chat with Iranian singer Gola, who is a force to be reckoned with. Born in Iran, she paved her way as a musical artist where there was none. Having been exiled from the place she calls home, Gola turns her pain into music that empowers the women of Iran and her listeners all over the world. Unafraid to show the real beauty and the brutal nature of the current regime, she has been rightfully called the Lioness or Iran. She makes those around her feel inspired, empowered, and wanting to do better. Jejune was excited to speak with Gola further on her personal journeys and the future of Iranian women, please read on to learn more!

Where are you currently based?
I am based in the US at the moment.

When did you first discover your inclination for music?
Very early on, before I remember. My parents say that I was constantly singing, sometimes Persian traditional scales that mostly grownups go through to be trained. I picked them up quickly, and sang them. We had a piano at home, and I showed interest in playing that at a young age, as well. I feel music and performance have been the only ways I could express myself fully ever since I was a child.

Your mother started her own fashion and sewing business to empower women. How has she inspired you on your journey?
Well, despite all our disagreements, she is the reason I am who I am today. I learned so much from her. How to look out for others, how to give to the society, how to create a gradual and fundamental change, and most importantly how, by empowering women, you empower everyone. How to be a boss, yet be extremely kind, respectful, and respected. Although she loved me to be an artist and a musician, she was totally against me choosing it as my career. I had to work hard to convince my family for months to be able to study music in the university. Naturally, they believed there was no future for a female musician or singer in Iran, and they were right (for the time being, I really believe a big change is on the way).

Jejune is obsessed with your music, which makes bold and empowering statements about the predicament of women in Iran. What inspired you to take this direction with your music?
Thank you! I guess at some points in my life I realized by playing the middle game nothing changes. I decided not to be conservative about what I say and sing about. Especially, after I did my masters in Music Psychology, when I learned so much about the power of music and how it can influence people’s mind and behavior. I felt I can use my music to empower women and help us raise over all the limitations and beliefs the society has created for us. This is who I am, I am also bold in how I live my life and what I do in my everyday life. Be you, be bold, lift yourself up and others. Nothing else matters.

Iranian women are only allowed to sing in front of an all female audience. How did that make you feel?
Yes, for the last 43 years women have been banned from recording, singing and performing solo publicly. The Islamic regime’s argument is that women’s voices are provocative and, therefore, listening to them singing is Haram. Some religious leaders even believe that the woman should speak without elongating the words, raising her voice or making her voice soft! Gender inequality never made any sense to me. Why would a group of people who happen to be men be made to think they have every right to rule over everyone else? It never became normal for me. It always hurts, and to this day, it still does. It made me angry, disappointed, and helpless. This is the reason why I had to leave my friends and family back in Iran. It was tough to see all my male friends and classmates going on the stage and perform as a solo singer, while the women had to sing as their backing vocal or watch them perform. If you take the risk and protest by singing solo, you may face arrest, imprisonment and torture. What the Iranian regime desires to do is to make sure women are not seen and heard.

Things have taken a different direction recently though! Now our voice is loud and clear. The whole world is hearing the voice of women of Iran. This is the regime's biggest fear.

You have been exiled from Iran for over a decade now. Can you tell us the story about how that happened? How do you feel about it?
I studied music performance in the university, but I was not allowed to take singing modules while my male friends could. The discrimination was always there. I was very active in the music world, I sang for many bands, but my voice was always shadowed by a male voice, otherwise the band wouldn’t get permission to perform on the stage. Something was always missing, and that was me being me. This is what the patriarchal society does to you. I tried every existing possibility to find or create a way to sing solo. I met with many high positioned people, they all threw me out of their offices and said, “it’s as if you don’t understand you live in Iran, here women are not allowed to sing.” To the very last man I visited to convince, who worked in the Ministry of Direction, I said “one day you will hear my voice” when he asked me to leave his office and forget about singing.

I had to leave Iran to achieve my singing dreams. It was my only option. But I promised myself that I would do something about it so that the future generations can sing and perform freely. I promised myself to bring awareness about what is truly happening in Iran. Show the real beauty of Iran to the world as well as revealing the crimes this brutal regime commits to keep themselves in power. I haven’t seen many of my friends and family members for the last 12 years. However, I turn the rage and pain into fuel to empower myself and other women who are treated purely by men, to bring Justice within my power. For now, many other Iranian female singers and I are living in exile and can not go back to Iran. I am sure that after the current revolution of Woman Life Freedom and its victory, Iran will be a different place soon.

You are known as the Lioness of Iran, a pretty epic name! What stirred this name?
I guess that came along after the bold statements I made through my music regarding the current regime. I believe no woman before me had targeted the regime and the dictator so directly. Leaving my country behind, leaving my friends and family behind knowing that I could possibly never go back or I’ll be arrested is tough. I don’t have anything to lose, I have gone through the worst and am not scared of anything or anyone! In my song “Betars Az Man” (Fear me) I say it clearly:

Fear me, fear me
As I have nothing to lose
Fear me, fear me
I want to create dreams with my conviction

My song “Nashegi” (Euphoria) is directly towards the dictator:
You are sitting on your throne of blood and lunacy
With the delusion that god is on your side
With the delusion that you hold the hourglass of death
Forever in your possession
This horrid feeling will soon end
And once again we are together as one
Once again we rule the streets
And we shall burn your roots

Your new album CHANGE amplifies the tragedies faced by Iranian women and men in the face of oppression and violation of human rights. What are you hoping this album can communicate to its listeners? Did the current protests inspire the album?
Music is a very strong medium. Music has played a strong role in most social and civil movements and the revolutions in history. I hope ‘Change’ can give my Iranian brothers and sisters a little hope and a bit of encouragement when they need them both to face such a monstrous adversary. The main Chorus of “Ma Ziadim” says:

You are done for, we are many
We are restless like a volcano
The roar of the flood and the fury of the wind
Your bullets are few, we are many

For those women who are facing guns and bullets for freedom, equality and human dignity, I want them to know that they are not alone, I’d love to make them feel empowered and united, if I can. We are many, we are all together in this and the world is gradually joining us! For years we have been degraded, humiliated, abused, disrespected and this is the time to take back our power and accept and celebrate ourselves, and be blunt with the dictator — and dictator wanna-be’s. We all know it’s their time to go, and we want them to know that too. The end part of my Song “Haghame” says:

Don’t you threaten me
This is me, this is who I am
Your time is over
And I can see the day

I hope by listening to my music and reading its lyrics, people can feel what we have gone through as women and as a nation in the past, I want them to hear our truth through music. ‘Change’ is my feeling towards what I experienced in the past and what I hope to see in my country in the future. This is what I talk about at the end of “Khodam Boodam Oonja” (I Was There):

Once again we shall blossom and leave the cold behind
The darkness will fade, there won’t be any cold nights
The sun will rise again, once and for all

The album comes with a booklet that has some illustrations. We have two characters: A monster who is the symbol of patriarchal theocracy, dictatorship, and suppression. The little girl is, on the other hand, the symbol of the suppressed Iranians seeking change and fighting for freedom.

“Change” is the soundtrack of our journey to Change. You can feel all sorts of emotions such as sadness, anger, helplessness, courage, hope and victory! The victory is sweet and that is what we will experience when the change we are fighting for is generated.

What has been the response to the release of your album across the world, but also in Iran?
Amazing response so far! I have received many hopeful and loving messages from people inside Iran saying the songs say what they long wanted to say or the music expresses their feelings, which means so much to me. Many of the songs went viral including “Haghame” and “Betars Az Man”. I am happy that by listening to my music we all realize we have a common pain, we are not alone, and by uniting we can change things and reach the common victory we long strived for.

I am also glad that my music and the translated lyrics are bringing awareness. Every track has a story behind it, for instance “Behtarin Abi” (The Best Blue) is about Sahar Khodayari. It is strictly forbidden for women to attend football matches in Iran. In 2019, Sahar was sentenced to prison for trying to enter a stadium while disguised as a man. In protest at her sentence, she set herself alight outside the courtroom, dying of her injuries a week later. She was known as Blue Girl, after the color of her club, Esteghlal F.C

“Ma Ziadim” (We are Many) was written after Bloody November. The 2019-20 anti-government protests, also known as Bloody November, were the most severe and violent since the creation of the Islamic Republic in 1979. As many as 1500 protestors were killed and in an effort to conceal the scale of the massacre many bodies were removed by the authorities. No matter how peaceful people protest, the response by the regime is always savage, physical, and deadly. In the recent anti-regime protests for instance the Iranian security forces were targeting women’s faces, breasts and genitals.

Are there any songs on it that are particularly meaningful to you?
Honestly they are all meaningful to me, but there is one that every time I sing I can hardly control my tears. “Jadooye Avaz” (The Magic Of Singing) is about my own journey, what I went through and how I dragged my voice towards freedom. Where I usually burst into tears is near the last part of the song:

I sing for the world to know
Thousands of men and women are silenced there
Thousands of sweet melodies
Thousands of sweet dialects
I gave up all the memories I had made
I dragged my voice towards freedom
And although I’m now apart from my dear motherland
But at least my dreams have been realized.

You were the face of the Hijab No Hijab movement in Iran largely because of your song “Haghame” (It’s my right). Please tell us about the significance of this movement. What inspired this song?
This song was written based on my own experience with forced hijab throughout my life in Iran. Living in a patriarchal society ruled by a misogynist regime, I can not describe how much I disliked wearing a scarf, but I had to wear it in order to be able to go to school when I was only 7. I was feeling hot all the time in the classroom and it was hard for me to concentrate. I experienced arrests, jail, I was beaten and was harassed and degraded, once a morality police broke my arm for what they call “inappropriate hijab.” However, it is not only the physical aspects of it that I dislike. Ever since the revolution in 1979, hijab has taken the center stage as a symbol of the islamic regime identity and is a visible symbol of their level of control over society. The message of hijab is much bigger than what people outside of Iran can imagine. Compulsory hijab is one of the main pillars of the Islamic regime, and as soon as it is destroyed the whole identity of this regime is destroyed. There won’t be any more control over women. I have always been fighting for freedom and I deeply believe that every individual regardless of their gender, race, religion and age must be able to have control over their body. From Iran to the US, I can not believe we are still fighting for bodily autonomy after all these years.

You are a Muslim woman who doesn’t wear a hijab. Why do you choose not to wear one?
I am against anything that takes my freedom and individuality away. I have respect for those who choose to wear it, however, I wouldn’t choose to wear it myself. In fact, in my new song “Khodavande Shoma”, which is about to be released soon, I challenge the religion that the Islamic Republic of Iran has created and practiced for years. What kind of religion allows the authority to rape women and men in the prison, or execute an innocent 19 year old, or kills children? I was pushed towards practicing their type of religion and soon I disliked it very much. I walked away from it. I believe in love, respect, and kindness — whatever religion that is.

Your fashion style is actually really stunning, and Jejune wanted to celebrate that with the clothing we styled you in. What are your thoughts on fashion and identity?
I must say, I absolutely adore every look you created for me! They all empowered different aspects of my personality. Thank you! I love fashion and I love the freedom of expression towards clothings and accessories. Through a certain style you can convey a certain message without saying a word! It is genius, the language of fashion is like the language of music. It is international, you can communicate through it regardless of the language you speak. I was raised in a house where fashion mattered, was respected, and was a part of our lifestyle. My mum had suitcases of different fabrics with astonishing colors, some with embroideries; I would be surrounded by this all while my mum was creating a piece for hours. Sometimes she asked me to draw the lines on the fabrics for her before cutting a really big piece, threading the needle and cross stitching were among the first skills I learnt in life. Watching my mum and her students taught me so much about the amount of creativity, time and labour that goes into a single piece we choose to wear; as well as elements such as balance and rhythm. I am very grateful that I was exposed to fashion from a young age, styling ourselves is a decision we make on a daily basis, and can affect our behavior and self confidence. So it is very important to know about it to be able to empower ourselves!

Since last September there have been passionate protests going on across Iran. Can you tell us a little bit about what happened to Mahsa Amini’s and why her murder was so significant in igniting this movement?
On September 16, Mahsa Amini, a 22 year-old-girl who was visiting the capitol, Tehran, with her brother was arrested and beaten to death by the morality police in Iran as a result of compulsory hijab. Her death caused the most significant women's uprising and political movement that Iran has seen since the 1979 revolution. A series of large protests by women burning their headscarves and cutting their hair broke all over Iran which was met by deadly and violent response from the regime as always. This was then followed by a series of large protests around the world on October 1st in support of Iranian people as well as human rights. For those who may not know, in recent years prior to September 2022, resistance against the compulsory hijab had intensified, with women and girls risking fines, lashes, forced confessions and even jail time for uncovering their heads. The struggle is an ongoing one, with arrests occurring daily, and prison sentences for ‘disrespecting compulsory hijab’ can be extraordinarily harsh, sometimes decades long.

The world might not be talking about the protests as much, but the fight continues on in Iran. People are being sentenced to years in jail (or worse, executions) for dancing or singing with the protests. What do you think of the current situation? Do you feel there is a resolution? Will the Iranian government listen to its people?
We are going through a revolution called “Zan Zendegi Azadi” (Woman Life Freedom) that started by women, but now everyone is united together, women and men shoulder-to-shoulder. Many children have been killed. Majid Reza Rahnavard, Mohammad Mehdi Karami (was only 21), Mohsen Shekari, and Sayed Mohammad Hosseini were all executed. The Iranian regime is one of the most brutal regimes in the world. The resolution is a regime change. The world is finally seeing the true face of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In fact, we’ve been trying to show the world that the forced hijab is only one of the issues. There is so much more going on. Now people are facing bullets and guns in the streets of Iran protesting against many fundamental problems such as child marriage, gender inequality, unfair trials, injustice, tortures and forced confessions, no freedom of expression, corruption, and increasing poverty in a country with so much natural and human resources, the list goes on. The only way forward is a regime change. Together we are aiming for a progressive and secular government who respects human rights and human dignity above any ideology.

With the fear of arrest and execution, there has started a quieter protest of women no longer wearing their scarfs in public. What do you think of this new movement?
These protests started because women were denied their most basic rights for more than 43 years. However, it turned into a revolution for fundamental changes.

You are performing around the USA in support of Iranian women. What has the response been like?
People here have been extremely supportive and I am glad that, through my music, I can spread the message. I recently had a concert in San Francisco on the 25th of February in Brava for women in the Arts theater, where I mostly performed my protest/revolutionary songs.

How can our readers help and support the brave protesters in Iran?
Please share the news of Iran, use your platform to echo the voice of those who are fighting for freedom risking their lives. The Iranian people’s victory can bring peace and balance to the world. We all know that the Islamic Republic of Iran feeds, encourages, and supports the terrorism around the world. We are asking the world to cut ties with the Islamic regime. Stop enriching them by working with them and let us win our country back! We are not the Islamic Republic of Iran, and for years we’ve been imprisoned by a brutal ruling minority in our own country.

It has been a crazy time, how have you been staying positive?
Meditating religiously, listening to positive affirmations, listening to upbeat music, exercising and reading mostly the biography of those people who turned impossible into possible. Last by not least, I DO NOT LOSE HOPE! Hoping and dreaming are our golden keys to a better future where there is equality and freedom.

What is your motto in life?
Anything is possible!

Where can our readers find you and your music?
Revolutionary music is currently the soundtrack of this revolution, and it’s important for us to be able to keep producing it. So I wanted to ask people to share it, and help us to be able to continue.

Instagram: @gola_official
Spotify: Gola

Team Credits:
Photographer: Kira Bucca
Stylist: Izabella Passero
Make-up: Brian Duprey
Hair: Louis Angelo
Photo Assistant: Tam Nguyen