The Skale

The Skale is an Iranian Rock band from Mashhad - newly changed into Sad Sale Akhar (The Last Hundred Years). The very beginning of the band was in 2004 when Kian Jafari and Ashkan Olfati, close friends and neighbors, realized that basketball is not all they have in common. They both shared the same love for music so they got together and started with covering old Iranian pop music by likes of Varujan, Babak Bayat, Mohhamad Heydari, Sadegh Nojuki, Anoushiravan Rohani and etc. After a while Ashkan’s brother, Kian olfati, joined them and they began to write their own music. Songs like Dobareh and Bemoon were written in that era. But later Kian Olfati had to leave to continue with his studies. The basketball courts of Mashhad were pretty much where the band was formed; there the original duo met Saeed Khanbabazadeh, a drummer, and Omid Alizadeh, guitarist. But the ultimate addition to the band from the courts was Milad Qale who would complete the lineup as the electric guitar player. The ball game was a reason for them to meet everyday and it helped them to become familiar with each other’s mindsets, attitudes and ways of lives and most importantly develop a sense of respect towards one another, and thus “The Skale” was formed. More musicians would later join them. The addition of Milad, who was more influenced by Blues and Rock than the others, brought some changes to the band. Soon after the recording sessions started they realized that there are multiple paths considering styles, influences and tastes so Kian, Ashkan and Milad decided to respectfully part ways with the rest of the band. Under the influence of the music introduced by Milad, they adapted a more Rock sound but they decided to finish what they had started anyway even though it was no longer what they were looking for. So they went on recording the pop/rock material they had already written. Ashkan and Milad played the guitars, Kian played the Pianos and the rest was samples and the help of some other friend musicians (Masud Sedaghati, Mahsa Adibnia, Bardia Seyedi, Kamal Sedaghat) resulted in an album titled “One Step Bridge” which was never released, only 5 out of 8 tracks were put in some websites. This album may be referred to by the members as “a sort of failure” but the hard times they went through gave them a good experience and made them realize what they want and most importantly helped them to form a great and steady friendship. In 2007, Ashkan and Kian had to leave for their universities and would only occasionally come back to Mashhad so the band entered a hiatus after “One Step Bridge”. But during the next couple of years they found time to gather again in order to put their previous experience and their new musical outlooks at work and start a new project. A lack of Bass player started to cause problems so Kian decided to pick up the bass himself. Also Milad introduced his cousin, Masoud Qale, as a drummer to the band. Masoud was quickly accepted in the band and with him, he brought new possibilities. Since the new formation wasn’t the same anymore, both in terms of lineup and music, they felt the need for a new name. Milad picked up a phrase Masoud used in a conversation and suggested Sad Sale Akhare Zendegimoon (The Last Hundred Years of our Lives) which was ultimately changed to Sad Sale Akhar (The Last Hundred years). The members’ music tastes might look very oddly different at the beginning since it varies from Classical and Eastern Iranian Folk to Progressive Rock and Jazz and Blues. But the result of all these styles coming together is pleasant at least to the ears of the members, though it may sound nothing like any of the influences they have! Sad Sale Akhar is currently working on their first experience together. So far a demo of their first song “Bar Ax” has been released. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.