Musicians exploring their craft draw inspiration from unexpected sources.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, for instance, has said that his drumming in grunge band Nirvana is heavily inspired by funk legends Gap Band and Cameo. Another example — Hayley Williams’ singing in pop-punk band Paramore is influenced by gospel choirs.
In St. Louis, the spirit of collaboration and genre bending is melded into every scene. Most musicians cringe at the thought of putting their art in a rigidly defined category. EDM producer Umami, born Pajmon Porshahidy, has no problem pointing out how their sound is directly tied to subgenres of electronic music, hip-hop and R&B. Speaking on St. Louis on the Air, Umami said that their latest EP “Pajmon” (pronounced PAGE-mahn) is a testament to their sonic influences growing up in St. Louis.
“Growing up, my parents showed me a lot of Iranian music. I was really grateful for that,” they said. “My dad really liked rock [and] Persian music. When I was going to school, I would kind of gravitate towards what my friends were listening to and [I would] try to discover music through that.”
Umami almost titled the EP “Second Generation” as a nod to being a second-generation American. As they were working to finalize the album, their romantic partner worked on the album art and included the name Pajmon in Farsi in the middle, even asking their parents if it was correct.
“I loved it. Even [my] name itself has that connotation of two cultures kind of mixing and like becoming one,” they said. “How it's pronounced by Americans and people here, and how I took that as my own as Pajmon. It’s different from Iran and different here. This is displaying everything I want to say about being a second-generation immigrant.”
The song “Don’t Worry” samples R&B vocals from fellow St. Louisan Rachel Bouzier and to create a mantra. Umami’s friend and fellow musician Ill Temperament suggested the collaboration.
“I like to take a cappellas from songs that might not sound like [EDM],” Umami explained. “[Rachel] makes beautiful R&B music. So she gave me one of her a cappellas … and I chopped it up, really sped it up and sampled it. … That ‘don't worry’ was haunting in a good way. Like a higher power or consciousness or something is telling you, ‘Don't worry, it's gonna be OK. Everything's gonna be all right.’”
“Djadou” is another example of how friendly suggestions and a wide range of music tastes make for a sound rich product. The vocalization is sampled from Iranian musician Saeed Shanbezadeh’s song of the same name. Umami said they want to inspire other music producers to get into Iranian music.
“It just feels powerful. When I listened to [Shanbezadeh’s ‘Djadou’] I was like, it makes me want to [dance]. It goes into a lot of flute, and he plays the tonbak, too, which is a drum that I use in the song as well because it's related to Iranian culture,” Umami said. “It was one of those moments where you kind of black out, you're in the zone and then you come out and you're like, ‘Whoa. I got something really cool here.’”
Along with the heavy Iranian music influence, Umami said that the Jersey Club elements are also inspired by LA musician Bianca Oblivion.
“I showed [‘Djadou] to her, and she was like, ‘This is really good. I think you should add an extra part in there, maybe, like, a jersey part or something else in.’ And when I did it, I was like, ‘Oh, now at this next level,’” Umami said. “I felt really happy with how it came together.”
Umami said Bianca Oblivion’s suggestion is an example of why they love working with other artists.
“Don't be afraid to show [your music] to someone who might be better than you at this stuff, or might be on a bigger scale because the advice that they give you is pretty wholesome,” they said. “It's pure advice. And I think that the best stuff that's created in the world, especially with music, is always a collaboration.”
For more with Umami, including how nu-metal band System of a Down and hip-hop pioneer J Dilla served as inspirations, the materialization of the monthly rave Materia and artist breakdowns of songs “Nana” and “Scandal,” listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: Materia No. 43
When: July 26, 2025, 9 p.m.
Where: Mississippi Underground (1441 N 2nd St, St. Louis, MO 63102)
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
