Zion Fyah. | Photo courtesy of Zion Fyah

Born in Iran, Zion Fyah lived in England and in New York City throughout his early teenage years before moving to Canada at the age of 17, and traveled to even more places as a working musician later on. Because of his diverse exposure to different cultures, his music is also a mix of different influences from reggae to middle eastern, sometimes with a spiritual undertone.

Fyah and his band L’land will be performing at Cafe Deux Soleils on Nov. 2.

“I learned through my travels as a musician, I really fell in love with music from different people. In my music, you will hear influences from Bob Marley, Persian classical musicians, some folk musicians and even rock musicians. Whatever I digest and make my own, I try to express musically and lyrically,” Fyah says.

Fyah has had a guitar since he was seven years old and says music has always been the forefront of his family life growing up. He also has a love for words, and studied English literature at university and later worked as a criminal lawyer before transitioning into music 15 years ago.

The origin of Zion Fyah

Zion Fyah is what he calls his ‘soul name.’ He chose it after he became part of the Rastafarian movement through the musical influence of reggae legend Bob Marley.

“Zion is a very significant term or philosophy in Rastafari – it means the land of righteousness, the land of love and harmony. I started calling myself this many years ago after I became a follower of that path. I also met Bob Marley’s son; he referred me as Zion Fyah, and Fyah means fire. Now many people know me as Zion; it is becoming my legal and primary name,” Fyah explains.

Several sources depict Rastafari is as a new religious and social movement developed in Jamaica during the 1930s to promote African identity and fight against colonial oppression. Reggae music, the soul music of Jamaica, is also at the core of Rastafarian culture, both popularized globally by Bob Marley through his music.

Despite coming from a different cultural background than a typical reggae singer, Fyah believes all kinds of music are related and that reggae specifically has a lot in common with eastern music.

“All music goes back to the heartbeat and reggae specifically concentrates on the heartbeat – that is what the reggae rhythm is, it is like returning you spiritually to your essence,” Fyah says. “The Caribbean has been influenced by many foreign cultures, mixing with the black diaspora, so it has a lot of melodic tendencies of eastern music, and the lyrics often speaks of suffering, of striving and of looking for freedom and justice; eastern people share these goals too.”

Music with a message

Fyah’s own music, influenced by the reggae tradition, is often a social and political commentary, underlined with a religious or spiritual yearning. For example, in his own favorite song Revolution, he sings, ‘revolution is the only solution to this pollution… oceans are polluted, people uprooted, truth is refuted, everyone is used.’

“I don’t think many artists are trying to address these issues in music today,” he says. “I try to be authentic. I am not trying to create a product of any particular kind, I am trying to express how I feel in the most beautiful way I can. In my case, there are two broad categories, one is social and political commentary, and the other is love. Those are the two emotions that I tend to feel the most strongly about.”

The musician says he would love to be heard a lot more but won’t sacrifice his art for it.

“I play on the weekends. Sometimes there are only 20 people, but there is such a beautiful connection,” Fyah says.

Still continuously honing his skills and writing songs as disciplined as he can, Fyah believes the definition of art is both skill and heart.

“When the muse comes you have to have the skills to express the art, but one without the other is not art if there is no heart,” he concludes.

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