New on micro/Maker: Internet Nostalgia as Creative Fuel

Plus: How one composer blends Persian and Western traditions in her music.

Author

Tyler Kline
August 15, 2025

🍃 Loose Leaf Transmissions – Weekly Dispatch

Greetings, friends – I hope you’ve had a great week! For many, the start of a new academic year is just around the corner… and if that means more time spent commuting, there’s never been a better time to add micro/Maker to your listening lineup.

This week features two of my favorite conversations from last season of music/Maker: composer Mahdis Golzar Kashani shares how she blends the Persian musical traditions of her native Iran with Western concert music, and Phong Tran reflects on a very different kind of influence – the nostalgia of a more playful, less serious internet era that inspired his album The Computer Room.

🎧 New on the Feed

🎙 micro/Maker

micro/Maker 025: Blending Persian and Western Traditions (featuring Mahdis Golzar Kashani)

Mahdis Golzar Kashani shares how Persian musical traditions shape her voice as a composer, blending oral and written practices into new cross-cultural collaborations.

micro/Maker 026: Internet Nostalgia as Creative Fuel (featuring Phong Tran)

Phong Tran reflects on how internet culture shaped his identity and musical taste, and how his album The Computer Room pays tribute to a digital world that’s disappeared.

Episodes are released every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe now!

🔜 Coming Up Soon

On the next music/Maker, I’m excited to be joined by Mexico City-based composer Charly Daniels.

Photo credit: Rafael Arriaga.

In this conversation, Charly reflects on his unusual path into composing – from sequencing music as a teenager with no formal theory training, to discovering orchestral music as his creative home. We also discuss how Mexico City’s energy shapes his work, how synesthesia influences his harmonic and timbral language, and why he strives to write music that creates emotional sensations rather than memorable themes.

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Until next time – happy listening, take care!