Electronic Press Kit

IDLEFON

Idlefon is Hesam Ohadi, an Iranian-Canadian computer musician and sound artist based in Calgary. Visceral ambient threaded with IDM, glitch and industrial edges.

Calgary, Canada · Since 2006

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Short bio

Idlefon is Hesam Ohadi, an Iranian-Canadian computer musician and sound artist based in Calgary. Visceral ambient threaded with IDM, glitch and industrial edges.

Members

Hesam Ohadi — computer musician, sound artist

Long bio

Idlefon is Hesam Ohadi (b. 1987 in Tehran), an Iranian-Canadian computer musician and sound artist based in Calgary, Canada. They began creating electronic music in 2006 after experimenting with various music styles as a drummer. Idlefon’s works can mainly be associated with the broad spectrum of modern visceral ambient, fusing muted elements of IDM and glitch into each work’s vastness.

Their first experience as a producer dates back to 2010, when they made the soundtrack for the animated short The Radiologist’s Room by Arash Radkia. They then released four tracks as a third of a split album called Spotty Surfaces along with fellow musicians Siavash Amini and Nima Pourkarimi.

Idlefon’s output has often been influenced by daily existence in the urban center of Tehran and later by the natural beauty of their home province Alberta. Ohadi previously released Idlefon’s music on Tympanik Audio; as of 2021, the project found a home with Oakland-based n5MD (COLDSTREAM). Faded and processed vocals sit among deep pads and harsh rhythms.

They are a co-founder of the experimental art label BITROT and the music festival SET, and curator of the ABEND series.

The current liveset is Aesthetics of Survival. It marks a change in approach to vocals: rather than heavily processed sampled speeches, Idlefon works toward a blend of shoegaze-inspired singing with IDM and industrial music.

Contact: hesam.ohadi@gmail.com

Booking: ABEND Agency

Listen

COLDSTREAM — Album
PEND Reworks — Compilation
Girih: Iranian Sound Artists — Compilation
Absence — Compilation
Submarine — EP
Intensive Collectivity Known As City — Album

Photos

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Videos

Temp-Illusion — Two Lands (Idlefon Rework) — Music Video
Antmill N — Music Video
Absorbed — Music Video

Selected press

COLDSTREAM
Igloo Magazine · Review

“There is a cohesive palette of sounds at play across this release — binding the tracks together, assisting with creating an overall sense of identity.”
Submarine
Stationary Travels · Review

“This is half an hour of well crafted music that rewards both the ears and the mind.”
Intensive Collectivity Known As City
Cyclic Defrost · Review

“While the title suggests the energy of some seething metropolis though, there’s a slow, almost meditative ebb and flow to the eleven tracks collected here, which see Ohadi blending blurred droning ambience with glitchy fluttering IDM-based rhythms.”
Intensive Collectivity Known As City
Textura · Review

“Ohadi's debut Idlefon album for the Tympanik label threads voices, electronics, beats, and textures into an ambient-IDM collection that teems with suggestive detail. In keeping with the album's title, the myriad activities associated with everyday urban life are evoked by the eleven tracks, and contrasts in style, dynamics, and mood are plentiful.”

Selected shows

Jun 18, 2025 Sled Island — Sled Island, Calgary
Feb 7, 2024 MUTEK.AE — MUTEK.AE, Dubai
Oct 14, 2023 Antipode Festival — Antipode Festival, Seattle
Sep 16, 2023 Tehran Contemporary Sounds — Bethanien Kulturhaus, Berlin
Sep 9, 2023 Rundhyl — NyLille Klub, Copenhagen
May 20, 2023 Bug Incision — Bug Incision, Calgary
Apr 22, 2023 Aesthetics of Survival — Loophole, Calgary
Mar 18, 2023 ABEND — ABEND, Calgary

Full show history →

Contact