The two members of the pop duo Mozane have been working together for just five years, but have known each other for their entire lives. VOA's Shally Zomorodi reports the group's family ties have led to a unique musical sound.

Nahal Afshar and Shab Azma love music. Afshar is a pianist. Azma composes and sings songs. And between the two they created a new musical group with a fresh sound called Mozane.

Nahal Afshar

Afshar says finding each other was easy because they are cousins. "When I was 16 I was in high school and I said, ‘listen to this. I just wrote this thing on the piano and maybe we can work (on it) together and make it sound better.’ "

And the two did just that. They didn't know what was to come of their efforts but knew, Shab Azma says, they had something special going for them. "The two of us just started working together. And who know that we were even Mozane, because we were not Mozane at first. We were Ivory and other names .We would come up with so many names and Mozane really just became us and we became it. Its really the embodiment of music."

Their inspiration for their music comes from another member of their family - their uncle Mohsen. "Mozane stemmed from my uncle's name Mohsen. And when he was 21 he died in a car accident and he just really loved music and had such a passion for it. He listened to the coolest music you could in the ‘70s,” says Afshar. “I never got to meet him but Shabnam did. Although I had never gotten to meet him, I have felt this strong connection between the both of us.”

A connection that has inspired the cousins to produce and write music about life and experiences that effect peoples lives.

Shabnam Azma

Azma adds, "I would love someone to listen to the music and connect with it whether it is because they have experienced some of the things we have talked about or some of the songs tug at their heart and they just vibe with the music and it locks in a time period for them that in 10 years they can look back on, like I have been doing, and say, 'Wow, that was the time my heart was broken by so-and-so and look how far I have come.’ And for me it is more that I hope someone will connect with it in their own way."

Afshar hopes their music connects with a larger, global audience. "Sharing music with the world, I love playing the piano, she loves singing and we both love writing music and to be able to have that as a career would be great. To travel the world, playing live and also be a younger role model to the younger Iranian girls."