The remaining members of Brooklyn band The Yellow Dogs, two of whose members were shot and killed November 10 by a former acquaintance, have spoken out online in memory of their murdered bandmates.
Chicago rockers The Black Lips also paid tribute to Soroush and Arash Farazmand, saying: "Yellow Dogs were really cool guys and we're gonna miss them", and spoke of their brave move to the US from Iran. See the full post below:
"We are very upset to hear that our friends in the the band yellow dogs were shot and killed in Brooklyn last night.We were first introduced to this band by the great film director Baham Ghobodi in his film No one knows about Persian cats.which showcased the alternative music scene In Tehran. When he heard that the band were in the states under refugee status we reached out to them to play a show with us at Webster hall they did and they were great. They were also nice enough to play our SXSW show case.This band risked there lives to escape Iran. They personally expressed to us how excited they were to be in the U.S where they could freely express them selves as artists. It is particularly sad that they were killed in America a place where they were supposed to have a new beginning. Yellow Dogs were really cool guys and we are gonna miss them. RIP-blacklips"
Details are still emerging of the tragic incident, but the Wall Street Journal has reported the shooter, who killed Yellow Dogs guitarist Soroush Farazmand, drummer Arash Farazmand and their flatmate Ali Eskandarian, was a member of a fellow Iranian band and a former acquaintance of the group, who were based in Brooklyn after being granted asylum in the US in 2010.
The shooting, which took place in Williamsburg, also reportedly injured a fourth member of The Yellow Dogs but police officials say he is in hospital and expected to live.
