As Armenia’s music scene continues innovating its sounds, new up-and-coming artists emerge. The MIASEEN team stumbled upon the mesmerizing talents of Pargev Vardanyan a.k.a Parg, a rising star within the pop and alternative space. From soulful ballads to gut-wrenching melodies, Parg’s music pulls you in.

So who is Parg? What’s his story and sound? 

Born in Hayravank, Armenia, Parg puts native Armenian music and language into a filter of alternative instrumentation and pop hooks.  From what we’ve heard so far, I am confident to say that we are huge Parg fans here at the office. We want to share what we know about our newest obsession with you guys.

Despite only five songs currently under his belt, Parg's guttural vocals that ooze a sultry seductiveness are hard to ignore. While there is no specific genre that he could fall under, his music uses a lot of acoustic guitar instrumentation and drums complemented by a modern trap/r&b production. Very palatable and refreshing to hear in the Armenian music realm.

In comparison to other artists, his use of synths, pipe organs, and guitars give his musical style similarities to more mainstream artists like the early works of The Weeknd, Labrinth, or even Hozier. While sonically he sings predominantly about his journey with love and loss, much like the styles of Omar Apollo and Sam Smith.

While his production can fall into a western category of music, this is not to discredit how Armenian music has influenced his sound as well. He often ends the notes of a song with what we call a mugham. If you are unfamiliar with the term, a mugham is a vocal style used very heavily in Armenian culture. A vibrato would be the best simplification to the term, that vibration singers add to their voice as they finish a note. In this case, there is a very specific technique in delivering that sound.

With his first single “Sareri Hovin Mernem” being released on December 21st of 2020, he has sporadically released more singles within the past couple of years. Each one peeling off a different layer of the onion that is his artistry.

Most notably in recent times, Parg is starting to grow as a local phenomenon with over 53,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone. He also had the opportunity of being an opener at HAYA Festival in June of 2022, and also performed at the Sevan Music Festival in August of the same year.

This emergence of Armenian pop stars is an inspiring story for us all to hear. Much like the success of Armenian artist Rosa Linn, whose song “SNAP” went viral on Tik Tok, resulting in her performing at the “Late Late Show with James Corden” we hope to see the same success with Parg. Who’s to know what the future may hold for these young creatives, but we are ecstatic to see the outcome.

We here at Miaseen will continue to follow Parg and his artistic journey whichever way he may go. Check out the music video to his most recent single “Kuzes” down below!