Even though Zirwanda wrote lyrics in Assyrian, his music was strongly influenced by the styles he'd been performing as a percussionist earlier in his career, and this became the foundation for Azadoota.

[4] Regarding the name of the band, Zirwanda states, “Azadoota is Assyrian for 'freedom', and our music celebrates of the freedom we have in this country [Australia] to express ourselves through music.” They released the album “Planetarian” in 2008 and “Beyond Bridges” in 2011.

Their recent songs “Lishana (Jesus Spoke My Language)”, “Mazreta” (Spinning Top) and “Unity” are a plea for Assyrians in the western world to protect their heritage in order to secure their future.

[1] Azadoota has most notably performed at WOMADelaide in 2014 and Woodford Folk Festival in 2016, which drew in unsuspecting listeners due to the band's ethnic rhythms, theatrical musicality, and the sounds of the ancient language.

The band regularly performs at the Assyrian new year festival in Fairfield Showground in Sydney each April, which typically draws 10,000 revellers.

We are the only band in the world performing Assyrian music on the mainstream stage, so we carry a great responsibility to spread awareness of culture and the issues facing our people in the global community.

According to the band's lead singer, the horn section indicates a revival of Assyrian culture and a resistance of the destruction occurring in their ancestral lands.

[2] About the band's style, Zirwanda states: We use contemporary instrumentation with traditional Assyrian rhythms and song-forms, but because I'm a percussionist by trade I find there's a fair bit of Latin and Afro-Cuban influence in my songwriting...I sing about my homeland Iraq, about belonging to a nation without a land, about family and of course about love.

I’d be tapping on the kitchen table, then I’d start singing a song, and I’d write it that way.”[3] The band's front man Zirwanda cites Youssou N'Dour, Salif Keita and Santana as his influence, and as well as his father Awimalk Haider, who had made jazz music in the 1960s in Iraq, blending it with Assyrian folk.