Kayvon Zand

Born	Wilmington, NC
Residence	NYC
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	Persian
Occupation	Musician, NYC nightlife personality
Spouse(s)	engaged to Anna Evans

Kayvon Zand is a Persian-American pop musician and nightlife personality based in NYC. He is most known for controversial live performances and parties, as well as his established personal style featuring John Sex hair and Elvis Presley jump suits.

Background

Kayvon Zand is a first generation American born to Persian parents Tabandeh Zand Ph.D and Hormoze Goudarzi in Wilmington, North Carolina. Zand was brought up in a single parent house hold by his mother, learning Farsi before English. About his family background Zand has said, "My family situation seems like a soap opera. I grew up with my mom and sister, whom I love dearly. Recently I tried to reach out to my father and my other half-siblings but was turned away. It's probably one of the most hurtful things I've had to deal with." ^[1] Zand is descended from the Zand dynasty on his mother's side.^[2] In his teens, Zand worked as a fashion model, which allowed him to leave his hometown and travel Europe.

Music

Zand creates 80's inspired electronic dance music. He writes his own music, but works with producers including Chew Fu and Gomination to create the final tracks. He is a self-taught pianist,^[1] and also plays the violin and viola.

Zand initially gained notoriety in his music career by being banned from the Highline Ballroom,^[3][4] as the venue deemed his act to be too shocking. Zand then performed at the Life Ball in Vienna in 2011.^[5][6] He has also released two EPs; the One Way Flight remix package (2012) and Just Give It Away (2014). Zand was featured in Paper Magazine's music issue in 2012.^[7] Zand has created one music video for each of his EPs. One Way Flight and Just Give It Away were both directed by Mike Ruiz and have both received favorable press,^[8] being launched by Interview Magazine ^[9] and Wild Magazine ^[10] respectively.

Nightlife

Zand became a notable fixture in New York City nightlife after moving there from North Carolina.^[11] He was nominated for a Paper Magazine award in 2012,^[12] and he is known for throwing extravagant parties. His dark, dance party, Dorian Gray, ran for the year of 2013,^[13] causing a controversy in the LES when the original venue for the party, the DL, came under fire from the local community board.^[14] The DL claimed they fired Zand because they were unaware he was throwing a dance party,^[15] despite previously advertising Dorian Gray specifically as a dance party on their Facebook page.^[16] Zand moved Dorian Gray to the Bowery Electric for its duration, and the party continued to receive favorable press.^[17][18]

In 2014 Zand began a new event called Sex Fifth Avenue. The first edition took place at the Museum of Sex, where it was successful in cementing Zand's reputation for revitalizing NYC nightlife.^[19][20][21]

Zand was interviewed in Glory Daze:The Life and Times of Michael Alig.

Acting

Zand has been both a film and a stage actor. He played a terrorist in RuPaul's film Starrbooty,^[22] Elvis Presley on an episode of the popular Japanese show The World's Astonishing News^[23] and starred in Alfred Preisser and Randy Weiner's "Caligula Maximus-Featuring Kayvon Zand", produced by Stephen Pevner.^[24][25]

News coverage

Zand is known for his extravagant, blonde bouffant. He has been published in many magazines as himself; notably Interview Magazine,^[26] Glamour Paris,^[27] and Italian Vanity Fair.^[28] Kayvon has also shot with Steven Meisel for Vogue. Zand was featured as himself in the 2012 commercial for the Volkswagen Golf. ^[29] Zand was interviewed by The Huffington Post for their "After Dark" series examining the history of and current state of NYC nightlife. ^[30] Zand performed at a benefit concert for victims of the 2015 East Village gas explosion held at Theater 80 in April 2015. ^[31]

References

External links

• Official Website