Welcome.
My name is Arian Rad and I’m an Iranian-American artist from rural Upstate New York. I grew up in a town called Amsterdam; a post-industrial mill town located in a lush river-valley situated between sprawling farm land and the looming shade of the Adirondack Mountains.
Growing up in isolation, I made enemies with boredom and close friends with restlessness. I always had to be doing something. Skateboarding, hiking, guitar; anything I could do alone that would tire me out enough to sleep through the night. Once I realized all melted away whilst in the throws of the creative act, I knew a life in art would be the only life for me.
I attended NYU Tisch School of the Arts where I studied acting at the Experimental Theatre Wing. It’s in this institution where I learned not only to act, but to also be a well-rounded and rigorous artist; constantly observing, constantly absorbing.
Graduating straight into the pandemic, there wasn’t much acting to be had, so I fell back on what had been there the entire time: music. It was through songwriting I was able to find the beat of my heart again. I was able to tell stories in a way that felt deeply fulfilling within, without the need for external validation. Through a constant and almost incessant practice of writing, I’ve sharpened my pen and have achieved a level of songwriting I never thought possible. Deeply personal yet wholly accessible.
On the first, cold night of 2021, in my family’s old lake house, me and several friends plotted to make an album the old way. In a warm room, with whiskey present, and plumes of purple haze in the air. What came out of the 4 week residency was my debut album: Moving.
Quickly after the completion of its recording, I hightailed it to Los Angeles to see what surprises lay in store. I’ll let you know what happens. Wish me luck.
Mid Summer Fever Dream
At Dinner
Tony Bourdain
IMY
Moving
Arian Rad is an Iranian-American actor, songwriter, and musician with a knack for the old things. Not having strong roots of his own, Arian has been forced to invent what ‘American’ means to him in this unprecedented era.
Taking notes from Appalachian folk music, Mississippi Delta blues, the emo rockers of the American Midwest, and more- Arian creates a sonic palette wholly unique and fresh, yet still familiar and warm.
Arian is currently in the recording process of several new singles, and developing his 2nd album.
Arian’s lyric-focused work spins the story of the complex struggle to define himself in the wake of all that has come before him. From his battles with mental illness, to the ecstasies of living without reserve, Arian tells the tale of his generation: lost, tired, ill-fated, yet totally uninhibited.
1/17/22 Los Angeles, CA
On releasing music here in 2022.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can’t touch you if you don’t want me to.
To tell you stories of my times submerged,
Or immersed in dry fires not necessarily restorative,
but not entirely destructive either.
No doubt, nevertheless, they are stories worth telling.
And they aren’t interested in the least.
They aren’t interested in hearing new stories,
Or even retelling them like these far-off folk stories of old.
No, they would rather pitch and push the same story
Over and over in different skins with increasing scaliness.
What’s the story? You’re wondering.
I understand, I’m being indirect.
What is consuming my thoughts so much
I feel it important enough to consume your time?
On with it!
On releasing music here in 2022.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can’t touch you if you don’t want me to.
To tell you stories of my times submerged,
Or immersed in dry fires not necessarily restorative,
but not entirely destructive either.
No doubt, nevertheless, they are stories worth telling.
And they aren’t interested in the least.
They aren’t interested in hearing new stories,
Or even retelling them like these far-off folk stories of old.
No, they would rather pitch and push the same story
Over and over in different skins with increasing scaliness.
What’s the story? You’re wondering.
I understand, I’m being indirect.
What is consuming my thoughts so much
I feel it important enough to consume your time?
On with it!
It’s simple really.
No longer than a breath or two of text.
It’s the story of chasing numbers.
Chasing and desperately reaching for the non-human.
Sell your soul and become a figure.
Become a calculator and crunch, crunch away.
I have no call to arms.
Feel little energy to ‘go back to human’.
Are we too far gone? It’s hard to say.
I’m a victim of it too.
We are restless, somehow evolutionarily.
I can’t sit still long enough to figure out what to do.
I’m growing scales, can’t you see?
With every new choice I make that feels not my own.
And I haven’t even begun to see
Any sign that I’m loved on my phone.
