Queer party-goers and club kids are probably familiar with nightlife Kayvon Zand–possibly more so for his outrageous looks and hairstyles than for his music career. Zand's been a fixture of New York City's party scene for a while now, often seen alongside other LGBT icons like Amanda Lepore. 

Zand's music, however, is just as impressive as his sartorial style. With an idiosyncratic blend of gothic industrial and contemporary pop, Zand is slowly making the transition from underground superstar to mainstream attention grabber.

Zand is Iranian American and is Largely Influenced by Iranian Music

Even though Zand looks like your typical white-bred club kid, his background is Middle Eastern. “I was born in the states, in North Carolina. I grew up in a mini-Tehran,” said Zand. Zand's sounds might be largely Western and sub-cultural inflected, but one of his biggest inspirations is a Persian feminist icon. “One of my biggest influences is Googoosh,” he says. “She’s a huge Persian icon. She is also pretty revolutionary for a world star coming from that Eastern part of the world. People already knew who she was during The Shah’s Regime, although she started her career ten years ago when she came to the states. She wasn’t able to sing in Iran because it was against the law for women to sing.”

He is Self-Taught on the Piano

“I learned to play by mimicking Persian classical music … There was an academy in the town I was from and I worked with a really talented musician. Funnily enough, after several months she thought that her training me was going to take away my natural playing ability because I had already developed my own techniques.”

Kayvon Threw a Re-Occurring Party in the Museum of Sex

New York's underground party scene is limitless, but Zand's “Sex Fifth Avenue” broke new ground by staging lavish get-togethers inside the lascivious archive. “I created these installations within the exhibits … It felt like it was a great space for people to come and celebrate their sexuality and it was a really nice meeting point because you had people from all walks of life. Queer, gay, straight, alternative, and … well … Hetero-normative too. There was so much respect, though.”

He was Featured on America's Got Talent, and It Didn't Go So Well

Zand detailed his harrowing experience with America's Got Talent in an extensive article on The Huffington Post. Brought on as a sort of side-show act, Zand's performance faced excruciating critique. “I felt like I was manipulated and now I feel naïve … It's just really unfortunate that someone like me, who's different, who's creative, who does have a unique perspective to offer only has value in the mainstream media as an object of ridicule.”

Zand Just Wrapped Up a Play Based On an Edgar Allan Poe Piece

Titled “The Dances of Life and Death,” the play told the tale of a “Prince who tries to isolate himself and his court from the plague by withdrawing into his walled estates, hoping Death will not find him.” With costumes designed by Zand himself, the play marks a new direction in Zand's work. “It's such a classical play, there's nothing very contemporary about it.”

He’s Getting Married—To a Woman

It would be easy to assume that Zand is gay from his involvement in queer culture, but not everything is as it seems, and identity is complicated. “Technically, if it was based off our genitalia, I am in a heterosexual relationship but I don't consider myself to be heterosexual or straight and neither does my fiance …” Zand's been in gay relationships before, but he ended up falling in love with his hairstylist Anna Evans. 

Kayvon Has Been Banned From Certain Venues For Being Too Shocking

New York's Highline Ballroom wasn't exactly happy when Zand rolled up with fire-eaters. After being asked to tone down the blood-spitting, things went downhill. “There was lots of nudity, profanity, sacrilegious antics and so forth. It’s safe to say they didn’t like my show...” he told MTV Iggy. He is not allowed back.

He Might be Leaving Nightlife for Bigger and Better Things

Even though he started as a club-kid, Zand is looking forward to some new projects. “Nightlife to me … you're limited with what you can do. I want to touch more people. I want to have a bigger place. I'm in a transitional phase. Nightlife was my grassroots, my street university. I might pop up where you least expect me.”

His Latest Video Tackles an Important LGBT Issue

Created with the band VOWWS, the video for the song “Touch” deals with the issue of forced gender re-assignment in Iran. The issue is covered more extensively in a documentary series currently available on YouTube. 

Kayvon Doesn't Hire a Stylist, He Creates His Own Outfits 

Zand credits himself with creating his own unique persona. “I've worked with certain designers but for me, you could give me five items in a room and I can make a look out of it.”