Kayvon Zand

Kayvon Zand
Born Wilmington, NC
Residence NYC
Nationality American
Ethnicity Persian
Occupation NYC nightlife personality

Kayvon Zand is a Persian-American nightlife personality and musician 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. He went by the name of Kevin Zand while at school as a child.[1] Zand was brought up in a single parent house hold by his mother, learning Persian 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." [2] Zand is descended from the Zand dynasty on his mother's side.[3] In his teens, Zand worked as a fashion model, which allowed him to leave his hometown and travel Europe.

Nightlife

Zand became a notable fixture in New York City nightlife after moving there from North Carolina.[4] He is the "ringleader" of the Zand Collective, a performance group of a dozen members.[1] In July 2010 he gained attention when his act was banned from the Highline Ballroom, as the venue deemed his act to be too shocking.[5][6]

He was nominated for a Paper Magazine award in 2012,[7] and he is known for throwing extravagant parties. His dark, dance party, Dorian Gray, ran for the year of 2013,[8] causing a controversy in the LES when the original venue for the party, the DL, came under fire from the local community board.[9] The DL claimed they fired Zand because they were unaware he was throwing a dance party.[10] Zand moved Dorian Gray to the Bowery Electric for its duration, and the party continued to receive favorable press.[11][12]

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.[13][14][15]

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

Music

Zand creates '80s 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][2] and also plays the violin and viola.

Zand performed at the Life Ball in Vienna in 2011.[16][17] 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.[18] 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, being launched by Interview Magazine [19] and Wild Magazine [20] respectively.

Acting

Zand has been both a film and a stage actor. He played a terrorist in RuPaul's film Starrbooty,[21] Elvis Presley on an episode of the popular Japanese show The World's Astonishing News[22] and starred in Alfred Preisser and Randy Weiner's "Caligula Maximus-Featuring Kayvon Zand", produced by Stephen Pevner.[23][24]

News coverage

Zand is known for his extravagant, blonde bouffant. He has been published in many magazines as himself; notably Interview Magazine,[25] Glamour Paris,[26] and Italian Vanity Fair.[27] Kayvon has also shot with Steven Meisel for Vogue. Zand was featured as himself in the 2012 commercial for the Volkswagen Golf.[28] Zand was interviewed by The Huffington Post for their "After Dark" series examining the history of and current state of NYC nightlife.[29] Zand performed at a benefit concert for victims of the 2015 East Village gas explosion held at Theater 80 in April 2015.[30] Zand appeared on an episode of the RTL Television docudrama Larissa Goes To Hollywood starring Larissa Marolt.[31] Zand appeared on America's Got Talent Season 10, making it to judge cuts. He was eliminated, and authored a response as a new blogger for the Huffington Post. [32]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Raygoza, Isabela. "Kayvon Zand: From Iranian Heir To New York Nightlife Icon" MTV Iggy, July 16, 2013.
  2. 1 2 Berusch, Martin. "Spotlight on Kayvon Zand: An Intimate Exploration Into a Wondrous Mind", The Blog (The Huffington Post), June 28, 2013.
  3. ↑ Toksala. "Q&A With Kayvon Zand: On Fetishism, Iran, and Southern Fried Chicken" MTV Iggy, December 13, 2010.
  4. ↑ -Cohen, Stefanie (June 19, 2010). "Taking Back The Night". New York Post.
  5. ↑ Page Six Staff. "Fire Eaters Have Sex On Stage At Highline Ballroom" Page Six, July 10, 2010.
  6. ↑ Coscarelli, Joe. "Miss the Old New York? Head to Highline Ballroom Where Fire-Eaters Have Sex Onstage", Village Voice blogs, July 10, 2010.
  7. ↑ Webb, Rebecca. "And The Nominees For The 8th Annual Paper Nightlife Awards are...", PAPERMAG.com, October 2012.
  8. ↑ Hagopian, Mark. "We're Not Sure What Happened At Dorian Gray, But We Loved It" Village Voice, August 29, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Op-ed: An Open Letter to the DL from LES Dwellers" Bowery Boogie, September 26, 2013.
  10. ↑ Peck, Jamie. "Is The DL Nightclub Restaurant Lounge Operating Illegally? Its Neighbors Say "Yes!"" Village Voice blogs, October 9, 2013.
  11. ↑ Lewis, Steve. "Two Nights With Kayvon And Anna: The Best Halloween Party" Black Book Magazine, October 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Steve. "Where To Go Out This Week In New York + Brooklyn" Black Book Magazine, May 21, 2014.
  13. ↑ Lewis, Steve. "This Weekend In Sex, Stones + Savoia" Black Book Magazine, May 2, 2014.
  14. ↑ Lewis, Steve. "Another Michael Alig Day + James St James And I Make Up" Black Book Magazine, May 8, 2014.
  15. ↑ Ferrell, Alannah. "Sex Fifth Avenue" Wild Magazine.
  16. ↑ Schreiber, Abby; Kessler, Max. "PARTY PROS SHARE THEIR CRAZIEST SPRING BREAK STORIES" Paper Magazine, March 22, 2013.
  17. ↑ Zand, Kayvon. "Kayvon Zand and the Zand Collective Live Performance In Life Ball" December 14, 2011.
  18. ↑ "JUST A FEW 'WILD AND CRAZY GUYS' (PLUS ONE GIRL)" Paper Magazine, June 30, 2012.
  19. ↑ Visco, Gerry. "Exclusive Video Premiere: One Way Flight, Kayvon Zand" Interview Magazine.
  20. ↑ Visco, Gerry. "Just Give It Away" Wild Magazine, May 25, 2014.
  21. ↑ "IMDb Starrbooty" June 7, 2007.
  22. ↑ "Kayvon Zand's Acting Reel"
  23. ↑ Galloway, Jordan. "Until The Last Star Falls From The Night" NY Press, April 13, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Kayvon Zand Leads CALIGULA MAXIMUS At House Of Yes 3/31-4/17" Broadway World, March 30 2011.
  25. ↑ Fimmano, Robbie. "NYC This Way" Interview Magazine.
  26. ↑ "Mister Gaga" Glamour Paris, September 2013.
  27. ↑ Craymer, Chris. "Jay Goss for italian Vanity Fair shot by Chris Craymer" December 10, 2013.
  28. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xcdMY-_d2Q "Volkswagen Golf commercial, "People Are People" 2012
  29. ↑ Nichols, James. "After Dark: Meet Kayvon Zand, Artist and Nightlife Personality", The Huffington Post, October 2014.
  30. ↑ Anderson, Lincoln. "Benefit concert for 2nd Ave fire victims also benefitted community; More shows planned" The Villager, April 23, 2015.
  31. ↑ http://rtl-now.rtl.de/larissa-goes-to-hollywood/larissa-goes-to-hollywood-2015-05-02-13-45-00.php?container_id=204851&productdetail=1&season=1&s1=1
  32. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kayvon-zand/being-a-freak-on-americas-got-talent_b_7953776.html Zand, Kayvon. "Being A Freak On America's Got Talent" August 8, 2015

External links

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