AFSHeeN

Having established himself in Los Angeles as an electronic music creator and lyricist, Afshin Salmani shifted focus from crafting material for Madonna and Janet Jackson to composing original tracks under the name AFSHeeN. Born in Tehran and raised in San Francisco, he took up the keyboard at ten and began self-producing at eighteen. After earning a B.A. in sound engineering from Expression College of Digital Arts in Emeryville, California, he contributed to projects by those same superstars along with Selena Gomez, Chris Brown, Take That, Lindsey Stirling, and additional artists. His initial solo release, the straightforwardly named First EP, appeared in early 2010. In 2012 he joined Mackenzie Thoms for the track “Blast Off” while also issuing his own dubstep anthem “Words” through Next Plateau Entertainment. By 2016 the AFSHeeN aesthetic had shifted toward a cool nocturnal atmosphere recalling the work of Kygo and ZHU. That year he unveiled “Let Me Down Slow,” which surpassed two million streams within twelve months. At year’s end he made his live debut on the second night of Kygo’s Hollywood Bowl double-header. Building on the momentum of “Slow,” he followed with “Tunnel” and “Secrets,” then delivered “Pull Me from the Waves” featuring vocalist Nisha in 2017.