Los Angeles-based electronic producer and songwriter Afshin Salmani transitioned from producing work for artists like Madonna and Janet Jackson to penning his own songs as AFSHeeN. Born in Tehran and raised in San Francisco, Salmani began playing keyboard at the age of ten and started producing his own music at 18. He graduated with a B.A. in sound engineering from Expression College of Digital Arts in Emeryville, California, and contributed to albums by the aforementioned icons, as well as Selena Gomez, Chris Brown, Take That, Lindsey Stirling, and others. His first solo effort, the aptly titled First EP, arrived in early 2010. Two years later, he collaborated with Mackenzie Thoms on the track "Blast Off" and also issued his own single, the dubstep anthem "Words" (Next Plateau Entertainment). By 2016, the AFSHeeN sound had evolved with the scene, taking on a cool nocturnal vibe similar to Kygo and ZHU. He released "Let Me Down Slow," which accumulated over two million streams in a year. At the end of the year, he made his debut performance on the second night of Kygo's Hollywood Bowl double-header. He followed the success of "Slow" with "Tunnel" and "Secrets" before "Pull Me from the Waves" -- featuring vocalist Nisha -- arrived in 2017. ~ Neil Z. Yeung, Rovi