Varien

Nikki Kaelar (born May 15, 1990), better known by his stage name Varien, is an American composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist.

Varien has incorporated or experimented with such styles as industrial, metal, orchestral, neofolk, and ambient music.

He is known for his work on film soundtracks, along with his unconventional approach to electronic music, including many live instruments not normally found on tracks within his genres.

Kaelar was born on May 15, 1990, in Tampa, Florida.

He had a connection to music from a very young age, and his family supported his passion.

At the age of 11, Varien began playing the guitar and attempting songwriting, and he joined a number of bands experimenting with genres of rock, grindcore, metalcore, and jazz.

Kaelar developed perfect pitch when playing the keyboard at age fourteen.

Kaelar was in multiple bands in high school, playing grindcore, metalcore, screamo, post-hardcore, and power metal before joining his school's Jazz band for two years.

He cites these years as pivotal to his artistic development, learning sheet music, jazz theory and improvisation.

He also cites this as the time he developed a profound interest in electronic, folk, and metal music.

He decided to focus on solo composition and began producing in 2009, with music in video games serving as his most longtime influence to date.

He cites Shin Megami Tensei, Final Fantasy, and Metroid as his biggest influences when it comes to games, as well as the works of the Wachowskis.

In August 2010, Kaelar achieved online virality with his slowed-down remix of Justin Bieber's "U Smile", titled "Justin Bieber 800% Slowed Down".

He was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly and MTV about the track.

In July 2011, Kaelar released his first Monstercat single "The Force" under the alias Halo Nova.

He subsequently released two more singles under the alias before abandoning it and continuing to make music under the alias Varien.

One of the first subsequent releases as Varien was a remix of Ephixa's song "Division".

On February 26, 2013, Kaelar released Pick Your Poison Vol. 1, a compilation album of trailer cues that he wrote for the purpose of film, television, and video game licensing.

He released a followup, Pick Your Poison Vol. 2, a year later.

In 2014, Kaelar teamed up with Two Steps from Hell on a private trailer cue compilation entitled Open Conspiracy.

2014 saw an abundance of licenses for Varien.

His music was used in trailers and promotional media for 300: Rise of an Empire, Bones, The Purge: Anarchy, Face Off, America's Next Top Model, PlanetSide 2, and Monsters: Dark Continent.

Los Angeles-based singer Roniit's song "Runaway", produced by Varien, was used in multiple trailers and TV spots for the film The Loft.

On August 5, 2015, Kaelar released his first LP, titled The Ancient & Arcane, on Monstercat.

Prior to this, he had released two tracks, "Beyond the Surface" and "Aether and Light".

In an interview with UKF, he elaborated on his songwriting process for the album, saying: "I make so many other types of music so I thought I’d sit down and write – no theme, no story. It’s a very Zen experience. Very spiritual. Wake up. Do yoga. Make music. No regard for the club. No regard for where it will be played or comparisons to my past music or anything else that's going on. I’ve never gone to any of these places I’m exploring right now. I want people to listen to it and think ‘is this Varien?’ Psychedelic, worldly, ethnic, trippy... People have never seen me go there. Yet."

The Ancient & Arcane met with critical acclaim upon release, with EDM website Dancing Astronaut calling it a "cinematic masterpiece", giving particular praise to "Ghost Spores" as "reinvigorat[ing] the soul with its harp-tinged melody and orchestral instruments that once again highlight Varien's idiosyncratic musicianship."

Kaelar's next EP, My Prayers Have Become Ghosts, was released on October 31, 2016, via Monstercat.

In 2017, Kaelar announced a hiatus from the Varien alias and removed all of his social media accounts.

Across two interviews with EDMSauce, he cited the psychological impact of social media as his reason for going on a blackout, also saying he "needed a break from it.".

In 2018, Kaelar announced via his YouTube channel that he would continue producing music under the Varien name, after his hiatus had allowed his to "take a deep breath from it all".

As of 2018, Varien has released music on his own imprint, Kitsune Soundworks.

In April 2018, Kaelar wrote, arranged, and produced K-Pop group VIXX's lead single for their album Eau de VIXX, "Scentist".

The track went on to hit #1 on the Mnet charts and was licensed for Korean television shows like The Return of Superman.

On October 2, 2018, Kaelar was quoted in RPGamer talking about his youth and which RPGs and video games inspired his career as a producer and composer.

Kaeler comments that he always knew that he wanted to be a video game composer when he "grew up," and that if the opportunity came to his he would go for it.

He explained in the article, "The thing is video game [composers themselves are], and especially the JRPG community, [are] very much a Fort Knox. There's a limited amount of people and they’re the best."

Alex Fuller from RPGamer commented on Varien's talent, "It's readily apparent how he has been able to utilize his gaming influences both in his electronic music and well as his soundtrack creations. It's easy to be able to see the sort of scenes or environments that one would expect from a JRPG while listening to those particular tracks."

Varien's collaboration with Materia Collective was mentioned in the interview and the official remix with Undertale is featured.

On October 26, 2018, Varien released his next EP, Death Asked a Question, through Most Addictive Records.