Vian Izak
Vian Izak is a South African American singer-songwriter, record producer, and audio engineer. He created an animated alias to maintain his anonymity online. Izak's artist project is part of the virtual band movement popularized by acts such as the Gorillaz and The Archies in where the members of the group are portrayed as animations. He has worked with artists Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Keith Getty, and Kristyn Getty. He is known for his songs "The London Air Raids" and "Revolver." He also owns and operates his own independent record label called Vohnic Music LLC in Nashville. The  record label is part of the Merlin Network which is the world's fourth largest music rights holder after Universal Music Group, Sony, and the Warner Music Group. 2015–2019: Early career and music. Vian is a South African immigrant who moved to the United States in 2000. His love of songwriting started out of a need to communicate as English was not his native language. He cites U2, Coldplay, and Death Cab for Cutie as early influences. As a young man he moved to Nashville and opened a recording studio on the historic Music Row. Izak brought an international sound  to the Nashville music scene which made him stand out. This is exemplified in his collaborations with Grammy winning South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo on "Brink of Love" and with Italian composer Davide Rossi on "Sangre de Cristo". He combines his music with the illustrations of Hein Zaayman to create multimedia comic stories. His first multimedia release, Northern Anthems (2018), was nominated for numerous awards including two Independent Music Awards. Music streaming platform Spotify also highlighted the release as a unique project from Nashville. 2020: Music and COVID aid. In March 2020 Vian worked with U.S. Bancorp to release  a COVID-19 television advertisement using his song "Things Will Get Better" encouraging people to stay hopeful in hard times. The advertisement was played nationally in the United States. Additionally, Izak released a music video for his song "The Navigator" thanking healthcare workers for their bravery during the pandemic which received over fifty thousand views on Facebook and YouTube. Chart positions. ! Rank Date ! Rank ! Peak ! Song ! Platform ! Chart ! Country