Nikki Kaelar, known professionally as Varien (formerly Halo Nova), is an American composer and electronic music producer. He debuted on Monstercat under the name Halo Nova with his song The Force, which was released on July 5, 2011.
Background[]
His DAW of choice is FL Studio and he's listed as one of FL-Studio's power users by Image-Line, the company behind FL.[1]
He once retired the Varien alias and deleted all of his social media. In early January 2018, he took up the alias once again and explained that the reason why he retired the alias in the first place was to finally get a break from music. When his alias returned, the first song he published was Blood Hunter.
As of 2018, he started producing again, but now under his own imprint, Kitsune Soundworks. This meant that Varien was now independent, producing such songs as Claws, Digital Devil, and Wrath of God (with Teri Miko and Flowsik).
Timeline[]
2011[]
- July
- July 5, 2011: Under his old alias, Halo Nova released his first Monstercat single, The Force. The song is featured on Monstercat 001 - Launch Week.
- July 20, 2011: Halo Nova released his second Monstercat single, Triceracops, which is featured on Monstercat 002 - Early Stage.
- August
- August 30, 2011: Halo Nova released his third Monstercat single on Monstercat, Totally Radical. The song is featured on Monstercat 002 - Early Stage.
- October
- October 31, 2011: Under his new alias, Varien released his fourth Monstercat single, Cloak and Dagger. The song is featured on Monstercat 003 - Momentum.
- December
- December 23, 2011: Varien released his fifth Monstercat single, Throne of Ravens. The song is featured on Monstercat 005 - Evolution, and the Monstercat Christmas Album 2011.
2012[]
- February
- February 3, 2012: Varien released his sixth Monstercat single, Mirrors. The song is featured on Monstercat 005 - Evolution and Monstercat - Best of DnB & Drumstep Vol. 1.
- March
- March 16, 2012: Varien released his seventh Monstercat single, The Alchemist's Nightmare. The song is featured on Monstercat 006 - Embrace. It was released as a free release.
- June
- June 1, 2012: Varien released his eighth Monstercat single, Seduction. The song is featured on Monstercat 007 - Solace.
- August
- August 25, 2012: Varien released his ninth Monstercat single, The Anthem in collaboration with Project 46 and Ephixa. The song is featured on Monstercat 009 - Reunion. It was released as a free release.
- August 31, 2012: Varien released his tenth Monstercat single, Resurrection of the Dagger. The song is featured on Monstercat 009 - Reunion.
- November
- November 9, 2012: Varien released his eleventh Monstercat single, Morphine. The song is featured on Monstercat 011 - Revolution.
- December
- December 24, 2012: Varien released his twelfth single on Monstercat, Lilith. The song is featured on Monstercat 012 - Aftermath.
2013[]
- January
- January 16, 2013: Varien released his thirteenth Monstercat single, Nights In Bangalore Pt.2. The song is featured on Monstercat 012 - Aftermath.
- April
- April 12, 2013: Varien released his fourteenth Monstercat single, L'esprit Noir (The Spirit of Darkness) featuring CoMa. The song was released as a free release.
- May
- May 15, 2013: Varien released his fifteenth Monstercat single, Toothless Hawkins (And His Robot Jazz Band) in collaboration with Razihel. The song is featured on Monstercat 013 - Awakening.
- December
- December 16, 2013: Varien produced an orchestral suite of Monstercat releases, titled Melodies of Memories Past (Monstercat 2013 Orchestral Suite), for Monstercat's Best of 2013 compilation.
- December 27, 2013: Varien released his sixteenth Monstercat single, The Scarlet Dawn. The song is featured on Monstercat 016 - Expedition.
2014[]
- May
- May 16, 2014: Varien released his seventeenth Monstercat single, Moonlight in collaboration with SirensCeol and featuring Aloma Steele. The song is featured on Monstercat 017 - Ascension.
- June
- June 23, 2014: Varien released his eighteenth Monstercat single, Valkyrie I: Bloodshed featuring Laura Brehm. The song is featured on Monstercat 018 - Frontier and is the first part of his Valkyrie trilogy.
- July
- July 21, 2014: Varien released his nineteenth Monstercat single, Gunmetal Black. The song is featured on Monstercat 018 - Frontier.
- September
- September 1, 2014: Varien released his debut Monstercat EP, Mirai Sekai EP in collaboration with 7 Minutes Dead:
- Mirai Sekai Pt. 1: Neo-Seoul
- Mirai Sekai Pt. 2: Neo-Tokyo
- Mirai Sekai Pt. 3: Aeon Metropolis
- Mirai Sekai Pt. 4: Goodnight_Sequence
- Mirai Sekai (Continuous Mix)
- Mirai Sekai Pt. 3: Aeon Metropolis is featured on Monstercat 019 - Endeavour and Rocket League Radical Summer.
- October
- October 3, 2014: Varien released his twentieth Monstercat single on Monstercat, Valkyrie II: Lacuna featuring Cassandra Kay. The song is featured on Monstercat 019 - Endeavour and is the second part of his Valkyrie trilogy.
- December
- December 19, 2014: Varien released his twenty-first Monstercat single, Whispers in the Mist featuring Aloma Steele. The song is featured on Monstercat 020 - Altitude.
2015[]
- May
- May 15, 2015: Varien released his twenty-second Monstercat single, Aether and Light. The song is featured on Monstercat 022 - Contact.
- July
- July 22, 2015: Varien released the song Supercell featuring Veela as a promo single for his The Ancient & Arcane LP. The song is also featured on Monstercat 023 - Voyage.
- August
- August 5, 2015: Varien released his debut LP on Monstercat, The Ancient & Arcane LP:
- The Ancient & Arcane
- Snowlight
- Supercell (feat. Veela)
- Transmissions from Lemuria
- Hypnotique (feat. Charlotte Haining)
- Firefly
- Kamisama (feat. Miyoki)
- Ghost Spores (feat. Laura Brehm)
- Hypnotique is featured on Monstercat 023 - Voyage.
- October
- October 16, 2015: Varien released his twenty-third Monstercat single, Valkyrie III: Atonement featuring Laura Brehm. The song is featured on Monstercat 024 - Vanguard and is the third and final part of his Valkyrie trilogy.
- November
- November 20, 2015: Varien released his twenty-fourth single on Monstercat, We Are the Lights in collaboration with Mr FijiWiji and featuring uncredited vocals from Anna Yvette. The song is featured on Monstercat 025 - Threshold.
2016[]
- May
- May 4, 2016: Varien released his twenty-fifth Monstercat single, Sacred Woods featuring Skyelle. The song is featured on Monstercat 027 - Cataclysm.
- October
- October 11, 2016: Varien released the song My Prayers Have Become Ghosts as a promo single for his My Prayers Have Become Ghosts EP.
- October 31, 2016: Varien released his second Monstercat EP, My Prayers Have Become Ghosts EP:
- Lest We Resign to Oblivion
- Dawn Will Bring Us Death
- TEVA833
- My Prayers Have Become Ghosts
- The Pink Killing Floor
- Hear, Smith of Heavens
- The Pink Killing Floor (Radio Edit)
- TEVA833 is featured on Monstercat 029 - Havoc.
2021[]
- July
- July 1, 2021: Varien appeared on Monstercat with his song, The Language of Angels (2019). The song is featured on Monstercat 10 Year Anniversary and Roblox x Monstercat Vol. 2.
2022[]
- September
- September 29, 2022: Varien released his third Monstercat EP, FULL ASSAULT / ALL THAT U WANT EP in collaboration with Psylla:
- FULL ASSAULT (with JACKIE EXTREME)
- ALL THAT U WANT (with girl_irl)
Monstercat Uploads[]
- The Force (as Halo Nova)
- July 5, 2011
- Triceracops (as Halo Nova)
- July 20, 2011
- Totally Radical (as Halo Nova)
- August 30, 2011
- Cloak and Dagger
- October 31, 2011
- Throne of Ravens
- December 23, 2011
- Mirrors
- February 3, 2012
- The Alchemist's Nightmare
- March 16, 2012
- Seduction
- June 1, 2012
- The Anthem (with Project 46 & Ephixa)
- August 25, 2012
- Resurrection of the Dagger
- August 31, 2012
- Morphine
- November 9, 2012
- Lilith
- December 24, 2012
- Nights In Bangalore Pt.2
- January 16, 2013
- L'esprit Noir (The Spirit of Darkness) (feat. CoMa)
- April 12, 2013
- Toothless Hawkins (And His Robot Jazz Band) (with Razihel)
- May 15, 2013
- Melodies of Memories Past (Monstercat 2013 Orchestral Suite)
- December 16, 2013
- The Scarlet Dawn
- December 27, 2013
- Moonlight (with SirensCeol, feat. Aloma Steele)
- May 16, 2014
- Valkyrie I: Bloodshed (feat. Laura Brehm)
- June 23, 2014
- Gunmetal Black
- July 21, 2014
- Mirai Sekai (Continuous Mix) (with 7 Minutes Dead)
- September 1, 2014
- Valkyrie II: Lacuna (feat. Cassandra Kay)
- October 3, 2014
- Whispers in the Mist (feat. Aloma Steele)
- December 19, 2014
- Aether and Light
- May 15, 2015
- Supercell (feat. Veela)
- July 22, 2015
- Hypnotique (feat. Charlotte Haining)
- August 5, 2015
- Valkyrie III: Atonement (feat. Laura Brehm)
- October 16, 2015
- We Are the Lights (with Mr FijiWiji)
- November 20, 2015
- Sacred Woods (feat. Skyelle)
- May 4, 2016
- My Prayers Have Become Ghosts
- October 11, 2016
- TEVA833
- October 31, 2016
- The Language of Angels (2019)
- July 9, 2021
- FULL ASSAULT (with Psylla & JACKIE EXTREME)
- September 29, 2022
References[]
Trivia[]
- Read more about the artist here.
Other[]
- After Varien deleted his old Twitter account, another person took the handle for themselves. Because of this, when he returned, he had to make a new Twitter account (variendarkgirl).
- Varien also has another side project called Koinu.
- Varien released a track for the Doki Doki Literature Club OST.
- Varien has made music for various TV shows and video games.
- Varien identified as transgender starting in 2020 and began using she/her pronouns. He later announced in 2022 that he had gone back to using masculine pronouns.
Collaborated with[]
- 7 Minutes Dead (5)
- Psylla (2)
- Ephixa (1)
- girl_irl (1)
- JACKIE EXTREME (1)
- Mr FijiWiji (1)
- Project 46 (1)
- Razihel (1)
- SirensCeol (1)
Artists featured[]
- Laura Brehm (3)
- Aloma Steele (2)
- Cassandra Kay (1)
- Charlotte Haining (1)
- CoMa (1)
- Miyoki (1)
- Skyelle (1)
- Veela (1)
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