From Tehran to Kansas City: Salar Rajabnik on Culture, Sound, and Darker Lighter

Meet Darker Lighter, the sonic alias of Salar Rajabnik, a Los Angeles-based indie rock songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Raised between Tehran and Kansas City, Rajabnik’s music carries the kind of depth that only a life spanning continents can provide. Recently, Darker Lighter released his debut Self-Titled album.

When he’s not in the studio, he’s on the road with Foo Fighters and Kim Gordon as their guitar tech. Recently returned from the Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special with Dave Grohl, Darker Lighter is ready to take the spotlight.

From his thoughtful approach to his moniker to the emotional depth of his sound, Salar offers insight into the creative process behind Darker Lighter. In this interview, we’ll dive into his music, influences, and the stories behind his eclectic journey.

Darker Lighter is your sonic alias, but can you tell us what that name means to you personally? How does it reflect your music and artistic journey?

Darker Lighter: “I really struggled with finding an appropriate moniker for my music. I’ve released music under my name before, and I’m very proud of my name, but Western audiences can really struggle to spell/remember/pronounce it. I wanted something with a good ring to it that also felt timeless, while to some degree representing the music. I spend a lot of time ruminating on the ups and downs of life and how to come to terms with those peaks and valleys. So using the words light and dark to refer to those concepts felt nice. I also just admittedly favor monochromatic aesthetics. Also, later I realized the name has echoes of the phonetic aspect of Nick Drake’s Bryter Layter, one of my favourite albums.”

You’ve had a fascinating upbringing between Tehran and Kansas City, which seems to blend very different cultural influences. How do you think this cultural diversity shapes your music and sound today?

“I wouldn’t say it’s particularly conscious or forced in any way. Those experiences were just my life, and they’re just within me. But if I step outside of myself, I can recognize some of the interplay there. I think it’s broader than musical approach, more to do with genuinely having lived an eastern and western life, and how that in turn affects my approach to everything.”

Darker Lighter ‘Darker Lighter’ album artwork

You recently released your new single “Nice To Meet You.” Can you share the inspiration behind the song and what it means to you as an artist?

“Every song on the album means a lot to me, and this one is no exception. It sort of began as a riff on that thing that can happen where you unexpectedly bump into someone, whether they’re a stranger or an old acquaintance, and you wonder if you’ll see them again. From there it grew into a larger meditation on relationships and I suppose to some extent, how time and circumstances affect them.”

Being a multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter, how do you approach the creation of a song from start to finish? Do you have a specific process, or does it vary with each track?

“To some degree it varies. I know some people have a very rigid process. I can identify certain patterns in how I work, but I’d say it’s a kind of a mix between raw emotive concepts gestating and then me feeling compelled to figure out a way to manifest them musically. So practically that often begins with an idea or a feeling that might initially produce a guitar riff, a vocal melody concept, a lyrical scribble, etc. From there I try to let that general idea lead me and support it and grow it. It’s always this kind of ephemeral thing where I know I need to let the feeling lead me and employ whatever tools necessary to get that feeling communicated accurately. Luckily I’m not limited by having to call a band or book players to flesh that out across various instruments, etc.”

You’ve spent time on the road with the Foo Fighters and Kim Gordon as their guitar tech. How has working with these legendary acts influenced your own musical style or work ethic?

“Working with both of those artists, as well as many others, as a guitar tech has taught me a lot. I sort of accidentally became a guitar tech via being the responsible guy in every band I was in. I had an inherent understanding that to be taken seriously as an artist, you have to be serious about your art, which led to me looking after my own gear and the bands I was playing with’s gear.

“And not to take yourself seriously in a pretentious way, in a way where you are true to yourself and stay devoted to delivering your work because you believe in it. That notion has only been backed up by witnessing it in play via Kim, Foo Fighters, others at the top of their game. I could go on and on about individual examples but I think that that general devotion to one’s craft and self is the key lesson.”

How does your experience behind the scenes in live music (as a guitar tech) affect your approach to recording and producing your own music? Do you bring anything from that world into your solo work?

“Well, it certainly allows me to quickly get the sounds I hear in my head, and to navigate equipment options in a super decisive way. There’s also a lot of observing what has/hasn’t worked in certain scenarios, and knowing that if your gear is working right, it serves the vision of the person using it as a tool. So often musicians are wrestling with the ‘stuff’ and it gets in the way of their vision. To use a painting analogy, it’s like a painter having their easel, paints, and canvas fine-tuned to their liking so that if inspiration strikes, they can just go for it and start working.”

As an indie rock artist in Los Angeles, you’re surrounded by a vibrant music scene. How do you see your music fitting within the LA music landscape, and how has the city influenced your sound?

“On the one hand, I am so exhilarated to live in a big city full of musicians, some of whom are peers I’m so inspired to work and play with or to support. On the other hand, at times I feel like a pariah, which I think is more of a general feeling and less to do with LA per se. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel and produce avant-garde music, but I am also not trying to reproduce or chase trends. All of my favourite artists seemed to strike that balance between expression and familiarity, and that is the world I try to live in creatively.

“Though it’s the approach that the greatest of the greats took, in the modern world of algorithms and tech creepiness dictating success in music over anything else, at times I can feel a bit like I’m on an island. But then I consider some of my friends making incredible music in LA, Jason Falkner, Jordan Jones, Laura Pleasants/The Discussion, Wayne Faler, Kim Gordon… The list goes on and on.”

Your music is known for its depth and emotional resonance. How do you navigate blending personal experiences with broader themes in your songwriting?

“I think about how my favourite songs always simultaneously feel deeply personal, yet broad at the same time. There’s a strange magic to that balance, and I’m always trying to find it in my own writing. I think baring your soul in a genuine way can be so affecting and compelling, but done wrong, it can just feel very strange, cringy. At the same time, the canned faux-earnest thing that’s en vogue is horrendous, so I think I’m always returning to trying to find that really magical balance.”

What challenges have you faced transitioning between roles—being a guitar tech on tour with iconic artists and being a solo artist with your own distinct sound?

“In the past, I’ve been incredibly hesitant to mention one in the context of the other. I’ve described it as ‘church and state.’ Ultimately, though I take my work as a tech super seriously, I still wake up each morning feeling like an artist and a songwriter who happens to be a guitar tech. The biggest challenge has been to remind people that just because I am in demand as a tech for legendary, top-level artists, doesn’t mean that I’m not an artist in my own right.”

Looking ahead, what can we expect from Darker Lighter in the future? Are you working on an album, and what direction are you exploring creatively for your next release?

“I’m hoping that this first self-titled LP gives people a nice introduction to what Darker Lighter is all about. I miss playing live, and I am beginning to pivot from getting the album ready to release to preparing to do that, to put a live band together. I also feel that all too familiar itch to start writing again. In a sense, I’m never not writing; ideas are always coming and going. But the more intentional process of fleshing those ideas out is something I have to make time for, which I hope to do later this year. I have a lot of musical concepts in mind, and musical sides of myself that have not yet been produced and released.”