With Blood Orchid, Niko Javan Is Finally in Full Bloom

When Niko Javan was a young and impressionable freshman at the Design and Architecture Senior High School, Miami's famed arts school more commonly known as DASH, he noticed a group of his peers soaking up the attention of several girls in the cafeteria by strumming on their guitars.

"All of the girls were practically drooling," Javan, primarily known by his underground stage name Blood Orchid, tells New Times. "And I knew right away it was my destiny to bathe in an ocean of drool."

Before the Blood Orchid project was officially in bloom, the 33-year-old musician admits it took some time to find his voice as part of Miami's music underground. Rather than the punchy, electric-punk sound the visionary is known for today, he started as part of O'Grime in 2011, with the rap group's first show taking place at the NE 14th Street venue the Vagabond. But despite songs that touched on everything from "Taco Bell, Hot Cheetos, and Illuminati hoes," Javan found himself nowhere near the brink of fan-girl-drooling stardom.

"We did attract a lot of support from the city, and I thought I was on the verge of blowing up," Javan says. "Nope. I had a long road ahead of me, and when I look back at those years of my life, it often makes me cringe. I wasn't authentic; I was a shapeshifter, becoming whoever I thought I needed to be to become more successful. I changed personas like outfits."

In 2018, he finally had enough of his desire for validation as a musician, instead deciding it was time for a hiatus away from a life of conformity.

"I was truly broken. I felt so detached from who my mom and dad raised," he adds. "I was a toxic, angry, sad copy of a copy of another sad person. I was completely defeated, and it was just time to disappear."

After some time away from the music scene, Javan phoned longtime musical collaborator Robert Bare. The pair began working on music, one that didn't pander to any rules but gave in to honest lyrics that reflected their passions as artists first.

Both men scribbled away in journals, tossing in hundreds of words and highlighting the ones that stood out as the new name of their musical quest.
"When you truly love something, you will bleed for it. You will work the skin right off your bones and continue to work as a skeleton. You no longer come first because this object of your desire is now the reason your heart beats," Javan explains how they settled on the name Blood Orchid.

"My mother's favorite flower is also the orchid. Growing up, my parents did all they could to nurture my individuality, authenticity, and discipline. Society has a cruel way of stripping people from their unique beauty and grooming them to become an asset to a corporation. They use money as a drug to make you forget your dreams."

After taking on Blood Orchid as a solo musician, Javan has taken on heights his 14-year-old self could have only dreamed of. His sound across tracks like "Make U Sad" and "Doom & Gloom" greatly reflect his novel production skills, sometimes emitting a White Stripes-esque guitar riff or evoking an eerie vintage sci-fi beat alongside an electronic drum beat.

Even the visual art accompanying Blood Orchid's music hints at what to expect, with the graphics and sound settling listeners into the world of 1960s horror. Though Javan admits his alternative approach to music is often hard to describe, as Blood Orchid, he notes his three motivations: the past, present, and future.

"Reflecting on the past — this is where the residue of my life experiences can come to the surface," he explains. "It's often focused on failures and frustrations, so you're likely to hear songs about past relationships or wondering what if I did things differently. Then there's dreaming of the future, where I manifest the version of myself I want to become, and this will be much more assertive, extroverted, and confident in its sound. Then, finally, the present, which is all about improvisation and skill. That's where we hear the guitar solos, live MPC remixes, and impromptu ballads."
Having amassed eight million streams, 90,000 monthly listeners, and 200,000 Instagram followers, Blood Orchid is enjoying underground success. From Los Angeles to Seattle to Mexico City, Javan's music is getting the kind of global reach he had always hoped for. But Blood Orchid is still looking to tap into his hometown's music scene again.

"I believe Miami is home to a stunning amount of cultural diversity, but when it comes to advertising, we are force-fed mass appeal, profit-centric events," he explains. "There are not enough groups operating at a III Points level, putting diversity first and having the budget to let the public know about it. In other cities, there's plenty of music venues that haven't been bought out and are willing to simply do what they want."

Javan's next South Florida show takes place on Friday, December 22, at Shirley's, the backroom at Gramps, alongside Miami-bred bands Talkless and Camp Blu. He also regularly DJs at the South of Fifth hot spot Minibar inside the Meridian Hotel.

For Javan, Blood Orchid is the culmination of his journey, finding and fine-tuning his sound sounds. He's ready to conquer the music industry on his terms, embracing the unpredictable.

"Together, Blood Orchid means that I'm bound by blood to follow my own path in life," Javan says. "Never conform under the fear of failure and never surrender to the seduction of comfort. The most priceless asset in this world is the human spirit, and you couldn't pay me to let mine go. That's Blood Orchid."

Blood Orchid. With Talkless and Camp Blu. 8 p.m. Friday, December 22, at Gramps, 176 NW 24th St., Miami; gramps.com. Tickets cost $12 to $15 via eventbrite.com.