Red-haired, freckled, first-generation-American and Jewish-Iranian; Ashley Zarah has crafted a community where the beautifully strange and complex are welcome. Coining the genre Dark-Pop; middle-eastern, pop music made for the afflicted; for herself and the characters courageous enough to follow, she is on a mission to teach and heal her generation to speak their truths and enjoy their lives rather than simply surviving them. As if ushering us through an exorcism, Zarah’s dissonant and Iranian-influenced pop music brings to light our darkest demons, but not without burning her own on stage for the world to see; proving to audiences that no pain is worth the disposal of a life.