Today we’d like to introduce you to River Sultan.
River, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born in Jordan, of Palestinian heritage. At the age of three, I was sexually abused, which resulted in me developing a stutter, PTSD, methods of disassociation, and anxiety. I felt it difficult to relate to other kids and didn’t have many friends through the end of high school. When I was ten years of age, my family moved us to San Diego, where we lived for five years. We then moved back to Jordan, where I finished my last two years of high school and from there, I went to university in Egypt for a couple of years. Afterwards, I realized I wanted to continue my studies in Audio Engineering and moved back to Jordan.
By that time, my family wasn’t doing well financially, so I had a full-time job while finishing my degree. I graduated and went to the U.S. on my own at the age of 23 with the goal of working and make enough money to start my music career. My mom and brother followed me to the United States a couple of years later, and upon their arrival, my brother developed psychosis, which led me to the toughest five years. I isolated myself and didn’t have a social life because I didn’t want to leave my family alone, as my brother’s mental condition wasn’t well.
It was during that time that I started to really focus on creating music. It became my escape and was the only outlet I found that gave me comfort from the traumas past and present that were happening at home. My brother’s condition has been improving immensely over the last year and I’ve begun to feel some ease. The process of making music shifted and became a way of releasing all the pain that I experienced in my life. The gift that followed was that my music had gained a lot more depth due to the fact. I felt like I was ready to release my first single, “Purple Shelter.” My most recent release is “Falling Out of Time.”
Has it been a smooth road?
Since the start of my brother’s condition, I’ve been off social media for several years! It has been quite a challenge learning new customs and patterns, as well as experiencing some social difficulties… I’m quickly adjusting. Currently Facing financial difficulties (pretty typical for artists during the pandemic). I’m also working on healing past traumas, so I’m letting go more and more, embracing confidence in my abilities as an artist and finding more inner strength to fuel my career in music.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I specialize in composition and translating emotions into pure music, but my songwriting skills are slowly catching up as well. I’m most proud of my versatility as an artist in terms of genre and having the patience to learn production techniques as well as songwriting and recording. What sets me apart as an artist are my learning disabilities. They paved the way for me to reinvent things I want to learn in a way that’s appealing to me. Also, I don’t have a specific method for making music, every track starts out different and I go about the process in a fresh way every time, experimenting with new sounds and feelings through different perspectives.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Of course! Beautiful energy, due to the fact that San Diego is quite diverse. So many different backgrounds make me feel better about expressing my weirdness freely! San Diego is definitely a good place to start out, there is basically a scene for every genre imaginable, with lots of great local venues to perform at.
Contact Info:
- Website: riversultan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/riversultan/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/riversultanmusic/
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/riversultan/
Image Credit:
Victoria Smith
Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
