X of Wands

X of Wands is a solo artist and skilled bassist with a vision to create technique-driven music for the masses.

Picking up bass guitar at 9 years old, Dan Raiani quickly developed a diverse pallet playing in rock bands, orchestras, jazz ensembles, marching bands, and musicals throughout grade school in Rockland County, NY. He grew up emulating bass behemoths like Flea and Victor Wooten, but also found himself dazzled by the work of legendary guitar players like John Mayer, Tosin Abasi, and John Frusciante. After playing alongside shredder guitarists in a teen prog band, he began to weave advanced techniques like tapping, sweeping, and melodic solos into his creations.

As X of Wands, Dan’s music is richly progressive yet approachable, tinged with modern rock and spacy psychedelia. Utilizing live looping and octave modulation, Wands creates expansive, layered works, often with only a bass guitar and some quick footwork. Armed with a seemingly innate sense of groove, Wands forged a deep familiarity with advanced harmony as a music theory student at the University at Albany. X of Wands’ music evokes the work of artists including Muse, The Chainsmokers, and Tash Sultana, driven by otherworldly tones, pop sensibility, and expressive technique.

To date, X of Wands’ YouTube channel has garnered nearly 100,000 channel views. He also gigs around Manhattan with rock outfit The Cosmic Coronas, routinely selling hundreds of tickets per show at coveted stages like Music Hall of Williamsburg, Mercury Lounge, and the late Webster Hall. Down in the subways, Wands showcases his live looping bass chops as a street performer. His sweeping solos and rock-solid grooves quite literally stop listeners in their tracks throughout the New York City underground.

X of Wands is an expression of Dan’s own grappling with defining purpose from an infinite canvas, Black Mirror-esque future-worrying, and learning how to recognize, create, and amplify beauty in the world around him.