Ian Axel is a New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

-born singer and composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 who grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Fair Lawn is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and a suburban municipality in the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 32,457. Fair Lawn was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March...

, attended Fair Lawn High School

Fair Lawn High School

Fair Lawn High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Fair Lawn Public Schools...

. He moved to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 after attending NYU

New York University

New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

. His song “This Is The New Year” became well-known originally when iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 selected it as a Discovery Download and for its video on YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

. Later it was featured as the theme song for the MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 documentary series I Used to Be Fat

I Used to Be Fat

I Used To Be Fat is an MTV reality series that follows overweight teens striving to achieve weight loss through means of diet and exercise. Each episode follows one teenager who is paired with a motivational personal trainer. A trainer teaches them new exercise and eating habits over the next few...

, which premiered December 29, 2010. He partnered with tinyOGRE Entertainment in 2010.

Ian's album, named after the title single, was released digitally on February 15, 2011 and on CD on April 12, 2011. He made his national television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 debut on the Rachael Ray

Rachael Ray

Rachael Domenica Ray is an American television personality, businesswoman, celebrity chef and author. She hosts the syndicated talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray and three Food Network series, 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels and $40 a Day...

 show and NPR

NPR

NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...

 said in their Song of the Day feature that he had “a voice that possesses the sweetness of youth, the stubbornness of a teenager and the swagger of a rock star.”.

In April 2011, the song "Gone" was featured prominently in Episode 19 of Season 8 of "One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill (TV series)

One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...

", titled "Where Not to Look for Freedom.". As part of Tom's Shoes "One Day Without Shoes" campaign to raise awareness for children's poverty

Child poverty

Child poverty refers to the phenomenon of children living in poverty. This applies to children that come from poor families or orphans being raised with limited, or in some cases absent, state resources. Children that fail to meet the minimum acceptable standard of life for the nation where that...

, Ian Axel performed two songs live on the popular website La Blogotheque.