AryaIsNotaLie

Meet Arya. Her bedroom-pop inspired debut at the SoCo Hotel showcased her potential to succeed as an artist. Despite some mixing issues, Arya succeeded in engaging the crowd and creating the kind of dreamy vibe characteristically aligned with her genre. 

The first thing I noticed when I walked in the room was the audience’s keen observation of Arya and her band. They were locked in. Arya carried herself in such a captivating manner that it was quite difficult not to pay attention. Unfortunately, it was also a bit difficult to pay attention at times. Rough mix. 

Unbridled percussion coupled with the respective roars of the guitarist and bassist drowned out the majority of Arya’s vocals. Only during the drum-free sections of her set did her abilities truly come to light. That said, Arya’s emotionally evocative voice expressed the few lyrics I was actually able to hear well. Despite the weak mixing job, the band also played stupendously, buoying Arya’s effervescent energy.  

Every detail surrounding her music lifted the performance. Local pan-talented artist Tiffany Hunter designed the space. The stage design and decor were spectacular, the use of colorful light in the room was stunning, and Arya portrayed a captivating character to the crowd. She moved and spoke openly, alluding to past love affairs and emotional trauma.

Arya also made a comment about Instagram’s fake front while promoting her own page. “My Instagram is called @Aryaisalie because Instagram is a lie.” Her comments got my attention, but to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I believed that this personality portrayal was genuinely Arya. I thought it possible that she was just discussing the tropes she thought would relate to the opinions of her target audience. She soon proved my disproved my doubts. 

A few days after the show, I sat down with Arya to pick her brain about the show and her new tunes. Born and raised in Belgrade, she grew up studying classical piano and later progressed into jazz. She mentioned starting to write songs at a young age, only to have a piano instructor tell her that she should stick to practicing. Fortunately, Arya didn’t let others’ expectations stop her for long. The integral role music has always played in her life made it inevitable that she’d start creating. 

We spoke about her life and its connection to music for quite a while, but it only took about twenty minutes of discussion for me to see that the character she presented at the debut was simply Arya. No bells and whistles attached. She really does find instagram to be too fake. Her page, which is a breath of fresh air compared to IG’s rampant, overt narcissism on other pages (see mine), doesn’t even contain clear pictures of her face. There was no facade; no pomp or circumstance. All I saw was a genuine young woman, passionate about creating her music. She sent me a track before we met, and damn was I impressed.

The track, “Heavy”, produced and mixed by local artist Moe, drops on 7/25. I finally got to hear Arya’s voice loud and clear. Her lyrics convey raw personality, vulnerable enough to draw the listener in while discussing universally-relatable emotional weight. If her performance wasn’t enough to convince me of her potential, listening to this track was complete proof. To put it bluntly, her voice is angelic. Arya’s first EP can be expected this fall, and I’ll be quick to listen when it drops. Look out bedroom-pop heads, there’s a new singer/songwriter in town.