In this interview, we chat with Ariah &, a soulful indie rock musician, as she shares the heartfelt journey behind her music. Ariah offers insight into her creative process, the challenges of navigating the music world, and the importance of staying authentic. She talks about her evolution as an artist, the inspiration she draws from figures like Laura Marling, how she overcame stage fright, and her excitement for community music events such as Make Music Day.
Can you tell us a bit about how you got into making music?
I’ve always loved music. My family was really into Broadway and musicals, and my sister would make me sing with her because she wanted to duet on songs. So I learned a lot about musicals from her. My mom would take me to see Broadway shows when I was young, because we lived in the city—well, just outside the city. I fell in love with music that way. Music, for me, was always really attached to storytelling and emotion growing up. Then, when I became a teenager, I started listening to more folk and indie music. That’s sort of where I fell into my style. I started learning guitar when I was, like, an emo kid. I had a phase where I was listening to My Chemical Romance nonstop, and that’s when I started learning guitar because I thought it was cool. But then it kind of shifted—my whole genre kind of shifted. I’ve always loved singing, and I would hear these cool indie singers doing things with their voices that I thought were beautiful. I developed my style from there. I also loved literature and poetry, so writing songs came naturally. Listening to artists like The Shins and Laura Marling—and countless others—inspired me. I started writing my own songs when I was in high school. My dad used to drive me into the city on Monday nights because I had terrible, terrible stage fright. Monday nights at the Sidewalk Cafe were how I got over it. After that, I started getting booked for little shows here and there, and I’ve just been doing it sporadically ever since, wherever I can get booked.
How would you describe your sound or the kind of music you create?
I would say I’m inspired by a lot of artists. I guess I could give you a list of inspirations. Florence and the Machine—I’ve been compared to her a lot. I do a lot of indie folk. My favorite songwriter is Laura Marling; I think she’s incredible. Generally, I’d say it’s indie folk rock/alternative, with maybe an indie vocal, jazz vocal, or soulful tone. It’s hard to describe because some songs I write are straight-up folk, and some sound more Americana, or more soulful, bluesier. It depends on the day, but overall, that’s my general style.
How did you first hear about Make Music Day?
I think I saw artists doing it and heard people talking about it. I live in the city, so it’s very likely I just saw something like, “Oh wow, this is Make Music Day? That’s so cool!” It’s my birthday, and I make music, so why not do that? Last year was the first year I saw something where I could submit. I don’t remember ever having a submission put in front of me before, but maybe Instagram or something was like, “Hey, submit to Make Music New York.” And I was like, yeah, absolutely!
How was your experience doing Make Music Day last year?
I had a great time. It was nice. A lot of people do busking regularly, and I’ve always felt afraid of doing that because I don’t want to interfere with people’s day-to-day sounds. But when it’s purposeful, when there’s a day where we’re intentionally filling the city with music as a celebration, it feels different. It feels like, yes, I’m supposed to be here. I’m going to take up space. I’m going to play my music and share it with the world. It was a crazy day because right after my set—so it’s my birthday—I played at Essex Market, which was lovely. I got to explore, get good food after, and the whole space had these walls of windows. It was just beautiful: sunlight pouring in. Such a beautiful environment to play. Then afterward, I went straight to an album signing of my favorite band. It was just such a good music-themed birthday, from playing music to meeting my favorite artists.
What do you think makes Make Music Day different from a regular gig or show?
A regular gig or show, especially for most independent artists, comes with a lot of pressure. Venues now are often pay-to-play, and they push ticket sales hard. If you don’t have a big social media following, cultivating that takes so much work, like a whole second job. If you already have a full-time job just to survive, you likely can’t keep up with content creation. And if you don’t have a big following, it’s hard to book shows because venues just want to fill the room. My favorite shows are the ones where the audience just wants to discover new music, where you don’t have to bug all your friends to come out again. In the age of social media, things get buried so easily. You have to keep posting, keep reminding people. It’s exhausting. When I do have time to invest in music, I want it to be about the actual music, not spamming my friends or making silly content begging people to come to shows. Make Music Day is different. It’s a celebration of music. It’s intentional. It gives music space to shine. Whoever happens to be in the city on this beautiful summer day gets to experience it. Maybe some people weren’t expecting it, but it still feels like we have a right to be there. We’re presenting our passion to the world, to whoever walks by. It feels like a relief—like, “I’m just getting this off my chest,” rather than performing under a harsh spotlight. And it’s so community-oriented. You’re not the only one playing. You see so many other artists that day. It feels like musicians coming together to do what we love and share it.
What’s coming up next for you? Any new songs, shows, or creative projects you want to share?
Absolutely. I’ve been working on some recordings, and I have some finished. I’ve just been dragging my feet on releasing them because of that whole content creation process we talked about. I want people to hear these tracks when they come out because I put so much love into them. I love these tracks. So it’d be nice if people heard them, but that means I know I have to promote them, and promotion isn’t my most comfortable wheelhouse. So I’ve been putting it on the back burner until I can do it properly. But they are coming out soon, and that’s exciting. I have a few singles lined up. I also just took a songwriting class with one of my favorites, Laura Marling. She’s a British singer-songwriter. She taught a class over Zoom through schoolofsong.org, this incredible online songwriting school based in LA. It was amazing, just seeing her process and hearing her talk about songwriting was so inspiring. There was homework too! We had to write songs, and since then, I’ve just been observing more, taking notes, and looking for more opportunities. I feel like I’ve been opened up a little creatively. So I’m working on more projects right now. I’m excited to be back in that headspace again.
What advice would you give to new artists who are just starting out?
My advice would be to do it because you love it. Do it because it is just calling to you. Do it because there’s a song, there’s something you wanna say, there’s a melody you can’t get out of your head, there’s something that you hear that you just need to express. Do it for the love of music because, with social media, everyone is doing it nowadays, and everyone wants the attention. So, if you’re doing it for the attention, it’s gonna be hard. But if you’re doing it because you love doing it, then that’s just gonna be the reward in itself, and that’s something to focus on. And beyond that, I would say something I didn’t do, that I am like… I’m a millennial, and maybe I was just in my head and so afraid of being “cringe” that I don’t get on camera and play a song often enough. And I would think, if I were to go back in time and tell my younger self something, it would be to just do it. If you have a song that you like, just put on the camera and play it. Stop being afraid of being cringe, or being anything else, or overthinking it. And this is advice I still have to tell myself all the time because it’s not easy to listen to.