Q&A: Ari Rivera Is Finding A More Refined Sound With New Track "Maya"
Photo By by Mitchell Zaic
EXPLORING A RANGE OF INFLUENCES TO CREATE A POST BEDROOM POP SOUND - Ari Rivera continues to dive into the indie-pop music scene with his latest release βMayaβ. Despite being originally written back in 2019, βMayaβ finds a way to evoke emotions from the listener relevant to any time in their life.
With new music exploring a more vulnerable side of Riveraβs thoughts, the artist is working to find a more refined, pop-like sound. Riveraβs upbringing on the internet has allowed him to not only have a range of influences from Clairo to Dijon, but also to get comfortable with creating the visual side of his work. As the industry shifts Rivera is ready to lean into new opportunities that come with the NFT space and is allowing himself to explore the possibility of a fuller-length project.
With βMayaβ now out and the year winding down, Rivera plans to keep working on music without jumping the gun on releases. Focusing on the idea of a more thoughtful roll out with future songs, Rivera is finding the balance of having strategy while still having fun with it. Check out his new track βMayaβ and learn more about Ari Rivera below.
LUNA: For those unfamiliar with your music, what are some of the key elements that make your sound yours?
RIVERA: That's tough. I grew up on bedroom pop in the 2016/2017 era. Clairo, Boy Pablo and all of that. Then I graduated into a little bit more of the underground side, listening to artists like Dijon, Mulherin and Zack Villere, where they're a little less trendy. I take a lot of inspiration from that, maybe to a fault. When you're young, you're trying to figure out who you are as your own artist and who you do and don't wanna sound like.
...The important thing is listening to everything, which is tough to do sometimes. I would definitely say it feels very DIY and I'm trying to push for a little bit more of a refined sound with some of the newer tracks. Even though βMaya" still feels a little janky, Iβm pushing for something poppier with that as opposed to the messy aesthetics of old releases.
LACMA has a really cool Yoshitomo Nara exhibit right now. It was so sick because he's put out so much work, and I was able to take a step back to just look at it all and think, βwow, this is really all himββ¦. It's inspiring as an artist. When I talk to my friends, who are going to school for music, I often feel this sense that βmusic has to be polished and calculatedβ. Obviously theyβre taking popular music courses so itβs important to drill that idea in, that if youβre gonna make pop music it's gotta be shiny and packaged perfectly. It's easy to get in my own head about that. Are people gonna like this? I guess at the end of the day, it's just about making something that I feel like putting out.
LUNA: You just put out your track βMayaβ - congrats! Can you share a little bit about the making of that one?
RIVERA: It took a long time to make - I wrote it in early 2019. I'm a big Dijon fan, so I kind of wrote it in a stage where I was trying to sound like him and I think that shines through in some ways, but it wasnβt really good enough to record until a year later. I sat on that track for a minute.
My buddy Jason Wagner came down to visit me in LA and we were listening to the Jesse McCartney classic βBeautiful Soulβ on repeat that week. We got home and we're like "let's make a βBeautiful Soulβ song". [After working on it] I realized it sounded a lot like βMayaβ, which was already written at that point, so we just recorded those lyrics over it.
The final vocal take for the verses is actually the first take we did, which is pretty crazy to me. There was a certain emotion present in that take that we couldnβt cut again. We did that on the second day of the year which feels real symbolic in a way. Then we spent nine months just reworking it and trying different things.
LUNA: Since itβs been so long since you first created the song, how do you feel about it all now?
RIVERA: I like it, it's a cool song. One of my good friends told me that if you thought a song was good at one point it means it still is good regardless of how you feel now. At some point you and maybe other people connected to it, so therefore it's a good piece of work. I guess, if anything, I just feel jaded by it. I don't know if that's the right word to use, but Iβve listened to it too many times. And of course Iβm working on new stuff thatβs more exciting to me.
LUNA: Even if it doesn't necessarily evoke the original emotion that you had when you first started working on it, it still gets to evoke whatever that initial emotion is for the listener.
RIVERA: Definitely. Whatβs interesting is that as an artist, you don't really see that. You have to be aware of it though, and you realize even if I don't like this, somebody else probably will, but then also it's your art, so it only matters how you should feel about it?
LUNA: So far we've heard like a handful of singles from you. Do you have plans for more of a full length project or are you wanting to stick with smaller projects or just singles?
RIVERA: Singles are fun, but I think right now I'm challenging myself to make an EP. I'm not sure if I'm gonna put it out just yet, but I'm just working on something that's a little bit heftier than singles. Just to prove it to myself.
Iβm also working with other artists. My friends Mary Grace, and Jerod. I'm producing for them and working on some fun songs. When I'm not doing music or school I like to work on coding stuff. And Iβm really interested in the NFT space and potentially putting out something with catalog or hic et nunc. Code art and crypto art is so cool to me right now.
Photo By Jed Naranjo
LUNA: That's so interesting. Is that something you would wanna tie into whatever this next project may become?
RIVERA: Yea I think so. Looking back at Kanyeβs Donda, something that's really apparent is how he handled that release a lot better than CLB. Kanye made it an experience. Big stadium, striking performances, setting himself on fire!!! One of my favorite musicians, the criminally underrated Brian Mantra, is currently putting out this collection of NFTs. Itβs a project where every week he releases a new piece of art. All this to say, there are definitely experiences to be created in that space that haven't been explored yet. I just think the computer is the next logical step.
LUNA: Are there any common themes or narratives in the music youβre starting to work on?
RIVERA: It's a breakup EP. I recently went through a breakup and I guess the natural thing to do is go make art. Right now it's a lot of heavier, more personal and intimate tracks. Iβve been stuck on making something that's really cohesive. Somebody told me recently that each piece is a part of the world, regardless of if they sound similar, itβs still an exhibition of you. So make whatever you make, whether you like it or not, and it will sit fine together. Which is a good thing for me to hear because then I'm not so caught up in the bigger picture.
LUNA: On the visual side of things, I really like your artwork theyβre very creative. Do you make them? What kind of role do you play on the visual side of things?
RIVERA: I make most of them with my friend Daniel. We kind of creative direct togetherβ¦I grew up on the laptop, so I was always doing Photoshop and music stuff. Most times, I donβt find it too difficult to reach a cover Iβm alright with.
LUNA: Is the visual space something that you'd wanna explore more as you grow?
RIVERA: I would love to, but the music needs to get done first. I have a tendency to make the song and then immediately put it out without any thought. So the next step for me is to just make all the songs, and then be able to put them side by side and really listen to them and figure out how to enhance that feeling with visualsβ¦I think you need to have one section of the puzzle fully done before you get a picture of where everything else sits.
LUNA: If you could invite three people to a dinner party that are dead or alive, who's at the table?
RIVERA: Drake, Yoshitomo Nara and Imogen Heap.
LUNA: What intentions do you have for the rest of 2021?
RIVERA: Be a good friend, be a good son, be a good brother. Being a good person is first and foremost. I think music-wise my philosophy is always that I just want to make music that fulfills me, that I'm happy with and also that other people can understand, enjoy and appreciate. That means just beyond my own music, helping other people with their music and creative endeavors is always something that Iβm really trying to do.
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