As a young hopeful in Los Angeles, Arielle confronted label executives who wanted to make her something she wasn’t. Now she’s an independent artist with a 1973 VW van, a signature Brian May Guitars instrument and some of the greatest minds in the business. She has reached a peak with her new album ’73 .
songs about love Songs about the reminder to stop and look around once in a while. All set against a beautiful array of guitar tones (from roots slide to zeppelin-esque rock) and clean, soulful vocals that sit somewhere between Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow.
“I feel like I’m learning what life is about,” says Arielle, who took up the guitar at age 14 after the death of her father. “I often get it wrong.”
Her favorite things to do are making music, working on guitars or going for walks with her border collie. As we speak, she’s in Norfolk helping a friend set up a recording studio.
Ariel is a lifelong nomad.
With previous addresses in Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey, Texas, LA and the UK, Arielle tentatively cites Nashville as her current base. Not that she doesn’t dream of a more permanent home…
“I’d love to have a farm and build a recording studio there, a garage to work on my buses, a few sheep for my dog to herd, and maybe a separate cottage for my friends to stay in in nature and create or.” rest or whatever. I would really like to have a small home base like that.”
As a child she longed for guitars but started out as a singer.
Already at the age of five, Arielle was a promising singer, touring all over Europe with a choir. The classical character of the performance (reading music, singing Latin and German) gave her a good theoretical basis, which she would later benefit from and which flows into the melodic, vocal quality of her playing.
“The guitar sings,” she says proudly, from her own two-tone instrument, “it does things that I can’t do with my voice.” But the choir really helped with understanding the theory and harmonization.”
In a previous life she worked as a clown.
At 16, Arielle graduated from high school and moved to Los Angeles to study at the Musicians Institute. To pay her bills, she took on a variety of jobs, including walking the dog and working shifts at a pizza kitchen. One day she responded to a Craigslist ad, which led to a lucrative stint celebrating bar mitzvahs and making balloon animals.
“It’s great because I’m short, I’m 5’7” and a lot of the costumes like Elmo and Dora the explorer are for little people. It’s thirty degrees and you’re stuck in this gross thing… it was really funny.”
Her friends include rock stars.
Arielle’s first rock gig was in a Dio cover band in California, opening for Sammy Hagar and Nightranger. She famously befriended Brian May at a book signing and performed on We’ll Sweep You Up and maintained a lasting bond with him. She still maintains friendly relations with colleagues such as Eric Johnson and Vince Gill, but May holds a special place in her life.
“I grew up with Brian. I am friends with his children. And because I didn’t have a father figure at the time, he kind of became one for me. Most of what we talk about typically revolves around animals or things related to mental health. He’s very open about his struggles with depression and just being human.”
By the time she was 21, she had seen the downside of show business .
Relations with her record label began to deteriorate. A personal trainer was hired to put her on metabolism-boosting hormones, leaving her in rehab with anorexia. Broke and suicidal, she ended up living in her car. Legal battles ensued over her music, escalating to the level of the Supreme Court. She came out as a freelance musician, albeit without the masterpieces in her pre-2015 catalogue.
“My attorney said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Because it gives you the freedom to do what you want with your career, but at a price.’”
Now she does things on her own terms .
Ever since Arielle broke ties with her label, she’s been proud of her DIY approach. It wasn’t always easy, but the ’73 quality proves that musically it worked out for the best.
“I still have issues,” she admits of the shadow left by the experience. “It used to be something that was very shameful to me. I was so depressed just last year; I didn’t want to get up.” Getting her dog was a big help, she says: “I think it really helped to have something to take care of. it got me out of myself.”
’73 is available now. Learn more and get physical copies of the album at Arielle’s website .
