ARIELWOSE: 7 day clinic
She’s cool, creative, and cultivating some fantastically charming tunes - Ariel Kelly, aka arielwose is certainly one to watch. Juggling studies as a music student, her indie-rock sound has graced the ears of Karangahape Road gig go-ers, a true rite of passage that has established her amongst Tāmaki Makaurau’s music scene.
In the run-up to the release of her most recent single, "7 day clinic," Coco Lance E-Met with Ariel. Amongst many things, the two discussed the creative process behind her ethereal new track, the value of friendship, the musical influence of other wāhine, Ariel’s future plans, and how music speaks to the soul.
Firstly, are there any specific artists who have contributed to or inspired your musical style?
Yeah! As a kid, my parents definitely influenced a lot of my musical taste. They definitely love New Zealand music, and I have always been influenced by the sounds of other wāhine in the New Zealand music industry. Anika Moa, who is an incredibly cool queer artist, and Brooke Fraser, of course—just the female singer-songwriters of the early 2000s—they’re my jam.
And how are you feeling about your own new song, ‘7 day clinic?’ What does the song mean to you?
This song is a bit different from ‘Facade’ and ‘October’, the other two songs I currently have out. It’s a bit more special, really, because it’s about the struggles I have had with anxiety throughout my whole life. Honestly, I haven’t really delved as deeply into such an emotional song before. So yeah, I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I really wanted to sit under my artist’s name because of how important it is and how important the overall message is.
It definitely has a strong message. I really like how you used repetitive lyrics, such as ‘hold my hand’, to convey those emotional elements of dealing with mental health.
Yeah! A lot of my mates also struggle with anxiety, and so a lot of the lyrics in the song resonate with their experiences and what they do to get through the day. There’s also a lyric that’s about having nightmares all the time; that was me as a kid, having them about clowns. It was always the clowns! I loved Friday the 13th; I always knew they were acting, but I always had nightmares. It’s the consequences of it.
But yeah, the ‘hold my hand’ part—one of the most grounding things when you are anxious or worried is having someone there to just ‘hold your hand,’ to understand you, who can be on that emotional level with you. I think it’s really important to have a support group. There’s a sense of vulnerability that you can have with those people, an openness where you don’t have to hide how you feel. Everybody suffers from anxiety at some point - I feel like we need to talk about it more; it needs to be normalized. You don’t need to bottle it up; I think that’s really important to know. I hope that whoever resonates with this song can feel like they’re not alone; it can be like a warm hug or hand to hold for them, and I think that will be so exciting.
That’s amazing, and it certainly does need to be normalized. I definitely took that away from your song - I loved the softness of the tinkling bells at the start and the voiceover of your friend - it bridges those messages of friendship. Did it take you a long time to write, or did it kind of materialize from pen to paper?
I really feel like the song idea itself came to me in one big moment - I was obviously deep in my feelings that day or something! It all just fell out, and I was like, all right. Then I played around and found the chords to it, and I thought, what are the most dreamy open chords I can add to the song to make it really sad? Then it just worked. It took me about thirty minutes to write. It’s just whatever your brain is feeling that day; it's really a creative writing process. Sometimes ideas come to you, and you think, this is the best thing I’ve ever written. Then it can take a year, and it’s still the same kind of result. But I do think this is my favorite song I’ve written because it is just such a special song to me - it’s close to my heart.
Amazing! You have a few events lined up for this song's release. How are you feeling about those? And how do you find those live performances?
I’m feeling really good! I think because the song is about connections and feeling safe, and for my release party it’s going to be just friends coming together to support each other, it’s going to have really sweet vibes. I’m really excited for that - we’re putting a gig on at Underground in St. Kevin's Arcade. I’ve got my friend Emily Bateman opening for me; she’s an indie folk artist, and her songs - well, they just make me cry! It will be special. Having those people in the crowd, like my mum - she’s a Scorpio, so - oh gosh - she’s gotta cry, you know!
You’ve had your fair share of live performances. It must be a pretty exhilarating feeling to present - or really, perform - a piece of yourself. Especially with friends, and for this release party…
One of my first ever gigs was at the Pride Festival, and that was just insane. Everyone was dancing and just so into it. I felt so connected to my community, but also so connected to what I believe, what I was put on this earth to do.
Have you been singing and songwriting since you were quite young, or did that evolve as you got older?
I’ve been playing instruments since I was a little kid because my parents play piano all the time, and I was singing as well - but, singing in secret! I wouldn’t let anyone know that. There are videos of me as a kid, with my mum trying to record me, hiding around the corner. So really, I’ve always loved singing, but it took me a while to get on stage and feel comfortable presenting and singing. My first ever big live performance was at age fourteen, I think. That was crazy! I really thought…I can’t do this! But I did. That was the beginning, and then I just gained confidence, honing in on what my sound is… it’s just a constant thing, constantly evolving. Then it becomes all about the song, and you put on a show for everybody.
Do you have any upcoming releases in the works at the moment?
I had a slight hiatus from ‘Façade’ until ‘7 day clinic’, and that’s because I found myself a band. We’re working together now as a big team, getting all these songs together ready for some acoustic vibes, which is definitely what I think my voice and my songwriting prefer. My other two songs were more electronic and produced, but now we’ll have acoustic elements. So yeah, we’re churning through songs and will hopefully get an EP out! But at the moment, I'm just working on some more songs that you’ll hopefully hear soon.
Thank you so much to Ariel for taking the time to speak to us. Go check out ‘7 day clinic’ on streaming platforms now!
Check out her instagram here: @arielwose
Photography by: Jessica Macrae