"Entries": A Conversation with Arianna Reid

Interview by Imani Dominique Busby

Photography by Barrett Potts aka Fifty (@fifty.jpg)

Toronto-based artist Arianna Reid has been surrounded by music since childhood, beginning her journey in church before studying piano, guitar, voice, and even music therapy. Now stepping fully into her artistry, she blends her classical foundation with self-taught production skills to create music that feels both personal and powerful. With her debut EP Entries and her first performance at  Some Kinda R&B Festival, she’s carving out her own space in the city’s vibrant music scene.

Can you please tell us a bit about yourself and your introduction to making music?

I've always made music ever since I was a little girl, firstly in church. And then I always took it seriously from a young age, doing music classically, piano, guitar, and voice. I took my theory lessons, and then I took it all the way to the point where I studied music therapy. But I didn't stop there. I wanted to create and express myself in my own way. So I learned production on my own, and I started dropping music.

What a wonderful journey that you've been on. You said you studied music therapy. What made you want to go down that path?

I love music so much, but I also love helping people just as much. Connecting with them and working through anything in life through music. So I wanted to pursue that because that's what I feel it's all about.

I really loved your performance. How do you feel just having performed at Some Kinda RnB Festival? How are you feeling?

Honestly, it was such a beautiful experience seeing the people so connected, so interactive with me. They really kept me going. So I really think it was an amazing first performance. I learned so much from it.

It was really cool to see. Especially when you did the call and response as well. You have an incredible stage presence.

Thank you. Because you plan it, and you don't know how the crowd is going to receive it, but they were jumping in. They were singing that.

I really loved Twin Flame. Is there anything you can share about the process behind that song?

Yes. Honestly, this is the only song on my project that I didn't produce myself. I was in L.A. It was my last day and I think I was there for a month and a bit. I was really branching out, and I was like, I need to leave here with something. I need to leave with a song. And I just poured my heart out in a session. Honestly, the process, we made the song, it was so incredible, but I was like, let’s strip everything, let’s start and build it from scratch. And I just felt like it was so me because it was so personal.

You mentioned you went to L.A. What made you want to take that leap? How was that experience for you? How do you feel after having done it? Would you ever go back?

I would go back in a heartbeat. It was a really good experience. I had just finished university, and I was like, I want to go pursue my dreams, meet people who have the same interests, grow with them, create with them, and just do it on my own. It was a solo trip. I was like, I've never done this. But it was worth every second. I loved it. Sometimes you get that peace and serenity on a solo trip.

If a listener could only hear one song from your catalog, what would you recommend and why?

Oh, my goodness. It's so hard because I just dropped my EP not too long ago, and I'm trying to figure out which song is my favorite. I love, love, love Sweetheart at the moment. I love “All the Time.” I don't know, it’s a toss-up between those two.

I feel like Sweetheart is just melodically very sweet, very much an embodiment of my sound. I feel like for All the Time, there was so much vulnerability in the lyrics. Sometimes we don't admit that we want to be with someone all the time. We want to give to the chase or they play coy. But it was just laying it all out on the line, and I think it's my favorite song.

Speaking of your EP, Entries. Is there anything you can share about the creative process behind that project and what inspired the EP?

The creative process: I wanted to make a song that related to young people, people in their 20s, talking about the highs and lows of love. But I ended up really highlighting the highs because that was my experience at the time. Every song was such a journey. I actually took my time making it. Some songs were really old, well, old as in two years, but some songs were made up to the last second. So the process was... I wouldn't say it was laborious. I took my time with it, and it was just me creating a sound that I want to continue to build on.

Aside from yourself, who is a Toronto artist whose music you are loving right now?

There are so many. I would say I am loving, she’s here today, Divine Lightbody. I'm loving Benita. She's on the lineup for tomorrow, so I can't wait to see her set. There are so many.

What message do you hope to share through your music? It could be your more recent releases or even your whole body of work as a whole.

Honestly, with every song, I hope that people know that they feel seen and heard. That they can walk away and know that someone's experiencing something that they are too. And that maybe someone is speaking (and by someone, I mean myself) to what they're going through, what they're afraid to say, what they've been wrestling with. I want them to know I'm right in it all with them.

That's a very inspiring message. Do you have any last thoughts?

Last thoughts, I'd say: continue to grow with me, stream, come out to the next show, and I'll be there waiting for you.

Awesome. Thank you so much.

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