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Arianna Harley is a name you'll be hearing a lot of in the next year, at least that's what she hopes. The seductive Hey Lolita songstress has recently signed a new deal, dropped a new single titled "Dark Glamour" and shocked fans with the cover to debut album, Melancholy. We caught up with the daring singer earlier this week to get a glimpse of what exactly her intentions were.
What was the inspiration behind the album cover? Was the aim to cause controversy?
Arianna: I think people were going to say something about me whether the cover was controversial or not, so why not give them a reason to talk? The focus always has to be on something... past scandals, my look, my career, people love to gossip. I like the cover though and that's all that matters to me. I thought as this is my first solo album, it would be a nice way to introduce people to me by making a collage of the beautiful and tragic moments that have happened in the past. It's great to look at the cover and have so many memories. But I'm turning my back to every little piece, I feel like I'm starting my career again and it's extremely emotional.
Do you think the cover will get you in trouble?
Arianna: I don't know, it hasn't yet. (giggles) But at this stage, I have nothing to prove as a person or musician, so I don't give a shit. I don't mean that in a cruel or big headed way, but I have had so many horrible things said about me in the past, some very humiliating moments. There's only so many times you can apologise for being a human being. The cover was a statement that I adored.
I imagine you'd want to distance yourself from the whole affair scandal, why was that something you felt you had to include on the cover?
Arianna: Because my mistakes are my mistakes only, and they are for me to learn from and decide what I do with them. Did you notice how at the time, and funnily enough even still today, that it was only my name that was run through the mud? I think it's a very sad world we live in, especially to live on this planet as a woman, we go through a lot more than men would in certain situations. Either way, it was a big wake up call for me about how twisted the world can be, it gave me a darker soul. To be a newcomer in this industry and led astray and taken advantage of in such a way, it was hard on me. That's why I had to address it.
Your love life ever since has remained extremely private, are you seeing someone right now?
Arianna: No, I am not. I think the idea of a relationship right now is very... not me, it's one dimensional and bland. I was becoming the woman I feared, so I had to step back. I'm an old soul, I like to be as free as I can possibly be, otherwise I feel extremely suffocated and I go into this state of depression. I'm not saying I don't like the idea of love, but I'm saying I love the idea of meeting different people and hearing their stories and what they can give me even more. There's something exciting about that.
You're rarely spotted on social media, hardly updating your Twitter or Tumblr. Do you not find fan interaction important?
Arianna: Gosh, no. I think interaction is one of the most beautiful aspects of my career, the fact that I can meet people who are touched by music and I'm touched by their love. But I feel it has to be in person, so we can connect and touch and feel that moment. I like to hug and kiss my fans... I don't even like saying fans, they're my friends. I just don't like to live my life online. I think the Internet is the dark side of the world, I don't like to use it so much. I just find musicians who spend all their time on Twitter quite worrying, as if they love the fame and the lifestyle more than creating the art. I wouldn't feel right.
A lot of Hey Lolita fans have asked would you and Scar ever reunite and are you still in contact?
Arianna: Yes, me and Scar are still very much in contact, he will always be a dear friend of mine. In fact, he produced the new single, so of course we still talk often. We achieved a lot in such a small space of time and I couldn't have done that without his talents, I love him. We announced a hiatus, not that we're splitting up for good, so I do hope we can work together as a duo again one day. Hey Lolita was only ever meant to be an art project for an EP, maybe an album. Never did we think we'd put out an EP and two albums. I guess we just had to ride the wave when people were starting to pay attention to us, the demand was there and we were enjoying working together. But I think we just wanted different things by the third album, he wanted to go in one direction and I wanted to go in another, it was the right time to do our own thing. I wish him the best of luck and I've heard some of his own material, fans won't be disappointed and can expect it in the new year. He's the biggest perfectionist I know and he won't rush it out for anyone. We live in a time where music is pumped out as quickly as possible, no matter the emotion or how low on inspiration you're running on, you've gotta meet some sort of deadline and get that music out. But me and Scar don't work like that, it has to be the right moment, it has to come naturally. Perhaps that's why Hey Lolita couldn't go on, we're just two very similar artists with two very different plans for our musical future.
Was there ever a time after you and Jared decided to part where you thought you'd be done with music?
Arianna: If I'm completely honest, there absolutely was and I go through each day with a different mind set. Where one day I feel like I could write a whole album and I just feel completely inspired and musically alive. The next, I want to throw it all away and move to somewhere obscure and never be heard of again. It says a lot where the first ever awards I won were for my looks... that pissed me off. I'd think about that and laugh and wonder why I was even bothering in such a shallow industry. I made some beautiful music with Scar and all the industry could give back was a trophy for my appearance? I'd think about stuff like that and would say "I'm done now, I'm not making another record". But you just have to realise, even with the bullshit, there's a huge group of people out there in this world waiting to hear your music. People who understand you and your tastes and what you believe in. That's why I made my own record. I hope I worded that correctly without coming across ungrateful, it was just something playing on my mind.
What made you title the record Melancholy?
Arianna: I had this collection of songs and I sat down, listening to them all one early morning and I had been worrying for quite some time. I thought, "Fuck, I really need to start thinking of a title, what the fuck am I going to call it?" I was really freaking out. I started to think of words to describe what the album sounds like as a complete piece, so that's how I made the decision. It's just a very fitting title for the sound of it... the lyrics aren't exactly sad, but the sound of it is quite moving. It's got a real state of sadness running through it.
Can your fans expect a tour after its release?
Arianna: I really hope I'll get to do that. It's up to the fans, if they support the music and the label notices it's doing well, then I can start going into meetings about arranging a tour. Let's hope it can come to that, because this record would really come to life on stage. No nonsense, just me and a microphone and a band, like how I've always done it.
What inspired those darker sounds on the new album then? Did you not like the music you made as Hey Lolita?
Arianna: See, I knew people would ask me that. No, I loved the two records me and Scar put out. I still do. But those two albums were half my identity and half his, of course things are going to be different when it's fully me, I don't have anyone to say no to me. I don't think anything inspired it, it just happened. It just is. That's what I'm drawn to as a person, I've always taken an interest in sad, maybe even morbid things in life. I'm very much fascinated by death and the afterlife, suicide, depression, all the worst things we could experience or think about as humans. I think it's quite tragic, in a beautiful way.
To round this interview off, what do you think the current opinion is of Arianna Harley with the general public?
Arianna: Good question. I wish I knew that answer myself... I think people know me as "that lolita girl" rather than my name right now. Perhaps that'll change in the next year. That's the aim. |
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