Collaboration between artist and producer enables Six Arils to tell powerful stories of memory and impermanence

As a composer, performer, and creator, Six Arils takes a methodical and comprehensive approach to developing their work for audiences from all walks of life.

As they explain, “I compose and perform all lyrics, vocals, and instrumentation myself. The initial demos submitted in my [Creative BC] grant application were recorded when I was 16, sitting at my kitchen counter with a laptop and a borrowed microphone.”

It was this particular grant application that has led to a subsequent series of opportunities for this emerging artist. As a successful Demo Recording program grant recipient in 2023, Six Arils had the opportunity to further develop their unique sound as an artist in partnership with producer Joshua Wells at The Balloon Factory studio. Their collaboration resulted in the creation of two demo tracks – “Computer Afterlife” and “Six Fragments for Atthis” – each of which explore themes of technology, alternative times and places, and speculative futures.

When asked to shed additional light on the deeper ideas behind their work, Six Arils offers, “My lyrics commonly touch on post-humanism, gender non-conformity, diasporic longing, and other experiences of abstraction. I use my music as both an outlet for self-expression, and as a way to seek out others who may resonate with these experiences, but I resist the idea of writing for any particular audience, or binding myself to a certain genre or sound. Instead, I hope to reach anyone who might connect with my music.”

Beyond these artistic results, the opportunity to collaborate with Josh in a live studio setting also created additional meaningful opportunities for Six Arils.

“My experience with the Demo grant was my first experience recording in a professional studio. I’m a fan of Josh’s work as a drummer and producer, and so I was especially excited for the chance to work with an artist I respect and admire, and to get his feedback on my own work,” they recall.

“Under Josh’s thoughtful mentorship, we re-recorded my demos with a fresh set of vocals, experimented with percussion, and collaborated on some new synthesizer lines. Our creative styles meshed incredibly well, and led to a few unexpected outcomes, including a synth swell in ‘Computer Afterlife’ that’s become my favourite part of the song. Over the Summer of 2023, I also went back into the studio to do more recordings with Josh. We’re intending to finish an album of mine for an upcoming release.”

Conceptually, what’s behind Six Arils as a stage name?

They recall, “I composed an original soundtrack for a close friend’s student film, which ended up playing at a few festivals. When they asked what I should be credited under, I scrambled to pick a name. I ended up taking ‘Six Arils’ from the title of an old demo. While that particular demo never got much further than a GarageBand project, the name stuck.”

As an artist and composer, much of what Six Arils creates lies at the boundaries of history, mythology, text, and the ephemeral nature of memory. It sheds light on the Queer experience, while also interrogating heady concepts like transhumanism, the nature of death, and the pervasive impact of technology on contemporary lives and relationships. It also plays with concepts of reality, permanence, and time.

As Six Arils explains, “My songwriting is often inspired by Filipino mythology, Queer history, and literature. In fact, the demos I recorded with Josh as part of this grant are both inspired by literary texts.”

They clarify, ‘Computer Afterlife’ is a response to A Cyborg Manifesto, an essay by Donna Haraway that explores the titular cyborg as a creature who defies the boundaries of human and machine. Likewise, the song is set in a transhumanist future in which in-between identities like that of the cyborg linger in an immortal, digital space between life and death.”

Continuing, Six Arils notes, “‘Six Fragments for Atthis’ is titled after a set of poetry fragments written by Sappho, and sutured into one poem. Its sixth and final fragment – the sole remaining piece of an otherwise lost or destroyed work – simply reads, ‘someone, I tell you, will remember us / even in another time’. This fragment appears in the lyrics of ‘Six Fragments’, the song. It serves as the song’s guiding message: that art can immortalize us — our loves, lives, and identities — even when we are on the border of erasure.”

When asked to bring the interview to a close by sharing some words of advice for those considering their own applications to the Demo Recording program in support of their own projects, Six Arils considers, and offers, “The Demo Recording grant is not just a source of funding, but also an opportunity to connect with a producer, develop your own skills as an artist, and gain experience in a professional studio setting.”

They conclude, “I know so many brilliant artists who are hesitant to share their work, or who are encountering difficulties building an audience. Researching and becoming familiar with the resources available, as well as learning how to access them, are incredibly helpful in fostering support for your work.”

You can learn more about Six Arils, and their music, here.

The Demo Recording program will re-open for applications on December 13, 2023. Eligible artists and producers throughout B.C. are encouraged to apply.

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Photo credits: Six Arils