Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.

Hi – my name is Ari. I am born and raised in Southern California, Long Beach and Los Angeles. I love California! I studied English and Environmental Studies at UCLA. I currently do the project untitled (halo) here in LA with my close friends. We make music, videos, and  art. I also run the bi-weekly radio show Temporal Cove on NTS Radio. I bring on bands such as Pavement, Slowdive, Interpol, etc for interviews and mixes, as well as making music mixes myself. I make short video pieces, random ceramics, and interdisciplinary work. I enjoy writing and creating in all forms! 

How did your interest in art begin?

Oh man! Probably stemmed from singing “Numb” by Linkin Park when I was a young kid in my suburban California home. I think watching old music videos and hearing sad emotional beautiful music really clicked with me, and catapulted me to wanting to create my own artworks. I think from playing around on an acoustic guitar when I was younger, making magazine collages, dressing bad in high school, watching fantasy movies like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, listening to sad music while driving down PCH … all of these things provided me with a necessity to make art. I’m not sure if that makes sense but, I suppose my suburban California lifestyle, one that was in proximity to a big city but still was consumed by beach culture and suburbia. Maybe that. 

What kind of imagery are you drawn to?

Blues. Something that feels like a movie still. Water. Grey. Angel wings. Lilya 4-ever. A nice Rothko. Anything that makes me feel. 

Can you tell us about something that continues to influence your work?

Several themes subconsciously resurface in my work. I played soccer religiously growing up. My brother would wake me up at 5AM to watch premier league games. I’d practice with them later in the day. I bring soccer into a lot of my work. I made a one minute looped video titled girls playing soccer that features Iranian girls shooting a soccer ball into a net, shot in LA on film. 

Basketball and butterflies as well. My dad played basketball, my mom loves butterflies. I put those in my films, my physical works. 

Metal pieces/ribbon/music. So much of my work is centered around music. 

My experience as American/Iranian/California – gently touches my work always. 

Angels / Airwaves / the feeling I’d get when listening to “Transatlanticism” by Death Cab for Cutie in high school while sitting in the dark lol…that same sentiment always finds a way into my work too. My friends. My family. Nostalgia.    

As someone who makes videos, music, zines, collage, and photography, how do you decide what medium to employ when approaching a subject? Is there usually something you’re seeking to express that comes to you before choosing the medium or do you find that more often the meaning unfolds in the process of making something?

I am someone (maybe if you are reading this you are like this too) but I have so much in me that I have to have multiple ways to express it. I always wanted to make films when I was younger. Film felt so powerful to me, it still does. A good film will always make me cry and think about my life for days, weeks. Music then took up more space in my life, naturally. Everything started with a $10 film camera I bought in high school. Then making my own zines, making digital and physical collages. Learning how to archive work (shout out Los Angeles Contemporary Archives), teaching a radio and zine lecture at UCLA, buying good jeans, working on demos with my band untitled (halo) for the first time, painting with my friend Pedro at CalArts, modeling, making my NTS shows, performance, writing, a yoga class, how you text…I find these all to be connected. Short answer, I usually have a feeling I want to express, choose the medium, then more always unfolds in the process. 

Your work tends toward the haze, often evoking the unreliability of memory and the bittersweet warmth of nostalgia. Why is it important to grapple with the ways we comprehend the past, or is it? 

Yeah that’s a nice reading of the work – so much of what I make inherently comes from my own memories, my own childhood. I particularly loved being a kid. I know I was a very happy one. The world felt perfect. As you get older, you realize, ah, the world is far from perfect. How I live now though – I try to keep the kid in me. If you know me, I am a relatively positive person, maybe sometimes too positive. I try to live in that kid-like delusion, because I know how far off I can go when I don’t. Naturally, this kid-like delusion brain that I keep now in my later 20s allows me to make work that has childlike-remnants, but also feels mature. With music specifically, I feel like I now have something to say as I am older, but I draw from younger themes. Same with video work, the more life I have lived, the more I can and want to convey. Sometimes I don’t want to convey at all. But when I do, I choose to look into the past and remember the feelings I once had. I think this can make for strong writing, for writing that lives in a fantasy world. Nostalgia. 

Earlier this year, you released “crush,” a song I can’t stop listening to. Can you talk a little bit about how this song came to be?

Awwww that is very very very sweet. “Crush” is funny because it is such an upbeat bedroom pop sounding song, and I don’t really make anything like this. A lot of my music lives in a more distorted noisy pretty lane I’d say. This song came from me hanging out with my sweet friend Nick who does the great project Current Joys. We were just messing around with guitars at his house and made this within like two hours. We then shot a music video for it a few days later and I just uploaded it. The song revolves around me probably having a crush at the time. I always have a crush. You have to! Even if it’s a crush on a random thing or idea or person anything. But then the song discusses how crushes can also wear you out, which I have definitely felt haha. But again, pulls from child-like spirit, is simple, imperfect. So much of my art is imperfect. 

What do you think makes a great collaborator? 

Openness / KINDNESS / flexibility / spirit / honesty / aura 

How important is experimentation in your work?

I touched on “imperfection” briefly but experimentation is always important in my work. My favorite song I’ve made is “oblique butterfly” – a song that came from me strumming a few chords (experimentally lol) and then my band and I made a 6 minute song eventually from that original experimentation. Music experimentation is very special. Playing a loud song is cathartic. In terms of my sculptures or paintings or video, I am always open to letting the work change, find new meaning (if any), or take on new qualities. 

You’ve traveled extensively with untitled (halo) in the past few years. What’s been an unexpected take away from your time on tour so far?

So many takeaways! Tour is a really unique experience. It’s very hard. It’s very rewarding. You have purpose everyday. My main takeaway I suppose is gratitude. To be able to travel, with friends, perform music, maybe 1 or 2 people after a show come up to me and say something nice, I don’t know, it’s rather special. I guess gratitude isn’t that unexpected. I think more so that I could tour and that my band can tour well together was unexpected haha. It made us all closer as people, friends. Also that people care about our music in other places around the world, that always surprises me and makes me very happy. 

What is it like living and working in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is a strange / beautiful / sad / lovely city. The layout of the city lends itself to being this confusing place geographically. However, I think if you are from here, you quite like it. I like driving. I like the suburbs. I like driving all the way to the beach then all the way east. I sometimes hate driving and wish I lived in New York. But then I don’t. Because well, I guess I love LA. Living in LA is peaceful to me, I can watch movies at home and hide and not feel FOMO. I can go to the park and visit my family. I can see my lifelong friends. I feel lucky here. Working in Los Angeles, hmmm. I mean this city and the people have done so much for me. I feel particularly lucky that sometimes I meet someone, and then down the line we become friends and get to make something together. This has happened many times while working in LA. The people here make this city so wonderful. I remember acting in my friend Alicia’s film before I knew her, and now she is one of my collaborators. I met my bandmate Jay when we both did dublab radio, now we are collaborators. All of my work is made in LA. I drive up to the LA Mountains and will film myself singing and dancing (like here). 

Sometimes the city can feel bleak, industry vibes / not real. Sometimes LA makes life feel very unreal. But sometimes, life feels perfect here. 

What was the last thing you changed your mind about?

Moving. 

Tell us about a recent and meaningful experience you had with a work of art. 

Kyler Garrison’s art show in NY – seeing his solo show, hanging out w/him at the park after and showing each other music. Now working together on something. I am so thankful when art allows for genuine connection and collaboration. You meet special people (such as Kyler) and that is absolutely the meaning of it all. Gentle connection/sharing experiences/truth. I’m excited for everyone to see what we do with Kyler. He showed an array of beautiful dark paintings. A lot inspired by nature, shadows. 

What is something you’ve always wanted to do and are working toward achieving?

Make an album I am proud of that authentically represents me. 

What’s your favorite book?

The first thing that came to mind was When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. 

Beautifully written. I cried a lot. Anything about the fragility of life tends to get me. This is a stunning memoir, about a neurosurgeon being diagnosed with cancer. The book follows this. He seemed like a truly remarkable person. Anything about a kind person having to face an unfair battle really fucking gets me. Especially immigrant journey etc. Even writing this makes me tear up. I suppose because it feels personal == RIP. 

Could you tell us about an upcoming project that you’re particularly excited about?

I think upcoming halo releases. We’ve been working on music for over a year that I am so excited to share. Also a new music video I directed for one of my favorite bands that my bandmate and I made together. Also feels special. I am excited about being an aunt too. 

What do you collect?

Rocks / seashells / angel sculptures from my grandmother. 

 

Interview by Paul Fitzpatrick