THE VAULT: MUSIC

Jen G: First of all, you have a beautiful, amazing, strong voice! I see a real youthful spirit, too! How old are you, and where are you from?

Arielle: Okay, I just turned 18 years old, and I currently live in Ocala, Florida. Originally, I am from Syracuse, New York.

Jen G: Awesome! How was your birthday? Did you get to sing at your party?

Arielle: It was GREAT! And YES! I did get to sing at my party! I did a special presentation for all of my attending guests, and they really loved it! I felt so excited! It was fun!

Jen G: That’s cool! Now, I know you mentioned on CD Baby that you sing in your community. How long have you been singing locally, and why is it important to you?

Arielle: I have been singing locally for a while now. I would say a few years. I love singing at family functions! Singing is really important to me because I believe it is a very special, God given talent, and I feel deep inside that He has always wanted me to use it for His glory! Also, I just love how it feels to express myself through song and writing! It’s wonderful!

Jen G: Amen! Amen!

Arielle: Yes, Amen!

Jen G: How did you become a Christian?

Arielle: I grew up in a Christian family, so I always had the chance to learn all about Jesus Christ, which is a HUGE blessing, but when I was around 11 years old, I made a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ on my own. That is also when I was baptized, too.

Jen G: Now that’s very cool!

Arielle: Yeah! There are so many people who grew up in Christian families, and it’s so unfortunate that so many of them tend to stray away for a while. I really felt God’s hand on my life, though, and I always felt like giving all He gave to me back to Him.

Jen G: Arielle, that is a great answer, especially since you don’t hear about a lot of young people who are on fire for God and proud of it! How does having a relationship with Christ and praying keep you grounded in your music?

Arielle: Oh, wow! It keeps me grounded so much because I know that having Christ at the center of my life keeps me strong and powerful for His ministry. I could never do it without God! It is just impossible!

Jen G: What does it mean to you to have the ability to not only sing meaningful music, but to write the positive lyrics that you sing?

Arielle: I am a young person myself, and I know that there are so many young people out there just craving some love and attention! Music is a powerful source. So many people are influenced by music every day! Imagine how much more positive the world would be if they were influenced by positive music!

Jen G: I have to ask, I know you have Jesus on the inside, but you are full of life and encouragement! Where do you get that from? Parents, friends?

Arielle: I have to say that life is not easy for anyone. I have gone through struggles just living this life as a normal person, but when I really stop and realize that in any situation you are faced with, God is in control of it all, it really makes me a lot more calm and trusting. I know He is watching over me, and not only me, but all of us! All we have to do is acknowledge that He is God and call on Him. That’s it! That’s all He requires, and I just love that about Him. I get my encouragement from God, number one! I also look to my mother, who has been a very strong person in my life.

Jen G: That is so true! What is one of the things that you’ve faced, peer pressure wise, that you came through? Or dealt with that has made you stronger?

Arielle: I would have to say the normal things that teenage girls go through: wanting to fit in, jealousies from other peers, untrue people, and so on. Through it all, I have realized that it is best to just be comfortable with yourself and to not let anyone ever make you feel like you’re not good enough or like you “don’t fit into the mold.” Maybe God didn’t intend for you to “fit into the mold.” It is the genuine qualities and character that really make a person stand out, and just realizing this has helped me to be more comfortable with myself. I just want to help other young girls through my music ministry to know they are not alone. I write about quite a few situations I have endured, but it is not impossible to come out of them. God is in control always!

Jen G: Yes, He is! That’s great that you want to help other girls, too! How have you stayed from being influenced musically by today’s pop culture while keeping to your roots and maintaining variety in your music?

Arielle: That’s a good question! I just LOVE all sorts of different genres of music! When I think about creating a new song, I draw my ideas from so many places! The thing is, though, to stay pure, I try to listen to music with clean content. I have some favorite artists in the secular industry, too, but I am very careful with whom I choose to listen to. One of my favorites is Mariah Carey. I love her smooth, high vocals! I also love a lot of other different artists from other genres of music. There is this channel I LOVE called the Gospel Music Channel that plays 24 hour Christian music videos in just about every genre of music you can think of! I am also very inspired by many of those artists!

Jen G: That’s a great way to be! Watching what you’re listening to!

Arielle: Yeah! I really love the way Christian music is today! You can be as creative, as fun, as funky as you want to be! It is clean music that is just fun and enjoyable for everyone! You never get an unclean feeling from it. It’s just fun! You can dance to it, laugh to it, smile with it! It’s just great! What I really love about it is that young people who are not Christians might also like Contemporary Christian music because of the many different styles of it. What used to be just “boring” in the body of Christ is now “cool!!!” I think that’s really good because our God IS cool!

Jen G: So true! It’s feel good music! I love the Barlow Girls, Stacy Orrico, etc., too. Yeah, our music is getting cooler! How important has your parents’ support been to your success so far?

Arielle: It has been very important! My mother supports me 100% in my musical endeavors! She is always there to cheer me on and even to let me know what I should change. I just love her! In fact, she is the main person who inspired me to be a singer! She used to sing to me as a baby with this beautiful voice, and it really made me want to do it, too!

Jen G: She sounds great and committed, too! Now, I know you mentioned on the site that you’re currently being homeschooled. You also mentioned that before, you were attending a high school for the arts. What do you like about the transition from a regular class setting to a home setting?

Arielle: Okay, well, working at home is very different from working at school in a regular class setting. I did my homeschooling program through A Beka Book, which is also the creator of the college I will be attending in the fall. It was a DVD homeschool program where I had the teachers on the computer screen teaching different lessons each day. I would say the main difference is that you really have to be a lot more committed to working harder in the kind of program I did because you don’t really have the traditional teacher helping you along or making sure that you’re doing everything correctly. You really have to stay focused, but I was, and I just received my high school diploma in the mail from them! YAY! I am so happy! All the hard work paid off!

Jen G: Sounds like you enjoyed it and learned from it! Congratulations!!!

Arielle: Thank you! I did learn a lot from it!

Jen G: What would you say to other young people who have a desire to pursue a career, but may be afraid their parents won’t be supportive?

Arielle: I hear from everyone that it is important to have the approval of your parents, especially in the industry. My number one answer would be to get the approval of your parents as a minor. If you really have a dream in your heart, though, when you are old enough, meaning living on your own or attending college, you can personally decide for yourself what you want to do. That is my opinion. As a minor, follow your parents. As you get older, if God put a dream in your heart that you want to pursue, and you know it is from Him, go for it!

Jen G: Good advice!

Arielle: Thank you!

Jen G: Why do you think it’s important to not only have the ability, but character also, as a singer?

Arielle: There are so many singers out there who sing “just to sing.” They sing meaningless words without a true message. Sometimes singers have writers who write great music for them, but it sometimes has nothing to do with their own personal life experience. I believe that character is number one in Christian music. I would not like to know that my favorite Christian artist has been singing all these years about a really compelling, deep situation, as if they lived it, but they actually didn’t. That would kind of make me wonder who that person really is.

Jen G: I hear you on that!

Arielle’s Music

Arielle: I am going to major in vocal music and minor in journalism. I love writing!

Jen G: Good choices! Now, on your website, you have three wonderful songs, “Set Me Free,” “4U2C,” and “People Talkin’.” Tell me a bit about why you wrote each song.

Arielle: Okay! The first single, “4U2C,” was actually given as a class project when I attended Dillard High School of the Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The assignment was to create a commercial jingle about ANYTHING with a funny or catchy idea. I came up with the idea of “a magical spray that could transform your outfit from dirty to dazzling in a matter of seconds!” I named the product “4U2C” because it was one of the products you have to see to believe. Everyone in my group liked the idea and name, and it just stuck. That is how “4U2C” was created.

“Set Me Free” is a song about someone going through a hard time in their life and looking to the other person for answers, but the person seems to just be showing this unconcerned attitude. I thought it was a good song to write because it shows versatility in my writing, and I also like the fact that the transition from “4U2C” to “Set Me Free” is a funny to a bit more serious type of feeling. It shows different sides of my writing and thinking, and I like that!

Jen G: I’ve listened to that song, too. It’s real deep!

Arielle: “People Talkin'” is actually a situation that I feel more young girls can relate to, especially middle school and high school girls. It is about peer pressure. It is about people saying all of the wrong things just to be mean and hurtful, but in spite of that, it is important to “keep your head up,” as the song says.

Jen G: That’s the first one I heard! You had a fan in me from that point on!

Arielle: What I really love about the end of “People Talkin'” is when I go into the higher register of my voice. If you really close your eyes and imagine, you can also hear some pain while “being strong,” and I like that idea. God really inspired in me the method of presentation with my music. It shows that even though we try to be strong, it still kind of hurts, too, but I think many girls out there need to know that they are not alone. That is why I am open about my music and messages. I want people to know that they are not alone and that it is okay to feel sad, but through God, you can come out of it. I also have a new song coming soon, too, that I am very excited about, so look out for it! It’s great to know that I have support from you as well!

Jen G: Totally! Also, I have to know, are you currently working on an album or EP?

Arielle: I just finished recording a four song demo album, but I can’t say that I am working on a full length album yet. I am definitely planning to do that, though. When I do, I’ll let you know! I have a lot more to write and express! Just trusting God to do the rest!

Jen G: So amen! LOL, you know I’ve been trying not to say that again! How can people get in contact with you to have you perform?

Arielle: Actually, right now, I am seeking management/booking to handle all of that for me. I currently perform in the Central Florida area, but I will definitely be adding more features to my page very soon, more pictures, performance videos, polls, quizzes, games, etc.

Jen G: Totally a wise decision!

https://ariellejones.blogspot.com/