Music is Ari Tahan’s lifelong passion… something we can all relate to!
We had a long-overdue catch up with Vocals Degree alumna, Ari Tahan, to find out more about her upcoming single ‘Stones’…
Introduce yourself! How did you get into music?
“Hello! My name is Ari Tahan and I graduated from ACM two years ago completing the Musician Route (Vocals) Degree. I got into music from a young age and I was always singing and writing songs.
My School (Notre Dame in Cobham) was very musical as well as academic and I was very grateful to have both advantages. I was part of School Choirs and attended private singing lessons. From the age of 8 until the age of 16 I was very committed to attending the Italia Conti Arts Centre in Guildford twice a week. I was lucky to be apart of some cool shows!
As I got older I started focusing more on contemporary music, my singing teacher at Italia Conti introduced the idea of doing a diploma at The ACM. I thought hard about the idea and came to the conclusion that going to college to study A Levels wasn’t for me and that my heart was set on music and performing, so when I found out that I could move onto studying what I absolutely loved the most at an awesome college & university, I was over the moon!”
…or click here to pre-order Stones.
What’s the story behind new track – Stones?
“It was written for a close friend who was going through a dark time in their life. This song is about focusing on reality and keeping your head up no matter how hard life can be. It’s a song to remind you to open your eyes, not believe in lies and to be who you want to be.”
‘Some people in our lives will throw you like stones… be careful who you trust, they’ll turn you into dust’
Tell us about the recording process for the new single.
“I officially recorded Stones last year. However, during the middle of my first year diploma at ACM, I actually teamed up with a guitarist (Alex Baker) for a song writing class. Alex played a beautiful chord progression which I instantly felt a connection to, I went home that evening and wrote lyrics and a melody to it. I showed Alex what I had come up with and from then on, we started to play it acoustically at gigs and then eventually ended up recording a demo to send to my producer, David Goodes.
I then met with Dave at the studio and decided I wanted to take it up a level and turn my acoustic version of Stones into a bigger sound! My inspiration came from James Bond theme tunes, I liked the idea of a dramatic build up as I felt this song needed to be powerful to get the message across. So with all these ideas in mind we put something together and out came this version of Stones and I am really pleased with it.”
What does the rest of 2018 have in store?
“I will be releasing a music video for Stones on YouTube on the 6th July that I am really proud of! My beautiful best friend Libby Steen is starring, and the very talented Skip Greig did a superb job filming.
I have five more originals to be released over the course of the next year. I wrote these when I was 14-16. Judie Tzuke, a wonderful singer-songwriter helped co-write these tunes with me. I am really looking forward to releasing these ones! I have also been working with my function band every other weekend which I really enjoy too.”
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone about to join ACM?
“I would definitely advise anyone who is looking to join ACM to make sure that they take every opportunity, collaborate with others, ask your tutors questions, be curious, experiment and just enjoy yourself!”
Find Ari – Website // Instagram // Facebook // Twitter
**Photo Credit : Skip Greig**
If you’d like to study at ACM and follow in the footsteps of our students like Ari, please call our Admissions Team on 01483 500 841 or visit ACM Open Days to book a place on an ACM Open Day today.
