aryy captures the feeling of being perceived as soft and cheerful while people fail to notice her limits. “softie with anger issues” will be followed by two more singles and an EP by the end of October.

Spending her childhood in São Paulo dancing to her father’s record collection and becoming acquainted with the guitar, Ariel Mancanares (better known as aryy) ignited a passion for music that she couldn’t seem to shake. Now located in Los Angeles and boasting a YouTube channel with over one million subscribers, aryy’s first EP “get a clue”, released in January 2021, together with her first collaboration with UK based artist, Cameron Sanderson, “coffee & whiskey”, released in March 2021, now amount to over a million streams on Spotify.

“5 feet tall, cuffed jeans, rainbow earrings and cheerful personality, I don’t look threatening. I wrote “softie with anger issues about how people tend to perceive me and fail to notice that I have my limits and anger issues” aryy reflects “I’m a cancer, and though I look soft, I should not be messed with”.

Inspired by the likes of Cavetown, Mxmtoon and Chloe Moriondo, aryy’s personality and effortless melodies soak through each track. 

Tell us who you are and your story

I grew up in a small city in Brazil in the state of São Paulo. Throughout my childhood I was exposed to an eclectic range of music from The Beatles, to Brazilian MPB, to Simple Plan and Emo music and to country music, introduced to me by my dad who played in a local band. At 14, I started taking guitar lessons and writing my own songs, slowly building the confidence to perform in front of a camera. That’s how I started my YouTube channel with my shyness gradually fading away owing to the support from my growing fanbase which has now reached over 1 million subscribers. 

Despite the immense early support and indicators of success, not being entirely confident in my own musical abilities and feeling the social pressure to get a degree, I went to college and I’m now fully trained in Dentistry. However, throughout my studies I continued to post new YouTube videos and grow my fanbase. It wasn’t until my post-study travels around the US and time spent in Europe doing volunteer work, that I came to the realization that music was my real passion and that I had to put my whole heart and soul into it. 

After ending a long relationship and identifying myself as a bisexual woman, I packed up my life into a few bags, left my small town in Brazil and moved to New York City in 2018, at 24 years old. Initially I served tables in a Times Square restaurant to cover rent whilst spending all my free time working towards my goal of becoming a full-time musician.

In 2019, I took a trip of a lifetime, walking the Way of St. James which runs from the south of France across the width of Spain. Being around nature and with myself and my thoughts for so long gave me a chance to reflect and understand more about myself and I realized it was time to really push out of my comfort zone, and make the next step towards achieving my goals by moving to Los Angeles to further my career in music. I moved to LA in mid-July 2019. I have since released my debut EP “get a clue” while serving tables in the Valley. Inspired by artists like Cavetown, mxmtoon and Chloe Moriondo, and released a collaboration with UK based artist Cameron Sanderson and I now start a new era with “softie with anger issues”.

How would you describe the highs and lows of being an artist? 

I always see it as everything comes and goes in waves. Being an independent artist is a lot of work and rejection but that makes it feel even better when I reach people who love my work and support me and help me to achieve my goals

What are some sources of inspiration for you?

I’m usually inspired to write about my own feelings and experiences, kind of like my own way of reflecting about how I’m really feeling. So strong feelings inspire me, but also being out in nature and seeing other artists who I look up to.

Who is an artist that you look up to more than others today?

Nowadays I look up to Chloe Moriondo a lot, which is different from how I used to look up to artists as a teenager, because I’m way older than they are. I’m inspired by their journey and I relate to it a lot, having started on Youtube myself.

Favorite activity to blow off some steam?

I like to go skating, even though I’m not very good. I tried Axe throwing a couple weeks ago and loved it as well. Also I should probably mention that I play D&D every week and that somehow keeps me sane.

Tell us about your latest release and how it came about

My upcoming release “softie with anger issues” was my way of putting into words a feeling that I have very often. I’m a short cheerful girl who doesn’t seem threatening a lot and people often perceive me in this way and don’t take me seriously, but I’m also a cancer and a very serious person deep down who used to fight boys in school. This song was my playful way of saying “I sympathize but don’t push your luck babe”

What are some things you do to deal with anxiety and creative blocks?

I started therapy in the beginning of lockdown and that was the best thing I could have done for my mental health and anxiety and panic attacks, I think now I have some better tools to deal with these feelings and look within to understand where it’s coming from. About creative blocks, sometimes it gets really hard, so I try to just let myself live life and get inspired instead of forcing myself to write anything without meaning.

What’s the future looking like for you?

I’m currently working on my next EP and I’m very excited about what’s to come later this year, can’t say much about dates and everything yet, but lots of new music!

What inspires your visuals, videos, looks etc?

I love DIY vibes. Being a youtuber myself, I love to create visuals myself and self record lyric videos that aren’t perfect, cuz perfection is boring anyways. I’m inspired by honesty, not trying to seem like somebody else.

My style changes a lot over time, some days I dress like an oversized toddler who wouldn’t harm a fly and some days I dress like I’m in a pop punk band.

Where do you think the music and entertainment industry is headed after this past year?

I see the music industry a lot more in the hands of the people than before, mainly because of Tiktok, that gives indie artists like myself the chance to find a niche who resonates with them