Arya: ‘Listeners don’t care about pigeonholing music’

In view of the next edition of the Milan Music Week, scheduled in the Lombard capital between 18 and 24 November, NUOVOIMAIE – among the promoters of the event – proposes a series of meetings with protagonists of the Italian musical panorama not only to delve deeper into the artistic dynamics that characterize the work of those who work in the sector, but also to take stock of how the current market scenarios impact the professional opportunities of those who have chosen creativity as a profession. The word today goes to Arya…

Maybe we have the feeling that we’ve never heard of her, but the truth is that we all know the voice of Arya Delgado (better known simply as Arya): it’s the one in the intro to Lazza’s “Cenere”, so to speak. And more recently she has also revealed herself to be one of the most unique voices on the X Factor, in which she participated up until the bootcamp stages with her band A Flower Tide. Italian-Venezuelan, 29 years old, is a multifaceted and sophisticated singer and songwriter, certainly among the most interesting emerging artists on the current scene: as a soloist she has a repertoire that draws heavily on black music, a genre that is increasingly popular with Gen-Z and which could be the next to explode on a large scale here too.

Where does your passion for music come from?

It’s always been part of my life: my father is a salsa singer. Compared to other artists I know who developed a propensity to write from a very young age, however, for me the push to make original pieces came a little later, because I only started working on my solo project in 2019.

You immediately stood out for your distinctly R&B streak, a musical genre that until a few years ago was not very widespread among Italian artists.

Compared to English, the Italian language is certainly more difficult to apply to rhythms, metrics and neo soul and R&B melodies. Today there are finally many people doing it, a few more glimmers have opened up, but the risk is that of making a sort of translation of American or English R&B, because there are still few reference examples in Italian and therefore it is much more difficult to find its own interpretation.

But many seem willing to try: today there is a rather thriving Italian R&B scene, right?

Absolutely, many artists incorporate it into their productions and the audience has grown a lot too. Since it is not a mainstream genre, we can certainly take greater liberties in experimenting with new ways. It’s one of the main positives of still being a relatively niche scene.

In addition to your solo project, you are also part of a band much appreciated by lovers of the most sophisticated music, A Flower Tide.

For me it has always been a great outlet, in the sense that I channel all the inspirations and influences that perhaps would have less space within my solo songs. It all comes from a long series of improvisations based on a traditional Japanese drum, the taiko, therefore a very strong rhythmic element. From there we developed a sound that also incorporated more electronic sounds, up to performances like the ones you saw on X Factor. For some it may be confusing to carry out two projects in parallel, but for me it all makes a lot of sense, because it allows me to develop ideas that I wouldn’t have on my own.

We often have the feeling that in our market everything that is unusual, sophisticated and particular is considered with a bit of skepticism by professionals. How do you see it?

Everything must be pigeonholed: I also see this with my latest solo songs, which are not strictly R&B or neo soul and which for this reason struggle to find a place. Perhaps, however, it is a need above all of those who work in this environment: record companies, magazines, playlist curators… The listener is probably not interested in these things, if he likes a piece he doesn’t do too many problems about genre or style. The same thing goes for comparisons: I often read articles about myself in which I am perhaps defined as “the new Arlo Parks” or “the Italian Bjork” and, beyond the fact that I obviously feel flattered, I find a It’s a bit forced to necessarily try to lump emerging artists with those who already exist, to make them understandable. Also because then one also begins to have problems and ask: “But if no one can describe what I do, should I start doing something more intelligible to have the hope of being understood?”.

Going back to A Flower Tide, how was your X Factor experience?

Already the previous year a talent scout had contacted me to participate in the pre-auditions, but the fact that I did R&B was seen as a negative variable and they discarded me.

When in 2024 they looked for us for the band, which until now has always been very focused on production and has traveled above all in more artistic contexts such as exhibitions and special events, we decided to try, convinced that it wouldn’t work. We arrived at the pre-adduction in riot mode, without following the instructions they had given us at all (i.e. to bring a cover and not an unreleased song, but we had never done covers). We were sure it had gone badly, but instead. We had no expectations, however: for us the important thing was to play well, and so it was. When we went out to the bootcamps, due to more than legitimate and personal judgments, we didn’t take it at all, on the contrary: with hindsight we were happy with the showcase, but we recognize that the television environment was not a suitable environment for us.

In recent years you have also been a backing vocalist on numerous important tours, for example for Ghemon, Venerus and Mahmood…

It is certainly an experience from which you learn a lot: the great thing in my opinion is that you are not in the front row, so even in terms of performance anxiety everything is very different, it allows you to experience it in a much more relaxed and feeling part of a team. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it again in the future, though, because obviously it’s also a very demanding experience in terms of time.

With respect to the management of your rights (both as a songwriter and as a performer), how do you think the current situation is?

I collaborate with a few people, and they are almost always the same, which is an advantage.

However, when I happened to do sessions with many other musicians, I asked myself the problem: I am an independent artist, there is no one who takes care of the management part for me. It’s always a matter of navigating by sight, you know more or less what the procedure is, but you never know if there is a rule, and consequently you don’t even know if you’re really getting everything you deserve. Many artists are a bit naive and are mainly concerned with working in the studio and performing on stage, without being interested in these things: I often happen to talk to younger colleagues who are not registered with any collecting and perhaps don’t even know that they exist, and they ask me for help to understand how the remuneration for work in the studio or the protection of their work works.

Returning to music, finally: what does the future hold for you?

I’ve finally almost finished the album. Hamlet’s doubt is always how best to spread it. It is difficult to interface with more structured realities, because as we were saying they always have the feeling that there is “too much” inside: too many different styles, too many genres… Sooner or later I will understand whether it is better to do it myself and be completely free, but alone, or if it is better to lean on someone else with broader shoulders, but inevitably compromise. We will see.