Aries has never been to Ireland. Not on tour, not in private – his upcoming show at The Academy on 18th September will be the first time the American rapper, songwriter and YouTube star sets foot on the Emerald Isle.

“Conor McGregor is very big there, right?,” he asked during our interview. The 24-year old is wearing a casual grey down jacket over a grey T-shirt, accessorised with golden necklaces. “I'm not a big Conor McGregor fan but I'm into UFC fighters a bit so I'm familiar with some UFC fighters that are from Ireland,” he said.

What else is there in Ireland? Well, the self-proclaimed alternative rock fan announced that his trip might inspire him to listen to U2. “I like how Bono looks a lot - it's very cool,” he smiled, admitting that he hasn’t “really gotten into their music. But maybe I will after this meeting.”

Following his rise to fame on YouTube, where the California native has close to half a million subscribers, and where his covers, tutorials and music videos have been viewed almost 80 million times, the singer independently released his self-written and self-produced album WELCOME HOME in 2019, featuring tracks like 'SAYONARA' and 'CAROUSEL'.

The record launched his career internationally, with Aries selling out all 21 shows of his debut North American and Europe tour. In 2021, his debut studio album Believe In Me, Who Believes In You followed, released via Columbia Records. The rapper has been touring across Europe on his Believe In Me world tour since August 2022, and there are just a handful of concerts left, including his gig at The Academy on Sunday.

 

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According to Aries, his sound can be described as “an alternative, hip-hop, fusion, rock kinda thing. But I just describe my sound as fooling around until I make something that I’m happy with.” He added that honesty is of the utmost importance when it comes to his writing, because it means that he will be prouder of the final product, with many of his lyrics tackling issues like mental health, drugs and life as a young adult.

“The thing with song lyrics is that the people that want to identify or can identify, simply can identify. If you're feeling sad and you put on some sad music, it's gonna resonate with you more than if you're a very happy person, never been sad and you throw on a sad song”, the rapper explained. “If my lyrics affect younger people, then they are wearing a similar lens to how I was feeling while writing a song. And if that happens, then so be it - that's the point of making music for me, or one of the many points.”

Who does Aries listen to when he feels down? “I don't really know off the top of my head! Maybe I haven't been feeling so sad lately,” he laughed.

Either way, music is a form of therapy for him. “I mean, it's an art form. And just how many mediums of art are used as a form of therapy, music is just like that,” the rapper said. “You can go very deep into it. You can get so far gone, meaning, if I were to sit in this chair and just make music all day, my brain will become smooth. I will enter another realm at some point if I'm really in the zone... Music is beautiful.”

If he wasn’t doing music, Aries would work in the film industry, probably behind the camera, “like editing and stuff”. That passion and talent for content creation also shows in his music videos for songs such as 'KIDS ON MOLLY' and 'CONVERSATIONS', which were co-produced by film and creative director Mattias Russo-Larsson of Coming of Age.

I DONT WANT THIS TOUR TO END

— Aries (@aries_ix) September 6, 2022

In fact, Aries announced that he would soon return to YouTube, the platform that helped him launch his career, in a grand way. “I've actually been kind of inactive on YouTube, if you're referring to how I was on YouTube back when I was doing like tutorials and stuff of that nature. But I actually want to get back into doing YouTube,” he said, adding that he was able to balance uploading videos with producing music in the past. “I had just decided to step away, but I think I'm going to come back in a very strong way very, very shortly, probably after this tour that I'm on,” the singer revealed.

“I want to do this series. I'm not going to fully go into detail of what it is, but yeah, I'm gonna come back with a series and I'm gonna take the YouTube world by storm," he added, with a grin.

Before then, however, Aries plans to raise the roof at The Academy on Sunday. "I'm very, very, very excited to be in Ireland on the 18th and to have a very fun time at the show," the singer enthused. “I don't have any plans for when I'm there besides doing the show, but I'm sure my crew has plans and someone will feed me plans and I'll follow along."

There is just one question left. How did Arshia come up with his stage name, Aries? "I guess it's because I am an Aries, and I think it just sounds cool," he explained. “I don't know if I've ever said this publicly but I used to spell Aries with a Z and I'd graffiti it on bathroom stalls when I was in middle school, and on my skateboard.”

That was the time when people would spell everything with a Z (remember?). "It was a cool thing to do," Aries laughed. "Yeah, it'll make a comeback."

Get tickets for Aries' concert at The Academy on Sunday, 18th September 2022 at 7pm here.