Q&A: Ayoni Continues to Transcend Genres and Speak Truth with “The Patriots”
☆ By Aarohi Sheth ☆
SPARKING GROWTH AND MOVEMENT FROM HER LISTENERS — Barbadian-born, Los Angeles-based artist Ayoni is unstoppable. Last year, she released her debut album Iridescent in which she addressed everything from racism to lust to loneliness. She welcomed listeners into the story of how she was able to fulfill the processes of self-discovery and self-healing during her first year in L.A.
Now, with her new single “The Patriots,” Ayoni has crafted a bold anti-anthem — a protest piece of sorts. She belts her disappointment in America and fearlessly recounts its many failings, referencing several current events such as the killing of George Floyd and the protests that ensued, the impact of the coronavirus on communities, white supremacy, and how Trump tried to demand states to stop counting votes for the presidential election.
Ayoni has a gift in the way that she is able to weave powerful narratives into her music. She puts so much of herself into her craft; through her songs, she speaks her own personal truth with a boldness that permeates the hearts of anyone who listens. She unfolds stories, transcends genres, and knows no bounds.
Unlike most people, Ayoni isn’t afraid of change — she embraces it and thrives off it.
Read below to learn more about the singer and the process behind her new single “The Patriots.”
LUNA: You’re putting out your new single “The Patriots.” Can you share a bit about the making of the track and the message behind it?
AYONI: I wrote it around September or October of 2020, and at the time, I was just processing where we’re at as a society. I feel like with Coronavirus, it's been very emotional for me — as I'm sure it has for many people — just watching the death toll rise, along with being in L.A. and being from communities that are really being affected by it. We're at a time where people feel like everyone is so divisive, but I think it's really important for us to first acknowledge where we are in history and the cycles that we are continuing and need to break in order to actually come together meaningfully, as opposed to just living alongside each other. So yeah, the song was a very emotional process for me. I produced it with my friend Cole Mitchell, who goes to USC as well, and it was just a very transcendental experience for both of us. I was staying at his house and working on my album, and we just really locked into this one and it was really special. Shanks, who is also one of my friends and producers, arranged the strings for this, so it was just a really good time for us to come together musically and create something.
LUNA: Is it weird putting it out now and thinking back to how you were in September?
AYONI: No, it feels perfectly on time. Even though I wrote it in September, this song honestly scared the shit out of me. The song’s [message] just felt a lot bigger than I personally am comfortable with standing in front of; it was very daunting for me. At the same time, since I've written the song the Capitol has been stormed and the Christmas bombing happened. So many things have happened that we’re already past, and so this whole year has just been full of so many significant events that we’ve just moved past — so I really needed a few months to just make peace with the song and brace myself for telling a narrative that isn’t one that we get to center all the time, so I'm pretty excited about it.
LUNA: Right, it’s on your own timeline — I think people forget that with music. But shifting sonically, your music is able to blend a lot of different genres. How would you compare the feel of this upcoming music to what you’ve made previously?
AYONI: It's still genreless — I could never pick one sound for myself — but it's a lot more cohesive, and it's a lot more me. I think I've really found my style as a producer, writer, and singer. I’m slowly growing into myself and into my artistry. I feel like Iridescent was a space for me to just explore and try new things and come to terms with my own power as a creative and what that looks like and what that feels like. It was also very much like a chronology. I think this next album is more about me in the midst of this world that I'm creating for myself. It moves a lot more and it's a lot bigger and more emotive, but I hope that it feels exactly where I needed to end up. I think it's like a really, really big evolution, sonically.
LUNA: That's awesome — that's the way to go. Now you mentioned that sonically, it's a lot more cohesive. Do you feel like there's a common theme going on?
AYONI: This whole album is like a social commentary, but also, “The Patriots” is the most politically charged and specific. I think the common theme is probably change, honestly, like change in life, change in my sound, change in my power. I think everything about this project is more about taking up space and really owning my sound. I think the narrative is really just about trying to find peace in the midst of chaos around you.
LUNA: Outside of music, what has been inspiring you lately?
AYONI: I’ve been watching a lot of old Japanese films and a lot of random stuff like Tarantino films, random cult documentaries. I’ve also been reading a lot and just living, not doing a ton every day, just trying to find inspiration to finish this album.
LUNA: Speaking of film, the visual side of your work has always been strong, so I’m curious — what role are you going to play in that side of things? What do you like about bringing that visual side to life?
AYONI: I love the visual side of my art. I think when I listen to my music, it’s always very colorful, and it really puts weight on what the visual is going to be to represent it. I've been working with Caleb Griffin, who also went to USC and graduated this summer. I felt like he had the same level of introspection and spirituality present in his art. Those things are very crucial to my storytelling and the visual representations of me. Spirituality and movement and evolution — these concepts are things that will be constant in my work.
This time around with “The Patriots” and with this next project, I'm also working with Domia Edwards. We've been working together — her and Caleb have a collective — and I feel like her artistry is so informed. The three of us carry on the tradition of honoring the artists that come before us, so moving into this new album, visuals are going to be a lot more cutthroat. We're really going to start to try some stuff, so I'm just excited about it and interested to see what this world is going to look like for me.
LUNA: You’re also pretty vocal on your platform about everything political going on. What kind of role would you like to play in all these movements going on and offline?
AYONI: I think that the role of the artist is to facilitate cultural conversations. I think it's really important that — as artists — we’re amplifying and uplifting the messages and the issues that are going on [with and without our art]. I think there's so much space for us to tell stories and use our gifts of creation to reflect the current. Art is about recollection on what it means to be human. I want to tell stories and highlight the inequalities, but I am trying to toy the line between acknowledging and holding space for that kind of exploration and also leaving room for people to open up the conversation and actually take it further in their own lives.
Especially in light of this summer and the wave of activism that kind of failed off — while activists on the ground who have been doing the work are still struggling to grow their platforms — I think people look to vocal people, assuming that they have all the answers. Instead of engaging meaningfully with topics, it's easier to just follow people who are vocal and feel like you've done something, so I don't want to be that for people. I'm just sharing what moves me, and I hope that people can actually start to do the work that it takes to go further and grow as a person.
LUNA: What do you want the takeaway to be from your music?
AYONI: I hope that when people listen to my music and walk away, that they just want to come back. I don't even want you to walk away and have too many thoughts. I want you to be like, “I need to hear it one more time.” I just want my art to be a soundtrack to people's lives and growth.
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