Today we’d like to introduce you to Ariel Staples.
Hi Ariel, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstories.
I am a proud native of Memphis, TN. I grew up around music, from playing the piano to singing in choirs at church and school. I graduated from Lausanne Collgiate School and received my B.S. from Middle Tennessee State University, majoring in the Recording Industry with a concentration in Commercial Songwriting. During my time at MTSU, participated in multiple internship programs, including an abroad internship program in which I interned for the Belizean Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (BSCAP) under their former President, Jamal “Shyne” Barrow . I also interned with eOne Entertainment in the gospel department in Brentwood, TN. After completing school, moved back to my hometown where I participated in the Soulright Music Mentorship Program hosted by The Consortium MMT. About a year later, I decided to attend the Master Recording Program II at the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences (CRAS) located in Tempe, AZ. To finish my education, I relocated to Los Angeles, where I interned at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood, CA. I spent my time there meeting wonderful artists, engineers, and producers while growing my knowledge of the industry. During my time in Los Angeles, I worked as a freelance audio engineer for a few years during Covid- 19. I recently relocated back to Tennessee, where I will continue working as a freelancer and on my musical projects. I am very excited about this next step in my journey, and I couldn’t have picked a better place to be!
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
While I’ve enjoyed my journey thus far, it has not been smooth. There have been many times when I felt discouraged. Being a woman of color in a very male-dominated industry comes with its expected battles, from not being taken seriously, being underpaid or not being paid at all, and being the only woman in the room or on the team. Plus, as you can imagine, all the relocating I’ve done in the past few years can take a toll on a person, but my dreams and aspirations shine brighter than any bump in the road I may come across.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am originally a musician/ creative. I have always had a love for music in different forms. I started classical piano lessons when I was 6 yrs old and continued through high school. Once I attended college, I decided to continue playing and minor in music, with my instrument being the piano. While I grew up playing classical music, I had an even deeper love for singing. I often sang in the choir in church and school, but I loved singing to my favorite songs on the radio. I never took vocal lessons growing up, so I used the radio and Youtube to the best of my abilities and became self-taught! Now that I’m older, I am still interested in voice lessons to learn other techniques. I decided to try songwriting in college, and to my surprise, I wasn’t half bad (haha). During my time in the Recording Industry Program at MTSU and the SoulRight Music Mentorship Program, I learned how to structure my songs better and strengthen my pen. I also discovered a new love which was audio engineering. In college, I had previously taken a few audio classes and soon realized I wasn’t good at it, however, the Music Mentorship Program showed me a different side of engineering, which led me to educate myself more because I was interested in recording my own music. Though my journey initially felt a bit slow, I’m happy I decided to keep going and keep educating myself. My determination and resilience set me apart from so many. I have met many people on this road; some have won awards, including Grammys, started their businesses, and become artists, while many others have chosen a different direction. For the past few years, my focus has been more on engineering and a more technical side of the industry, but now I’ve been inspired to get back into the creative area with writing, playing piano, and learning the guitar! I’m glad I’m still here and working towards my goals.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Yes! While I enjoyed working in music studios, I believe having your own “thing” is essential outside of it. It’s no secret that the Music Industry has a mean dark side. I experienced being exploited for labor and then spat out with little reasoning, so depending on a supervisor or company can be too unstable. It’s best to branch out and find those you work well with to build a sturdy team. Also, with the internet and the power of social media, it’s much easier to build your business and source of income with music. So if we are unfortunate enough to experience another global pandemic in our lifetime, at least you can count on your brand and the team you’ve built outside your physical place of work to continue on your path.
Image Credits
Conway Recording Studios Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences
