Arden and the Wolves: “Sure to Conjure Up A Spell With Her Music” By Eileen Shapiro

Arden Leigh the mastermind and core of Arden and the Wolves has a magical talent as well as magical beliefs in the occult with her release of “Who Can You Trust”. The EP is set to be released on February 9, 2018 and includes a multitude of wizardry, healing, comforting and knowledge spreading within her songs.

Aside from her original material the EP features a hot cover version of “Poison Heart”, originally by the Ramones, perhaps the best remake of a cover ever done. At the end of the day “Who Can You Trust”, the EP was born out of the artist’s belief that “Songs can function as intentional pieces of narrative magic that alter the reality of the world they influence”.

I spoke to Arden about her music and how her spiritual and wiccan beliefs tie into her influences and her journey…..

Your music really is magical.

Thank you, that really means a lot.

What came first, music or spirituality?

I think what came first was just the desire to do another record. I have two previous EPs although this was the first one that I really feel very serious about. I think the first two were just trying to find my sea legs as an artist. So I moved out to California and then I tried new songs that I wanted to write. Originally I was just going to put out “Who Can You Trust ” as a single. Then more stuff just started coming up and I decided to hold off and release it as a whole EP. As I was writing it I started to go in the journey I kind of talked about in some of the PR material on healings and dealing with a lot of things that had happened to me that was long repressed. Weaving my spirituality into the music because I had started realizing when you work with any sort of a narrative format you can change the shape of reality. I started getting really, really clear about what I was creating through my work. I think it really shows the differences with the EP that I wrote called, “It Looks Like Trouble”, and it was. So this time around I thought I’d be conscientious about the stories that I was telling. I didn’t want to write the stories anymore about codependent relationships. I had a song in the last album called “Walk With the Devil” which was about a boy that was just totally using me, and I knew it, but I just couldn’t stop going back so I thought, let me really make sure when I’m writing about this time. The second song I wrote was ” Another Year of Rain”, and that was a huge turning point for me. For the first time I was actually writing a song about drawing a personal boundary, instead of writing something that was about touching a hot stove or doing something that was dangerous. So throughout this process I really look at everything I was creating in my life and it just ended up being a totally transforming process. I really look at everything I was creating in my life and it just ended up being a totally transforming process. I finished the very last song in July of this summer.

My favorite song on the EP is “Poison Hearts”.

That’s a cover of a Ramone song. It was really fun to do. We were really happy about how that came out.

The entire EP is awesome.

I started the project as a vanity project. I started back in New York. To be honest with you I kind of started it because a lot of the guys I was dating while I was there were in bands and I didn’t want to be a groupie, so you can’t be a groupie if you have your own band. So I started my own. I’d been singing all my life. I’ve been singing since I was a child, so I thought ” I can do this”… so this past year I really got a very strong message: hey if you’re going to put all this money into having a band, you might as well start taking yourself seriously.

Do you believe that you were destined to do music?

Yeah. I think actually yes because I would say that it was in my heart from the time I was a young child, and I think that’s how you know what you are meant to do, the things that are in your heart when you’re growing up, before the world tells you what you should do. I will say it there was a time when my voice was not coming in as strongly, I think it’s gotten better since I’ve connected with that intention. So I think that was definitely a part of my life where that destiny was more clouded because I felt like other people didn’t believe in me. I didn’t believe enough in myself. Now that I’ve re-connected to that I would say yes, thank you, and that means a lot that you asked that.

If you could have your ultimate stage fantasy, what would you want to happen?

I was thinking about that just the other night watching the Grammys and I would love to perform “Another Year of Rain” where on the stage it actually rains. I’d love to have people on stage with me whether it’s dance or choral back up providing a ton of ritualistic energy support. I’m not sure exactly how I would arrange it. Maybe a lot of percussion and a lot of people contributing that ritualistic energy, that would be really fun for me.

Do you perform live a lot?

Yeah we perform. I took the last year off to be in the studio, but we started up again this fall and we perform mostly in LA, because that’s where we’re located. For right now it’s mostly in Southern California, but we’d really love to tour in the future.

If you could say anything to your fans or followers anything, what would you want them to know?

I would definitely want them to feel encouraged, to follow their hearts, to understand that the life
that they are destined for is already within them. What we have to do as individuals is uncover all of the other stuff that people have piled on to us that made us not believe in ourselves. Once we get to the root of it the thing that we are meant for in life will be at our very hears.

Social media links:
Twitter: @ardensirens / @ardenwolves
Instagram: @ardensirens
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100000142311144 (personal)
https://www.facebook.com/ArdenAndTheWolves/ (band page)

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