Arca (musician)

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Arca in Barcellona (2019)

Alejandra Ghersi , stage name Arca (born October 14, 1989 in Caracas as Alejandro Ghersi ) is a Venezuelan producer of electronic music and DJ . Arca is best known for working with Björk , Kanye West and FKA twigs as well as for solo work. Arca came out as a non-binary person in 2018 and has been using feminine or gender-neutral pronouns (hereinafter described as feminine) since then .

Life

Arca grew up first in the United States, then in the upper class of Caracas as the child of an investment banker. She started playing the piano at the age of seven. In her youth she made her first attempts to produce IDM with the software Fruity Loops . She was influenced by R&B artists such as Nelly Furtado and Aaliyah , but above all by Nine Inch Nails and Aphex Twin . At the age of 17, Arca moved to New York to study at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, an institute of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University . In New York she developed an independent style of music, felt her homosexuality was accepted for the first time and established connections to the artist collective GHE2oGOTH1K, with whose co-founder Shayne Oliver (fashion designer) she became friends.

Arca has lived in London since 2014 . She often works with her friend and roommate Jesse Kanda, who is responsible for the graphic design of her albums and many of her music videos. Kanda and Arca met through the online platform deviantArt . In 2018, Arca publicly declared itself non-binary . Her 2020 album Kick I begins with the track Nonbinary , in which she repeats several times: speak for yourself ("speak for yourself", or: "say who you are").

style

Arca describes her music as intentionally bulky and profound, the British newspaper Guardian quoted her in 2014: “I don't want people to say, 'Oh, yeah, I love this song' on the first listen. I want them to listen to it again and again and, by the 10th time, finally see themselves in it “(in short: I want people to listen to my music again and again until they see themselves in it). This quality is what makes her music so attractive; Kanye West hired Arca to produce his album Yeezus (2013) when she deliberately sent him bulky music.

Arca's self-portrayal is brought closer to queer and post- gender aesthetics, also because she plays with gender identities in live performances .

Discography

Albums

  • Xen (2014; Mute )
  • Mutant (2015; Mute)
  • Arca (2017; XL Recordings )
  • Kick I (2020; XL Recordings)

EPs

  • Barón Libre (2012; UN NYC)
  • Stretch 1 (2012; UN NYC)
  • Stretch 2 (2012; UN NYC)

Mix tapes

  • Baron Foyel (2011; DIS Magazine)
  • MoMA PS1 Warm Up Mix (2012; The Fader)
  • &&&&& (2013; own publication )
  • Sheep (2015; own publication)
  • Entrañas (2016; own publication )

Productions

  • Dean Blunt: The Redeemer on The Redeemer (2013; Hippos in Tanks)
  • Kanye West : Hold My Liquor , I'm In It , Blood on the Leaves and Send It Up on Yeezus (2013; Def Jam Recordings )
  • FKA twigs : EP2 (2013; Young Turks)
  • FKA twigs: Lights On , Hours and Give Up on LP1 (2014; Young Turks)
  • Björk : Vulnicura (2015; One Little Indian Records )
  • Kelela: Hallucinogen (2015; Warp Records )
  • Babyfather (Dean Blunt): Meditation , Deep and Snm on BBF: hosted by DJ Escrow (2016; Hyperdub )
  • Frank Ocean : Mine on Endless (2016; Def Jam)
  • Björk: Utopia (2017; One Little Indian Records)

Web links

Commons : Arca  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Patric Fallon: Arca Is the Artist of the Decade. In: Vice.com . November 8, 2019, accessed January 22, 2020; Quote: "The Venezuela-born artist, who came out as non-binary in 2018 and uses the pronouns 'she' and 'it,' has come to embody practically every positive thing that is synonymous with the 2010s. She has been [...] ".
  2. ↑ a b c d Portrait: Personajes: ¿Quién es Arca? In: RevistaExclama.com. 2015, accessed on January 22, 2020 .
  3. ^ A b c Kate Hutchinson: Arca: "Nothing is off limits emotionally". In: The Guardian . October 31, 2014, accessed January 22, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Review: Niki Matita: Arca: “Mutant”. In: hhv-mag.com. December 17, 2015, accessed on January 22, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Alex Frank: Shayne Oliver + Arca: feeling themselves. In: DazedDigital.com. February 11, 2016, accessed January 22, 2020 .
  6. ↑ a b Markus Mayer: Electro as “Serious Music”: “Kick I”, the new album from Arca. In: BR24 . July 8, 2020.
  7. ↑ Felix Johannes Enzian: Album of the week: The beautiful pains of mutation. In: faz.net . January 4, 2016, accessed January 22, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Arca
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ghersi, Alejandro (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Venezuelan music producer and DJ
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Caracas , Venezuela