Ari O'Neal: The New Age Rockstar

When I was young, the idea of a rockstar looked like the Kiss band. You know, white men wearing tight leather, big hair, heavy face paint and eyeliner. Quite scary looking in my opinion. Later in life after being educated on African American history in music, I would picture a Little Richard or Jimi Hendrix. Never had I heard the word “rockstar” and pictured a woman musician, especially of color. Today, however, female musicians are killing the game and one that’s taking the lead is Ari O’Neal. From playing with Beyoncé at her epic Coachella performance to Ariana Grande’s Sweetener tour, she is making her name known as a modern day rockstar with a lash tech and heels.

Born in Takoma Park, Maryland and raised in Temple Hills, Maryland, Ari describes her upbringing as reserved and family based. She spent 9 years homeschooled, having only attended primary school in 2nd and 3rd grade. “I didn’t really have friends because I was kind of weird. My siblings had a lot of friends, but I was more of a homebody.” Her parents, being married for over 20 years, played a big part in showing Ari the benefit of having her siblings and appreciating family. “We didn’t have a lot of money and we struggled a lot financially; but we always had each other. We just had a really good and stable upbringing as far as learning different values and morals.”

Ari began playing guitar at 10-years-old. By the time she was 16, she was attending the Julliard summer and jazz program and graduating from high school. At the same time, she began studying theatre at community college and once completed, continued studying at the University of Maryland College Park. “I tried to get into the music program but they didn’t accept me. So I was a theatre major. But I’m proud of it. It really helped bring me out. It really helped me as a performer.”

O’Neal explains her family as being very musical and initiating her personal love for music. “My grandmother plays the piano and she sings. I would practice reading music with her, and she would listen to classical music. My mom was really into James Brown, and my dad, of course, being from the islands played a lot of Bob Marley.” She laughs as she explains how her dad listened to a lot of “weird stuff,” and came to the conclusions that her family listened to a little bit of everything. All of these influences have had an impact on creating the rockstar we know today.

As we dive deeper into her story, Ari becomes vulnerable, and her energy is nothing short of inviting and humble. She explains how she got through school by using grants, loans, scholarships, and the help of her father. However, in her junior year, her dad lost his job and things became more challenging. “There was a time after school where I lived in my car for a little bit because my parents didn’t know I didn’t have anywhere to go. I didn’t want them to you know, because I didn’t want them to worry about me. And I didn’t want to move back home because I was already used to being on my own... I knew I could do it. I just needed time.” And she did.

Once she moved into her apartment, she explained the excessive amount of work she had to do to pay for both her apartment and her car. “I was working about 4 jobs; playing in church, teaching, and working in administration at Levine school of music - where I actually went. Then I was in a band where I did agency work. So I would play at weddings, corporate gigs, and stuff. I was always working, seven days a week.” Ari explains not being able to go out and enjoy parties because she had to gig to make money. “It was hard because I didn’t get to go to all the parties with my friends - you know the day parties and stuff - because I was always working and it just didn’t seem fair. I’m grateful though, because it taught me the value of the money that I make. I know my parents are proud of me and I’m glad I had to go through that.”

While playing for We The Fix, a DMV local band, Ari was contacted by Beyoncé’s creative director regarding the Coachella performance. “I found out through Instagram. He saw my videos of me playing with The Fix and I got the call that I was going on my birthday. They flew me out the very next morning to go to rehearsals the next day.” You can hear the excitement in her tone reminiscing on the experience as she goes into more detail. “It was rehearsals for months and it was just the best. Working with so many talented women and men as well. The caliber of talent was just crazy!” Being amongst so many talented people pushed her to do what she does best: work hard.

“It was a lot of sleepless nights only because I felt like I had something to prove even though I was there, even though I knew I was there for a reason, but I didn’t want to get comfortable. It was a lot of nights where I would pour a glass of wine and just go over the music for the day and that was my life for months.” She continues, “Everyone was so supportive of each other and talented. Working with so many people who were so professional made me want to be professional. Just being on that stage and seeing that sea of people, we didn’t feel nervous because we had been working together for so long; it was like a show for us. It felt like we were just having fun together!”

After her experience with Coachella, Ari explains being blessed with the opportunity to join the On The Run 2 tour and performing with guitar solos beside the Queen B herself. If you haven’t seen it, I’ll just say, she is the new age rockstar. She has it down pat: the hair flips, knee bend with the lean, and playing crazy notes, she embraces the stardom. “There was this energy. They created an environment where all that stuff I was doing back home, they welcomed there (on tour) and encouraged it, the creative directors and performers. So that’s what I did every night when I went out there to perform with this amazing person in front of all these people. It was just an amazing feeling.”

O'neal with Beyoncé during OTRII

Ari emphasizes the importance of her staying on her craft due to the ever-growing musicians coming up. “It’s so many girls that can come up and replace you and so many black women who are killing it.” So far, she’s been doing a great job marking her place having played with some of the top artists and entertainers - including Ariana Grande, NAO, Ice Cube, Normani, Kevin Ross, Desiigner and more. When asked about an artist she would like to play with in the future, she doesn’t pause or hesitate to answer. “H.E.R most definitely! She’s so talented, I love her like I want to choke her sometimes because I don’t understand how she is so talented. She’s my favorite artist right now and I have to play with her!”

As an artist, Ari describes herself as energetic. She also believes that she is an example to women, giving them hope to do other things like being a guitarist. “You don’t have to be a singer, you don’t have to be a dancer, even though those are great things, but you can play like one of the boys, and look like a lady too. You can be entertaining and still be a sexy woman playing this instrument that’s sought to be masculine.” She embraces every music genre and believes that’s what truly makes her a musician. “I feel like you can’t really call yourself a musician if you can’t adapt [to all types of music].”

Although O’Neal describes touring as being difficult due to being separated from her family and not having time to focus on one thing, she hopes to keep touring. “I love what I do, that’s what keeps me pushing. I love performing and I love traveling. I always wanted to travel. So the fact that I get to do it for work and doing what I love every day is awesome. So, I want to tour for a few more years before I settle down. Get it out of my system before I start having babies.” She jokes.

As we come to the end of our interview, she shares her advice to young musicians wanting to get started in the industry. “If you literally surround yourself with what you want to do, the universe will put you in a situation where it will just happen- no matter how many people talk negatively about you or tell you that you can’t do it. If you surround yourself with what you’re supposed to be doing, eventually you’ll be doing it for real.” She emphasizes her belief in God and His impact on her life thus far.

Ari encourages people to check out the track she has produced, Blush, and to look out for more to come. After touring she looks forward to reuniting with the DMV, (D.C., Maryland, Virginia), an area she explains produces some of the craziest musicians. “There is so much great music and musicians in D.C. and the live music scene is crazy. People actually go out and support live music in D.C., which is why I don’t think I’ll ever leave because people back home really appreciate good music and will support it.

Repping the DMV the best she can, she doesn’t plan to slow down anytime soon. With touring, partnerships with brands such as Fender, gigging with We The Fix, producing tracks and finding time for herself, the rockstar stays busy. No doubt, she is the living testimony that hard work pays off.