Ariias

Born out of a college dorm at the University of Iowa in late 2013, Ariias is the brainchild of singer/songwriter Erik Tarr. At the time of its inception, the goal of the project was to aurally express Tarr's emotions, thoughts, and experiences, and to exist as a natural byproduct of his musical influences. This idea remains the heart of Ariias today, despite multiple lineup changes throughout the years.

Now based out of Des Moines, Iowa, Ariias consists of Erik Tarr on lead vocals, guitar, and keyboards, Keenan Crow on guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals, Kyler Schutzman on bass and Blake Erickson on drums and backing vocals. The music is spacey, atmospheric and layered with lengthy compositions and a variety of instruments and arrangements, bearing influences of shoegaze, dream pop, psychedelic rock, and post-rock styles.

The band gigged extensively throughout 2016-2018 at various venues and towns across their home state of Iowa and the midwest, opening for acts such as Remo Drive, Emarosa, A Lot Like Birds, Condor & Jaybird, Halfloves, Hex Girls, and Soultru. After embarking on a midwestern tour with Cedar Rapids-based alt-rock group In the Attic during the summer of 2018, Ariias released their first full-length LP, "A Flash in the Eyes", on April 17, 2020, following their first mini LP, "Violet Superstition", which was released on October 24, 2016.

“[The music is] a sudden stream of interlocking guitars; definite dream pop/shoegaze sound. Erik Tarr’s guitar rings like a sonar in a mist of shredding sound. His vocals are spacey in delivery and keep up with the shoegaze atmosphere. It doesn’t sound like a shoegaze rip off though, instead of the complication being in the atmosphere of the sound, the complication resides in their intricate progressions and solos that fall out of focus and into its own wave of sound.” - The Shaz, 2017