While short, Arienas‘ journey in the music industry has been rather impressive. With five singles released to date, including their latest ‘Those Were The Days’, the Scottish group is now on track for a potentially sold-out headline show at Markinch Town Hall, Fife, on the 28th November. Their material is exactly what we would expect from a British indie outfit; bold, electrifying, yet also evocative and relatable.
‘Those Were The Days’ provides a fitting blueprint for that, layering a romantic and personal storyline over an euphoric guitar-based production. The result is an epic love-filled banger, a track that’s loud and fierce, and also gently nostalgic and reflective. Intrigued by the project, we caught up with Arienas to learn more about their artistry and future goals… Interview below!
Hi Arienas, thanks for chatting with us! Before we dive deeper into your latest single, ‘Those Were The Days’, I’d love to know how the summer has been treating you! Have you played any cool shows?
It’s been a great summer for us! We’ve been fortunate enough to have played a lot of festivals around us, as well as getting to travel down to England for some shows too. It’s been busy, but we’ve loved it all.
‘Those Were The Days’ has all the qualities of an intriguing, fierce indie anthem. In a way, I see it as the quintessential British band cut. What does the song mean to you? Is there a particular message in it?
The initial idea for the song came from Sam on his first holiday abroad with his girlfriend, although it took about 7 months before it was at a point we could play it. It’s about the magic of the honeymoon phase and the desperation to hold onto that feeling where everything is new.
How do you approach songwriting as a group? Do you prefer to write together, in the same room, or is it more of a lonely endeavour based on ideas that each member might come up with?
It can vary from song to song; we’ve had some singles come from messing about during practice, as well as singles that have come from each of us individually and then brought forward to the band to add their parts in.
Likewise, did you work with a producer on the final shape of the track?
We have a great producer called Scott Thomson who has recorded all of our singles so far. He is always happy to let us experiment with any ideas we might think would fit the singles, and if he sees anything he thinks we’re missing, he lets us know.
Arienas have a pretty short history behind them, with debut effort ‘Aurelia’ dating back to June ‘25. How did the band come about? Where did you meet each other?
Sam initially started solo, playing acoustic gigs around Scotland. Then, one night, he decided that a band was worth giving a go. He reached out to Owen, who had never played an instrument, and convinced him to pick up the bass. Colm joined later in the year; his brother was car sharing with Sam, and mentioned that Colm could play guitar. He showed up for a jam once… and never left. Pandy joined us after a fallout with our previous drummer, and since then the band has never been as tight.
How has your experience in the music industry been so far? Do you find it hard to navigate its complex avenues?
It’s been a great journey so far; some of the gigs we’ve played together will be nights we will never forget. Social media is such a massive part of it now, which we believe is a bit of a curse and a blessing. It’s easier to get your name out to the world, but there’s a lot of competition, and you see a lot more bands doing things we could only dream of doing right now. We hope that if we keep sticking at it, our time will come!
When it comes to live performances, you are not done yet, with a headline show planned for November 28th at Markinch Town Hall in Fife, Scotland. I get the feeling it’s an important milestone for the band, something that will function as a stepping stone for an even bigger 2027. Can we expect any more releases between now and the show?
We are hoping to get one last single out for the year and tie it in around the same time as the headliner. This show has a lot of sentimental value to the band, as Sam and Colm both used to spend a lot of time in the Town Hall, at an after-school club. We played it last year supporting Kyle Falconer, and it was a surreal experience for us. We swore that night we would come back and do it ourselves.