| Ayria | |
|---|---|
Jennifer Parkin of Ayria |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Futurepop, Synthpop, electro-industrial |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | Alfa Matrix |
| Website | ayria.com |
| Members | |
| Jennifer Parkin | |
Ayria is a Canadianfuturepop/synthpop musical project formed in early 2003 by Toronto's Jennifer Parkin following her departure from Epsilon Minus.
Contents |
The first Ayria album, Debris, was released on Alfa Matrix in 2003.
Debris garnered international attention and produced several club and rave hits (notably "Disease"), and a series of successful mini-tours in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, occasionally featuring Mike Wimer of Noxious Emotion on drums.
During this period, Parkin performed guest vocals for several other projects, including Belgium's Aïboforcen and Implant, and Mexico's Isis Signum.
As touring for Debris wound down, Parkin began writing music for the second Ayria release on her own, with production assistance from Joseph Byer, of v01d. 2005's Flicker reflected a much more diverse and distinctive sound, with many tracks borrowing heavily from minimal techno and early EBM acts such as Nitzer Ebb.
In late 2005, touring for Flicker commenced with several Canadian dates, a UK Festival (Interzone in Cardiff, the first European performance by Ayria), and a U.S. West Coast tour. 2006 saw many more opportunities for Ayria such as a first ever European tour in November as well as a debut performance in Osaka, Japan. As of 2008, Ayria was continuing a full United States tour as the supporting act for The Crüxshadows.
The first two songs by Ayria since the release of Flicker included "The Gun Song", featured on the compilation Alfa Matrix - Re:connected [2.0], released in August 2006 and "Six Seconds On All Sides" released on Dancing Ferret's Asleep By Dawn compilation in fall of 2006. The third full-length album, Hearts For Bullets, was released on September 12, 2008.[1]
Ayria's fourth full-length album, "Plastic Makes Perfect", is currently in production.[2]
Parkin has stated in at least one interview that the name is a play on one of her favorite words, "aria", but pronounced "area."[3] She once playfully suggested in her blog that AYRIA is an antonym for "Awesome, Yeah Really, I'm Awesome".[4]
Ayria has performed with various live members which have included Shaun Frandsen, Mike Wimer, Joe Byer (v01d), Jeff Mielitz, Justin Pogue, and Kevin Toole.