Death & Rebirth by Ariana Giroux

Written during and after recovery from a major life-saving surgery, this release explores themes of self-love, queer joy, and queer expression. Using a queer and trans femme lens, the release focuses on dance as sacred healing and a mechanism for communal liberation. This release is an attempt to accept the realities of life as a disabled and chronically ill trans femme who is regularly in the public eye via advocacy work. It is an attempt to declare proudly that no matter what any person might say, "I Love Being Myself."

The album features lush sonic landscapes set to a downtempo house beat using classic Roland-inspired synth swells, natural textures, and regular use of clashing harmonies to create vibrant emotional responses in the listener. Produced nearly exclusively with an MPC Live (Generation 1) while in varying states of surgical recovery, the release features a multitude of sample manipulation techniques, deriving nearly every sound from royalty-free samples. Where the sounds were not produced from simple samples, they were produced using single note resampling of analog/hardware synthesizers in my collection (i.e, Korg Volca Keys, Modal Skulpt).

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Artist Statement:

"Shortly after the surgery, the so-called "Government of Saskatchewan" launched an attack against the rights of Queer, Trans, and Gender Diverse children across the province, which ultimately resulted in the infamous "Bill 137." Pulled by a sense of duty and fierce want to protect my community, I assisted in launching a legal challenge against this legislation. I aided in developing a grassroots movement to resist this oppressive and repulsive act of so-called "government." This work took me throughout the colonialist boundaries of "Canada."

No matter where this work took me, whether throughout Treaty 4, Treaty 6, or the aforementioned settler "nation", I was consistently shown the healing nature of dance and song. No matter where I went or where I searched, I could find stories of dance and song being used to come together and revitalize ourselves against the never-ending fight for our liberation.

So here is my little contribution to that attempt to inspire change through dance, music, movement, and liberation. Go out there, you freaky little queers and you weird normie squares. Go out there and sing and dance and laugh and smile and cherish your loved ones. Meet your neighbour, share your story, and make others smile. The government wants us to feel alone, and I say that will never happen so long as we can find people who want to come together in joy."

Synth nerd and trans activist, always trying to find a better way and drink a coffee

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