Life is like a roller coaster. It has its ups and downs, slow moments, fast moments, and moments that just make you want to scream… for better or worse. 20 year-old multi-talented artist Arden Jones just happened to hop on a roller coaster that has gone from 0-100 in an instant, and there’s really no signs of it slowing down. His seatbelt has been fastened though, and he’s ready for any twists and turns that may be approaching. Best of all, he’s ready to let the world know about his crazy ride through his music!
Arden Jones was born in the Bay Area, and grew up in a music-heavy household. He constantly attended live performances throughout his childhood, and even gave a few of his own. He also learned to play several instruments as a kid, but didn’t fully dive into making his own music until he was in high school. When the time came, Arden’s family had his back all the way. “My parents were just there to support whatever me and my two sisters wanted to get into,” he says gleefully. “Who knows why, but when I was in second grade I wanted to play the mandolin. My parents were all about it.”
He continues, “If anything, they were pushing me to get into music because they had such a love for it. I was a little resistant at first… I knew I loved music, but I didn’t think I necessarily wanted to be taking piano lessons and things like that. I just wanted to do my own thing.”
Not only did Arden want to rap, but he also wanted to play the Ukulele and create a sound of his own that others would be able to enjoy. The thought of pursuing music as a career seemed nice, but he also saw music as nothing more than a hobby for quite a while. “I have a strong belief that things can happen,” he says. “I by no means really was banking on it happening or thinking that there was a really good chance it was going to. That’s why I was putting so much time and effort into school… because I figured music would be a hobby. But there was a little part of me that was like… wait a second. If you put in enough work and come up with enough new exciting music that you know people are gonna want to hear, then what’s stopping this from being your job?”
Arden had a “go with the flow” approach, and was ready to embrace anything that would come his way on his musical journey. While he had the support of his family and close friends, Arden knew that ultimately he’d be his biggest supporter.
“As soon as somebody asks what you want to do, and I say ‘I want to be a musician or an artist,’ the immediate thought is okay…. well everybody and their dog wants to be a musician. I think it’s really hard because music is so subjective. The average listener isn’t gonna really be able to say ‘yeah you’ve got this, I’m fully behind you.’ It’s easier to take the opposing route and be like ‘HEY – you’re not going to be an artist! You should probably stay in school like I am.’
While attending the Dodge Film School at Chapman University, Arden started posting some of his songs online. One of those songs was “Parallel Parking,” which ended up going viral on TikTok and receiving millions of streams across various platforms. It was a very validating experience for Arden, and while it may have felt surreal at times, he knew that it was all very real indeed!
“It’s not a dream, it’s real life and what’s actually happening to me,” Arden spills. “It was also this big confirmation of hey, you were right, because I had this feeling… I know I wanted people to hear this and I really hoped that they’d enjoy it because I’m putting the work in, and I think I have this figured out. I might be wrong, but there was that big side of me that was like, I think you can do this. For this to be coming true, seeing the numbers grow and seeing people all over the world sending me messages about how my song put a smile on their face… that just makes me really happy.”
The adrenaline rush caused by the success of the song only helped fuel Arden’s passion to continue to work hard. He made a commitment to work on more music daily, and it made him realize that he had finally reached the point of no return.
“I had so many things going on in my head in terms of going back to school, wanting to do music and not having enough time, and all these things that were clouding my head,” Arden confesses. “Am I right? Should I even be making music? And then everything just clicks into place when you have that many people backing you. To see streams and things like that is like, okay, now that I know that I’m in the right area and doing the right thing, I can go full speed ahead.”
Arden’s new single “rollercoaster” encompasses a lot of the ups and downs he’s experienced along his journey, and he describes it as “a bit of an ode to things not always being there all the time… not necessarily in a bad way.” The past year in particular has brought on plenty of change, but songs like “rollercoaster” can help others roll with those changes a little easier.
Since Arden is someone who never stops, you can be sure he is already working on his next single. Although, he wouldn’t consider writing music to be work. It’s what he does for fun, and he’s simply just enjoying the rollercoaster of life.
Listen to “rollercoaster” below, and keep up with Arden on Instagram @ardenjones!
