Lief Ambrosia Hall and Matthew Ariaratnam began improvising together in 2021, in the middle of the pandemic, playing in a backyard with birds and lawnmowers as accompaniment. Located on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations, together they create music to exist inside of and take refuge in, creating dreamlike utopic/dystopic soundscapes with voice and guitar. Often using tarot cards and graphic scores to inspire their improvisations, Hall and Ariaratnam have continued to evolve the visual aspect of their collaboration by collecting assorted small objects, plants and fungi, creating video artworks to accompany their music.
Lief Ambrosia Hall and Matthew Ariaratnam and are both graduates of the MFA Interdisciplinary Arts program at SFU, where they met. Ariaratnam is a guitarist, composer, and improviser, who often works in interdisciplinary collaboration with visual artists, dancers, and theatre-makers. Hall is a vocalist, musician and improvisor, whose work crosses disciplines of video art, installation, performance and sound. Collaborating through both music and video creation they go by AmbrAria.
released October 2, 2022
Matthew Ariaratnam – Guitar
Lief Hall – Voice and Electronics
All music performed and created live off the floor in the summer of 2021
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered by Matthew Ariaratnam and Lief Hall
Small Creatures Video
Small Creatures by AmbrAria from AmbrAria on Vimeo.
matthew ariaratnam 