She Almost Gave Up on Music. Then She Made an Album.

​A sailboat childhood, a forgotten demo, an unexpected piano and decades of hesitation led one woman to a decision: it was now or never.

Her name is Ariane.

Long before there was an album, there was the sea.

She grew up on the Magdalen Islands, surrounded by wind, water and changing seasons. Part of her childhood was spent on a sailboat, listening to cassettes as the boat moved through the water. At home, there were her parents' vinyl records.

Music was simply part of life.

​Ariane grew up in a creative household — her mother was a musician with twelve years of classical piano studies and played the accordéon — so instruments and sound were always around her.

“I was raised on a sailboat part of my life and grew up listening to cassettes and vinyls with my parents. So music, movement, landscape and memory have always been connected for me,” she says.

Ariane studied visual arts, wrote and sang, and was always creating something. In her twenties, she recorded a four‑song piano‑and‑voice demo with her vocal teacher in a home studio in Montreal.

She had written the songs herself, but didn’t know much about the music industry or what to do with the recordings.

So the demo stayed a demo.

Life got busy, and music moved into the background. She built a business, raised children and took on the responsibilities that came with both.

Then a piano came back into the picture.

And eventually, Ariane would take on a name most people don't know yet.
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ArianZ.
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This is how she got there.

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Before There Was ArianZ

​Creativity had always been part of Ariane's life.

There was visual art, writing, singing and songwriting. But music never became a career. The four-song demo from Montreal was recorded, then left behind as life moved in another direction.

Years later, she began to see things differently.

“I’m finally allowing myself to fully be an artist.”

It was a realization that came after years of putting other parts of life first.
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Then came the piano.

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The Piano That Changed Everything

​Ariane's aunt bought a grand piano and gave Ariane her upright piano.

Having one in the house changed her relationship with music.

She started playing again, initially working through covers and simply enjoying the instrument. Eventually, the urge to write returned.

She mentioned it to longtime friend Patrick Spisak, better known as producer and multidisciplinary artist Le Spiz.

Ariane told him that if he ever had music that needed lyrics, she'd be happy to lend her words and voice.
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There was something Le Spiz didn't know about her.

​“He didn’t really know that I could sing.”

​The two had known each other for years, but mostly during the period when Ariane was focused on family and business.

Now they had something new to explore.

Their first single together, I Am Here, became the starting point for a creative partnership.
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And Ariane found herself writing again.

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When the Songs Started Coming

Once the writing began, it didn't stay small.

Ideas went into her phone. Chord progressions appeared on the piano. Melodies came together. Experiences that had accumulated over the years started finding their way into songs.

Ariane describes the feeling as “a tap that had been turned off for too long and suddenly wouldn’t stop running.”

The first singles gave her confidence that there was something worth pursuing.

Then came a bigger question: could she make an album?

In 2025, she launched a crowdfunding campaign through La Ruche Québec to help finance production, CD and vinyl pressings, as well as release and promotion.
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This time, she wasn't going to leave the songs sitting on a hard drive or in a notebook.

​“It’s now or never. And this time, I chose now.”

​The result was Comme une Saison, her debut album, released July 31, 2026 - ​— a self‑produced project created in collaboration with Le Spiz.

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The Fear of Being Heard

​Making the record meant confronting something different from the practical work of recording an album.
​
People were going to hear it.

Ariane's writing is personal, and some of the songs draw from experiences that aren't easy to revisit, let alone share publicly.

“My writing is very introspective and personal. There was definitely a fear of being judged by people around me, and also by my peers in the local music community on the Islands.”
​
There was another question underneath that fear:

​“Who am I to call myself an artist?”

She also had to learn the mechanics of the music business — registering songs, understanding the industry and figuring out how to manage a career.

Le Spiz helped with some of those early steps, including SOCAN and Panorama.

Ariane also completed a career management course with SPACQ-AE and studies music production.
​
The album wasn't just about writing and recording anymore. She was learning what it meant to put her work in front of other people.

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Finding Her Sound on the Islands

​The Magdalen Islands aren't exactly the easiest place from which to build a music career.

Geographically, Ariane is removed from Canada's major music centres. Getting to shows, showcases and industry events takes planning.

“You can’t casually go to a showcase in Montreal on a Tuesday night and be home afterward.”

But the distance also gives her something.
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Space.

​“There’s space here to listen to yourself.”

​And perhaps more importantly, she isn't constantly surrounded by the same influences.

“I’m not constantly surrounded by what everybody else is doing. There’s room to develop an identity that feels like my own.”

That independence comes through in Comme une Saison.

The music moves between atmospheric and dreamy passages and more energetic, dance-driven moments.

Some songs began with Ariane's own music and words. Others started with music from Le Spiz that sparked an idea.
​
The result moves between different moods without settling into one.

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The Le Spiz Connection

Le Spiz became a major part of shaping that sound.

Sometimes Ariane brought him a song or a simple voice-and-piano recording. Other times, he sent her music and she began writing from what she heard.

He created and shaped the tracks, arrangements and production, while also handling the mixing and mastering.

As Ariane puts it, “He built so much of the sonic world around” her songs.

Even the name ArianZ carries a piece of that collaboration.

The capital Z is a nod to Le Spiz, chosen when the two began making music together.
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It's a small detail, but it reflects how naturally the partnership became part of the project.

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What She Wants You to Hear

​After everything that went into making the album, what does Ariane actually want listeners to take away?
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Her answer is simple.

“More than anything, I hope they feel something.”​

​She hopes Comme une Saison feels like entering a small world for half an hour.

There are intimate songs, dreamy moments, danceable tracks and melancholy.

But listeners don't need to know Ariane's story to connect with it.

They can bring their own memories and experiences to the songs.

Maybe one track reminds them of someone.

Maybe another captures a feeling they haven't been able to put into words.
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Or maybe they simply find a song they want to play again.

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From Cassettes to Vinyl

​There is something fitting about where Ariane's story has ended up.

She grew up listening to cassettes on a sailboat and her parents' vinyl records at home.

Now her own music exists on vinyl.

After all those years, she can hold a record with her name on it.

There was no straight line from that four-song demo in Montreal to Comme une Saison. There were years of other priorities, a business, children and a life that took her in different directions.

Then there was the piano.

Then the songs came back.

And this time, she followed them.

Comme une Saison is the result — shaped by the place she grew up, the experiences she's carried with her and a creative partnership with Le Spiz.

Maybe that's what makes ArianZ worth discovering.

She almost didn't make this record.

Now it's here.

The girl who listened to music on a sailboat eventually made a record of her own.
​
She chose now.

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​More Corners of Vinyl Culture to Explore

If ArianZ’s story stayed with you, there’s more music waiting just beyond it.

Explore more independent artists and the stories behind their music in Artist Spotlight, or continue through the Music Blog for more records, artists and music culture.
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And if her story has you wondering what you might discover next, Find Your Next Record is a good place to start.