Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Anthony Arya performs during the blind audition on The Voice Season 15. (NBC Photo)

Anthony Arya said he and his mother started watching The Voice when the show first aired back in 2011.

In Season 15, Anthony made it to The Voice stage and advanced all the way to the knockout round after auditioning at age 15.

He turned Adam Levine’s chair with a blind audition performance of “Danny’s Song,” and was so impressive during the battle round that Jennifer Hudson stole the folk music singer for her team.

Anthony wound up leaving the show following a knockout round match-up with Kennedy Holmes.

But since doing so, the teen from Santa Cruz formed a band and is working on a debut album he hopes to release early next year.

Here’s what Anthony told Voice Views about his time on the show and his music moving forward.

Voice Views: The knockout round was filmed in mid-August. What have you been doing musically since then?

Anthony: My main goal for this year was to put together a killer band and release an album. For the past two years I’ve been playing my songs as a solo artist and I was ready to take them to the next level.

I went to work on forming the band as soon as I returned from L.A. and now we have gigs all over the Bay Area. It’s really exciting to be able to see my songs evolve and also the turn out to my shows has been fantastic!

Voice Views: Where do you see The Voice experience leading you musically? And how do you think it worked out for you auditioning at such a young age?

Anthony: I learned a lot about the music business and about the rigorous schedule of being a performer. It was so exciting to play with the Voice band and it gave me a lot of motivation to continue to keep pushing ahead as both a guitarist and singer and working with my band.

I also made so many connections that I can’t wait to show up in like, Boston and play with Steve’s band! Natalie Brady, who is a monster talent, was performing in Carmel, Calif., last month and I was invited up to sing. We’re all a whole family now, regardless of how far you made it. Particularly all the minors — even the moms/dads are all friends. It’s a great experience, but a lot of work!

Voice Views: Are there any plans for new music and, if so, what can you tell me about those?

Anthony: I have a full length album of 11 of my original songs coming out in January. Here’s a link to the sneak peak title track, “Going To California”, which is already on my website: https://www.anthonyarya.com/my-songs. I’m excited to see what the feedback is, and I’m writing new tunes all the time. I also have a merch site: https://teespring.com/stores/anthony-arya.

Voice Views: Which was your favorite Voice performance and why?

Anthony: I can’t pick one performance over the other. The blind auditions were an iconic experience. After watching the show for all 14 seasons, the thrill and excitement was hard to beat. For the battles, Steve and I had a fun time putting all the harmonies and well the steal was an adrenaline rush! But I guess if I had to pick, I felt so good about “Operator.” I wasn’t nervous at all and singing/playing a Jim Croce tune is always a special thing!

Voice Views: Is there anything else you’d like to add about The Voice experience?

Anthony: Another great thing came out of the Voice. I met Emily Hough (Team Adam) and I’m lucky and proud to call her my girlfriend 🙂 I wrote a song about her called “Slow Train” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gZfv9N6aU8. We’ll never forget the time we had on the Voice and we are pretty sure we’ll be collaborating with our other Voice friends for a long time to come.

On social media:
Instagram
Website
Twitter: @anthonyjadearya
Facebook

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Steve Memmolo and Anthony Arya prepare for their battle round match on The Voice. (NBC Photo)