Arrington de Dionyso channels the impossible

by Kristina Mageau

Meeting with Arrington de Dionyso in person, I expected to be overwhelmed by his creative vision and instead was pleasantly met with a calm sense of purpose and some tea, for Arrington is filled with artistic visions of a utopian future whilst maintaining a presence in the current reality.

Arrington offers the world something complex and unique with the song titled “I Create in the Broken System,” the second track on the new album Open the Crown, released by his band Malaikat Dan Singa. The album features Arrington’s artwork, illustrating the colorful and uninhibited nature that comes through in the songs. In the aforementioned track, Arrington sings: “Whatchyou going to do with the raging tiger? Drink down the poison… My determination will never break. I create in the broken system… I create in the face of destruction. I create in the face of oppression… Where you going to run from the raging tiger? Don’t run away from the raging tiger… Tear your body all apart, just to put it back again. Break away… Break away from the chains that bind you. Break away from the eyes that blind you. Embrace the tiger deep inside you.”

The viewers will see a blend of imagery in the “I Create in the Broken System” music video as, among other things, tigers run, people dance, and Arrington excitedly sings. To see this enigmatic video that matches Arrington’s style, visit .

Arrington’s sound is difficult to describe and understand, albeit not impossible, as he articulated it here: “I think my sound has really come out of the special relationship I have with the realm of imagination… I’ve always been interested in hearing the music that’s in my head and envisioning music that might seem sort of impossible or unlikely in some way, or combining musical influences that would never be combined in that particular way.”

Even though Arrington loves to collaborate and play with musicians around the world, he receives his inspiration from something else entirely.

“Again, it’s all about being in touch with that sort of invisible world that may not quite exist in the material realm. You know, being both musically and artistically, these kinds of images and sounds and ideas that I’m working with are coming from… being in touch with a spiritual realm of ideas that maybe aren’t so easy to see in day to day living.”

In the band, Malaikat Dan Singa, Arrington plays the bass clarinet, shenai, five string guitar, and echoplex, along with vocalizing magic. Nehemiah St. Danger rocks the bass and organ. Markly Morrison works the synthesizer and organ. Hear the quartertone guitar and echoplex wonders from Angelo Spencer. Listen to the rhythmic stylings of Ben Kapp on the drums and bells. ◙

Malaikat Dan Singa perform at The Northern on Thursday, April 4th.