Jace Aaron
Interview With Jace Aaron
SBS: Welcome to our pages! Whether you’ve been here with us in some way before, or you’re brand-new to the site, it’s probably best to get an introduction from you so that we get everyone on the same page to start. Tell us a little bit about the history of your music, and what’s happening with it lately!?!
Jace Aaron: Well, first thank you for letting me take part in this interview, I am stoked to be talking to you. I originally started performing Punk-Rock and original music in Nashville Tennessee. I was 12 when I was in my first band and that’s when I fell in love with performing. Since then, I’ve never looked back, just forward always striving to do better, to be better. With the release of this, my new single “The Back of my Truck,” it’s kinda fun to see those memories and influences from the past combining with that need to do better. I gotta say, right now is a very exciting time for me!
SBS: Let’s talk about the before and after of where you’re currently at. What’s something about the music that you’re making now that you don’t think you could have done five years ago, and what’s something you think you’ll be able to do with your music five years from now that you can’t do today? How have you grown as an artist/band, and what steps do you take to continue your artistic evolution?
Jace: I am definitely a better musician than I was 5 years ago, in part, by the many life changing experiences I’ve had along the way. So I would have to say that just the passing of time has helped me develop and hone some of my musically related instincts. I guess five years from now I’ll be in a completely different place, emotionally and musically. Truthfully, I can’t wait to see where time will take me, a European or worldwide tour maybe, that’d be nice, lol.
As far as growth, yes, I think I have grown as an artist, not ONLY musically but spiritually as well. I like to think my music, as well as my influences, are constantly evolving. I love fusing Rock, Bluegrass, Pop and Classic Country genres together. I can tell you this, it’s fun to see both new and old fans, of all those genres, coming together to enjoy themselves at the shows.
SBS: If you were to assess the overall health of the independent music scene right now, what would you say? What are the positives and the negatives about the current state of independent music, and what do you feel like artists & bands can do to contribute to the community & help it grow beyond the music being made? If you’re not actively looking to listen to the music of other independent artists/bands, is it really all that fair to expect anyone would listen to yours? How do you help the scene around you grow?
Jace: Wow, those are excellent questions. With the advent of streaming services being available worldwide to everyone, independent music is in its golden era. I mean, you can create a song, put it out on the web and get real world results, almost instantly! Now how is the prevalence of AI on those streaming services gonna affect independent musicians, I guess that’s a question for another interview?!?! Lol.
As an artist, I love that there are multiple outlets I can use to promote my music. This allows for some experimentation to see what works and what doesn’t. I definitely believe that the independent music scene is the ultimate best for nurturing creativity and musical innovation. Thanks to the independent scene, in just the last few years I’ve heard some of the most inspirational music from artists and bands that I may never have heard of otherwise.
If the musicians themselves want the scene to grow, they should support other local artists. They should share their music and ideas with them and not be so fearful of working with other musicians. Collaboration is the key to that “innovation.”
SBS: What do you consider to be the biggest accomplishment or achievement you’ve had with your music to-date? How do you personally measure your own success – is that something that even can be measured? Is it awards, accolades, chart position…or is your definition of success based on something entirely different? Should success, however you define it, be something that artists are continually focused on – or is success something that naturally occurs in the course of doing what you love to do?
Jace: I feel my biggest accomplishment is to just be able to write really great and truly original music. Being able to create without limitations, and without having to follow someone else’s ideas of what’s going to be successful, opens up a whole range of musical possibilities.
I judge my success by the faces of the people I perform in front of, but, I try not to measure it. I mean, if people want to wake up and write music for awards or accolades, or to obtain an elusive record deal, well that’s something I just can’t get behind. I mean, I write music because I love it, I don’t think of it as a job. I wake up every day knowing it’s gonna be a great day because I can make music the way I want to. If something extraordinary comes from it, great, I’ll be appreciative of it. Look, awards look nice on a shelf or hanging on a wall, but they don’t get me outta bed in the morning. I guess I’m just not the kind of guy that needs a pat on the back. Smiling, happy audience members that appreciate and find some sort of escape in what I’m doing is really all the recognition I want or need.
SBS: When you’re working on something brand-new, and something about it just doesn’t feel like it’s coming together the way that you think it should, how do you know when it’s time to give up on it, or how do you know that it’s time to dig in even harder and find a way to make it work? Are there distinct red flags you can hear when something’s not working? What are the signs you look for that tell you to stop forcing the material? What would actually encourage you to keep going with the process instead?
Jace: I gotta say I don’t believe in giving up on a track. If a song brings challenges, either musically or lyrically, it’s a song that I will continue to revisit until I find what’s missing in the overall feeling I’m trying to convey. I don’t throw away any of the music I write, it’s all too important and personal to me.
I think a red flag to me would be issues in the beat of the song. Having Bluegrass as an influence, I rely on the drums and bass and try write around those elements. If they’re not gelling, I lose the drive and I’m not able to be moved by the feeling I am attempting to get across.
If I must force the music, I mean, if the band can’t grasp it, generally I’ll revisit it and see what I can do with it at a later date. I mean, if I’m writing it, I seem to always have a great desire to finish it.
SBS: One of the points of general consensus in the art of making music, is that we all get our sound from somewhere…we hear what we like, then more often than not, we take tiny pieces of what we love to find our own voice & approach to go on and make music in our own way. Essentially, what I’m saying is that it’s absolutely natural to be inspired by other artists/bands, and almost every artist/band ends up having that inspiration show up in their own work in some way, shape, or form. What the real key is though, is retaining your own organic perspective – you still wanna be original too, right? So how do you go about doing that? Are there artists or bands that you know have been an influence on your style & sound? How were you able to incorporate that influence without becoming too noticeably derivative and still be yourself? Should we embrace and celebrate our influences more than we do? It’s almost like we try not to admit influences exist in the pursuit of being original, but it’s like, bruh…if it’s there, we can hear it. We all borrow something from those that came before us to some extent, don’t we?
Jace: Staying original is kind of a hard concept to grasp with music and film today. It seems almost everything has been regurgitated, lol. I have multiple influences that I simple can’t help but refer back to. I admit, sometimes the lines get blurred between them while trying to stay original. However, there are some things that help me keep my perspective while writing original music. For instance, I look for a group of diverse people to give me feedback. I keep experimenting musically with passages that take me out of my comfort zone, but most of all, I try to face every suggested change as bravely as possible. I try to celebrate my originality and that helps me to stay true to myself.
SBS: Has there ever been a time where you wrote something inside one of your songs…maybe it’s a lyrical line, or maybe it’s a riff of some kind…something that you did, where you surprised yourself? I like to think we all have a moment or two where we can stand back and be amazed by something we created and appreciate the fact that maybe, just maybe, we exceeded our own expectations of what we thought we could accomplish – you know what I mean? Get as specific as you can so the fans out there know what they should be paying attention to when they hear it – what’s your favorite thing that you’ve written on the inside of one of your songs, and why does this particular piece resonate so much to you?
Jace Aaron: I most definitively surprise myself when writing. For instance, just after listening to my last album I was like, did I write that? Lol. So yeah, I was pleasantly surprised and I think I must’ve listened to it like 30 times. Lol.
There is one song that really resonates with me. The song is “I Don’t Care,” it was during my time with Jace Aaron and the Ranchers and the line is: “Try so hard to devour me, but I’m the man wait and see, I’ll make a kingdom all around me and I hope you’re there to see.” That one line was an answer back to my ex during my divorce. That line was me responding to some of the things that were said and to some of the things I was going through at the time. There are times when I find myself inspired by that one line alone. It has really helped to get me through the tough times.
SBS: I’ve been having a lot of great debates lately about whether or not everybody that’s making music has the right to be heard…and you’d probably be surprised by how different people seem to feel about this issue. I know where I stand on it, and I think you can all probably get an idea of what my position would be from this interview we’re doing here & the way we run things at sleepingbagstudios…but regardless, I’m putting this question out there to you, because I’m interested in YOUR perspective. Just because you’ve made a song, does that mean people should listen? If your answer is yes, do your best to explain why you feel that way & why we should make a sincere effort to listen to the music of others. If your answer is no, explain why you feel that way, but also explain why people should still be listening to your music if that’s the case – what would make your music the exception, and not follow the rule? Is there any value to an idea that’s not finished, or a song in its demo stages, or maybe something that’s not recorded in a top-shelf studio or with good equipment – somebody still took the time to make that song to the best of their ability with the means they had to create it – should that be listened to, or not?
Jace Aaron: I can’t make anyone listen to the music I create; I can only put it out there. I can only hope it reflects what I’m trying to say and that people get it. I mean, what’s the saying, music, if it’s strong enough, is a universal language. Everyone seems to have an innate ability of understanding the feelings and emotions behind it, even through language barriers in different parts of the world.
There is value in all music, finished or not. In any format, music is someone else’s thoughts and emotions. Every writer that takes his or her time to speak about something that happened in their lives has value. I often thought that the next big hit could come from a demo that wasn’t finished or that someone thought wasn’t good enough.
SBS: There are ups and downs in the dynamics of almost every album we listen to, with very few exceptions. Even those exceptions, probably still come down to more of a personal preference about what we enjoy about music and how we personally hear it, rather than anything being completely and totally “perfect” – you know what I mean? Does an album actually need to have some kind of up/down dynamics in terms of what’s appealing to the masses in order for the best of the best songs in a lineup to be fully appreciated? Wouldn’t every artist & band avoid the ‘down’ side (less accessible/less popular for example) if they could? Does the ‘down’ side represent something else perhaps, like the story of an album or journey of an artist? Is the ‘up’ side of a record as potent or noticeable if it doesn’t have a‘down’ side to go with it? Would a completely balanced album somehow be boring if it didn’t have the ups/downs that most have? Do we HAVE to like every single song on a record for it to be considered complete? Are the dynamics of an album something anyone can really steer in the direction they want to, or are all artists & bands simply going with the strongest material they have created at the time?
Jace Aaron: Well, if we are talking about ups and downs whereas the beats are concerned, then yes, every album should have dynamics within the songs. I think that mostly happens naturally during the writing process. The emotions should come through organically, without having to think about it. The greatest hit songs connect emotionally to their audience. I believe that all writers should strive for that.
I don’t believe that any artist would try to skip anything that would get their point across. So, asking if someone would rather skip the down beats of a song because it is sad or depressing, is something I can’t understand. I believe that all dynamics, either upbeats or down beats, hills or valleys, whatever people want to call them, occur naturally in the writing process.
I have never talked to anyone who loves every single song on any given album. IMHO, there are a few albums that I believe are close to perfection, if there is such a thing in music, lol. But do I like every song on an album, no. Sometimes people will buy an entire album because they like the artist and want the collection, even if there’s only one song on it that they gravitate to. Then they get a chance to listen to all the songs on an album, even the ones the ”suits” consider b-sides, or fillers. Before you know it, one or more of those b-side songs becomes a hit and it surprises all the suits. Lol.
SBS: I wanna send out a shout-out to YOU from me personally – I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to talk tunes with me throughout the years, and I appreciate the time YOU have taken with this interview too. Because this one’s a little different in the sense that it’s been sent out to multiple people and is a little more generic in that regard, I have no doubt whatsoever that we probably didn’t get to talk to you about something you wanted to talk about – so let’s fix that! This final space is what we call the SBS Open Floor – a spot where you can say anything else you want to say to the people out there. It can be anything at all…your main websites…something else you want them to know about you and/or your music…your favorite bands in the scene right now…the secret 11 herbs and spices to the Colonel’s secret recipe – you get the idea, and it’s probably best you choose something that suits you rather than take any of my suggestions, but feel free to take the SBS Open Floor for a ride. Whatever it is you want the people to know, now is the prime time for you to tell’em! Thanks again for everything – keep in touch!
Jace Aaron: Okay, thank you again for having me, it was a pleasure talking with you and answering these amazing, thought-provoking questions. All I can ask from anyone reading this is to please check out my latest single titled “The Back of my Truck,” it’s streaming on all major platforms. Also, please check out the official video for “The Back of my Truck” on my YouTube page at Jace Aaron Official. I would greatly appreciate it if you could like, subscribe and share. But most importantly, don’t forget to support your local, independent musicians!
The Back of my Truck – Streaming on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4kFQMXf
Media Kit: https://www.whatwelivefor.studio/jace-aaron
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