Pulp with Aaron Taos

Artist Breakdown:

Name: Aaron Taos

Age: 29

Genre: indie pop/alternative pop

Spotlight Single: Amnesia

 

Q & A

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What influences from your childhood do you see coming out in your music?

The things in my teens is what inspired me to start making music; The Artic Monkeys, post punk, the early 2000s. I hadnʻt listened to band music prior to that, it was mostly hip hop and whatever was on the radio; it was when I started listening to those bands I was like, “Oh! I really want to make music now” because I thought it was so cool.

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What era do you pull your primary fashion influences from?

I’ve been drawn to more classic looks: 60s, 70s. knitted polos, trousers. I recently shot a video, actually, themed around 70s punk in a sort of A Clockwork Orange aesthetic. It was so fun to explore that side of fashion and really go all out.

How is your feature writing process different than writing full-length songs?

I haven’t done much of that so far but when I do, I try to accompany the song rather than change it. Iʻm usually in the position of asking people to feature on a record, especially this past year with the new record. I usually leave it pretty open when I ask people to hop on a record so it can leave room for their perspective. When Iʻm on other people’s records I like that same sort of freedom. With me being featured on othersʻ songs its more of a fun thing and there is less pressure than when writing my own song, I can just do whatever I want.        

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Do you have any memories of playing NBA 2k? if so, what was it like having one of your songs featured on the soundtrack of NBA 2K20?

Iʻm sitting at my desk right now, looking at the unopened copy of the game [NBA 2K20] they sent me. Iʻm not really a gamer and I donʻt have a gaming system so I have not had a chance to play the game yet—which is kind of sad, itʻs just sitting here like a token. When I was a kid, I was very athletic; I played basketball, but my big sport was soccer. That said, I actually enjoy watching basketball more; I watched every game this year of the NBA finals.*

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What inspired you to feature remixes the re-release of Birthday Boy?

This album originally came out last year, but it came up with the unexpected late popularity of Control in March/April of this year. This popularity lead to the momentum behind signing it to another distribution and promoting Control again, after that I was like “Wait a minute! I would also like to do another one with Loneliness” it happened so naturally but strategically I wanted to take advantage of this popularity of records I loved so much. So, I sat back down with the label to see what I could add to these records with artists I really liked. Some were reproduced by other artists I liked, and I wanted to include them, and I thought they would be the best way to revisit them. The new tracks came from a mix of completely new music and some unreleased tracks, like Summerʻs Gone and Amnesia.

 

Did you originally want to write Loneliness as a two-part track? Do you consider them to be two separate songs or a continuation of the first one?

Originally, I wrote the song just as it was; I released it; I was happy with it. I always had it in the back of my mind and thought with the way that it sounds and the fact that it is sort of a ballad, I always wanted a female perspective on it; sonically I thought it would differentiate it and make it feel whole. The song is about loneliness, but the chorus is about having somebody. I thought having another person on the track would make it seem like a completed thought. I had a few artists I wanted to work with in mind, one of which was spill tab, and she just crushed it! I was really happy with that. I think it’s closer to a continuation of that idea of loneliness, which is a pretty universal theme and feeling. I donʻt consider it to be a remix but a continuation of the original. Loneliness pt. II is probably the track I am most proud of on this re-release.

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What juice would you be?

Apple juice—when I was a kid, I absolutely loved apple juice—Motts apple juice—I would drink it like water, which was probably was to my own detriment because it was soooo sugary. I think I drank it more than water for a couple years.

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How is your writing process different when writing collaboration songs?

I would say, for the most part, I donʻt write a song catered towards someone I want to work with. I usually just start writing whatever I come up with, whether it be an idea lyrically and put music to it or the other way around where I have a track and I write to it. When I see that there is space I on it, I get inspired and Iʻm like, “I can really see someone on this.” The times where its been preconceived is when Iʻm actually in the room with someone and weʻre writing. Itʻs rarer that I go into a track alone where Iʻm like “Okay, I want to make a collab track”, it usually naturally happens while Iʻm making a track.

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Why did you start the Weekly Chunes playlist?

First off, I completely slack on that haha. I think the one I have up right now has been up for two or three weeks so Iʻm kind of not really holding up my end of the bargain on that one. I started it because another artist I liked had their own and I was really curious to what songs they were listening to so I thought, “Iʻm sure there are people who listen to my music are curious as to what Iʻm listening to and what I like.” That was the impetus to it; just to share what I thought was cool and inspiring. Like I said, sometimes I forget or I’m busy listening to a project I’m working on so I’m listening to much new music. Maybe I should put a disclaimer in the description saying, “every couple weeks, I will update this.”

 

*I later suggested to Aaron he should frame the unopened copy in a shadow box as a memento of the accomplishment.*

 

~Reagan Thornley