Interview - AaRON

Exclusive collage by Carlotta Marangone 
AaRON started their journey creating a melodious experience made of an emotional inspection, and transported our feelings, just like angel dust. I felt with Artificial Animals Riding On Neverland, a certain melancholy, going from brightness to darkness, picturing a contemporary romanticism mastered by the duo. It's now have been over eight years since it all started for Olivier Coursier and Simon Buret.

How do you interpret this first musical experience together ?

Well, the feeling is like a giant tsunami that knocks gently at your door. We made music on the hour that we met, and by the end of the day , two songs were "born". It gave us a feeling that something exciting was entering our lives, that our souls had a lot to share. Since this day, the feeling is still there with us.

What did you both learn within this first creative accomplishment ?

 Life is a perpetual movement that anything, even what you don't expect becomes possible. Maybe music is the most powerful link to connect human beings and, the most personal stuff can find a spot in unknown hearts. Therefore, it gives us the sensation that we are never really alone.

I can remember the impact of U Turn (Lili) as well as Endless Song, among other songs in the album on my very first love affairs, and disappointments. Each song has such a powerful impact, and somehow relates perfectly to anyone's feelings.

How is the writing process evolving between the both of you ?

Simon is in charge of the lyrics, and then we compose together what we call a musical skeleton. Then we have something that "works" with just a piano and a voice, we add the "muscles " different sounds, instruments, effects which illustrates the lyrics. We try to take Polaroids of daily life, daily sensations, feelings, so we are able to change it into music and songs. 

What inspirations have brought this first album to life ?

Life itself, I guess. What you go through doesn't matter, good or bad. It's what you make out of it that's important. We see music as a mirror of the soul, and we probably make songs to hear what is hiding inside ourselves.

We Cut the Night symbolised the evolution towards a more electronic-pop, where the band offers a beautifully inspired continuity in their personal style. The pace has changed, but the beauty remains. The message behind songs such as Onassis is taking us somewhere we haven't been yet with Simon and Olivier. When we were healing pains with Lili, we are now singing along them anthems which are giving us strength, hope, in finding ourselves, and exploring what we had feared to confront in the past.

How could you describe the creative evolution between both albums ? 

The music has followed our personal evolutions. In every album, we are always trying to mark what and who we are, just as if we were writing a diary. We try to do our thing, without sticking to a content.

Regarding the feeling of it, I don't particularly believe in the state of melancholia ; I think it's the listener that colors what comes through his ears, with its own personal emotions, and feelings. We like to make music that adds color to the experience, and not the opposite. It has always been "funny" to understand that one would dance on a song to which another one would cry on. It is us, with our lives that colors what we see, hear, read, with our personal lives... We aim to give space to the listener from him to take what he wants from the song. 

About the inspiration of We Cut the Night, Walt Whitman, Tomas Tranströmer, which have both a mineral writing, connected to the great wild, to the elements around us ; these two made a great impression on my writing. Also, as we both talk to each other in terms of images much more than a classical way of writing music, when we are composing Bill Viola, and Gregory Crewdson are two artists that knows very well how to bring their inner world into light, and how to change a feeling into images, were also a big inspiration on our tracks... 

Did you both change between A.A.R.O.N. and We Cut the Night ? 

We evolved... I don't know about changing. I think one of us finds what was already there with the years... but aren't we all doing the same ? 

How did you translate this personal maturity musically ? 

It's all about being connected to what is surrounding you, from the inner world (intimacy, fear, hopes, etc.) to the nature, the sounds... Listening to the world, and stay curious is essential. 

There is something special that is hard to describe about working together, although we enjoy it very much. We didn't work on it, but with the years, we kept giving room to each others creatively, without being judgmental, without fear. It's all about turning your obsessions into having fun building things... I believe that kindliness and curiosity are the keys of creativity.

What are the meaning and message of the third album ?

That life is everywhere, and we just have to take care of it. We are way more than just flesh and blood, and maybe ;

"That life is just a long migration, towards the sun I guess"


Written by Léo Lalanne-Berdouticq

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