Q&A: Jackson Aide
HE'S APOLOGETICALLY HIMSELF AND HE KNOWS IT - Jackson Aide gives us a better insight as to what it means to be an artist in the current music scene. Coming from Nashville, Tennessee, Aide makes pop/synth music with a country twist - and it's damn good. The artist has always been surrounded by music, so it's of no surprise to understand the passion Aide has for his music and career. Though it's been just over 2 years since Aide released his debut EP, LOVE, the artist has been working on new music nonstop and is excited to share what's next for him. Read more to hear about Aide's inspirations, his thoughts on genres, streaming and more.
LUNA: Let's start with some background - how did you decide to pursue music as a career?
JACKSON: This is always an odd question to think of, simply because I sit back and wonder when it, the music, sorta "clicked" so-to-speak. Music has always been a huge part of my life. It has always transformed me as an individual, and sorta defined my perception of the world. It has that exact effect on me. It helps me understand myself. Thinking about it, growing up music was always around at home. Vinyl player spinning. Always playing in the car rides to and from wherever we were going. My dad also worked for a top 40 radio station in our hometown, so he was always bringing home promo tapes and CDs.
I used to stay up late and call radio stations late at night requesting my favorite songs. I had a CD player hidden under my bed. I'd stay up all night listening to that. One song that sticks out in my head from that time is Whitney Houston - "How Will I Know". I vividly remember listening to that song on repeat. Another song during that time was Bachman Turner Overdrive - "You Aint Seen Nothing Yet". Billy Joel - "River Of Dreams" is another one my parents always played and eventually I think I lost that tape somewhere. My parents were very influential in the style of music that I was listening to, and I think its safe to say some of that is rubbing off on me now. I was always the kid on road trips in the back of the van, slumped down with headphones on.
I can't tell if its something that I've always wanted to do, or if this is just a chain of events that lead me to this moment. I don't know anything other than what is happening at this exact moment.
I mean you have to sorta put yourself in the chair, and learn, study, and dissect the craft at some point. Understand the history of music, and how beautiful it is. Learn an instrument, and then try to write some songs to impress some girl.
I'm always sorta trying to stay in this state of becoming. Shapeshifting my craft. Always new. Changing. Trying to fast forward the future in my head. Thinking of the next thought that transforms itself into the idea.
You can't be a businessman and be completely honest at the same time. You'll find a way to bend the narrative at some point. It just doesn't work that way for me. I mean if I start worrying about what it is I am, or what I'm writing or more importantly trying to be, then I will completely miss the mark I aimed for. I'd rather be honest with my art, and even more so myself. I'd rather say something real and vulnerable than make a dollar off something I lied about.
Artists don't tend to pursue a creative endeavor based on the idea they will become rich or famous. Artists shouldn't be able to explain why they are doing it, whatever "it" is. It's the unknown that we try and establish for the rest of the world. I'm not writing anything for validation beyond my own amusement. If someone attaches themselves to these ideas then I can find some peace in that.
I'm trying to explain this question properly without sounding so daft. It's innate. I can't explain it. Nor do I think I should be able to. It happens just like anything happens I guess. I am, therefore I do. I think, therefore I am.
LUNA: What do you tell people when they ask what type of music do you make?
JACKSON:This last project, I describe as FOLK ROCK ELECTRONIC POP ART. That is sorta what I hear in my head when I listen to the songs. There is a bunch of stuff going on. Fundamentally its all influence. This is how we consume, so why not create that way? I mean could you imagine Bob Dylan making Bringing It All Back Home or Springsteen doing Born To Run in 2018? That's the type of songs I wanna hear blasting through my speakers. Those are the type of ideas inside my brain. Those ideas were a big jumping off point for this project. I had something to say, now I just needed to figure out what the colors sounded like.
We don't consume the same way anymore. Genres do not matter anymore. You defy genres now. We consume all things at once. So why not be influenced by all of those things again at once. I figure if I pigeonhole myself into one style I would only be hindering my creative process. Anything that speaks to me I will attach myself to. I still am waiting to hear a record that sonically paints the same colors as I do. I haven't yet...if someone has ......please send me a link. What's the point of fitting in?That's no fun. Everyone is kinda doing the same thing nowadays. When we were making the record, I wanted to create a piece of art that couldn't be defined. I wanted people to hear the influences but yet still couldn't define the style.
This particular project LOVE was heavily influenced by American singer-songwriters. Dylan, Petty, Springsteen. But if you listen close enough you'll find Taylor Swift influences, Whitney Houston influences, The Killers, and even Sam Cooke influences. I really wanted this record to be timeless. Something that is still relevant long after I am gone. Art is about leaving something behind.
LUNA: Nashville is definitely recognized as a great scene for music - how has it recognized you as an artist?
JACKSON: Nashville is a beautiful sea of music. Lots of fish. I could talk about how the "business" side of things within the music industry has changed my perspective. But that is a waste. All of that business stuff is exhaustingly wasteful for an artist to dwell on. Mathematical. Turn on your TV or the radio, you'll hear it. Open your eyes you'll see it. What's more important....for the sake of music and art... is the craft itself. Writing damn good songs. Being Honest. Artists should be asking themselves what it is they want to say vs taking a selfie. As artists, we have a voice. Use it. I want to constantly be informative. Love, hate, culture, societal trends, and political conditions. I want to speak for the generation and also the ones that will come. Nashville has made me want to concentrate on my craft more than ever.
Nashville is heavy the country scene, but there is plenty of room for any type of music to swim. This city is overflowing with talent, and that keeps you on your toes. And what I mean by that is, you're constantly pushing yourself, trying to dig deeper into the emotional well of your artistry. Starving yourself for ideas. Never releasing fluff. Always striving to find something worth saying. Working endlessly. But this is the process. Perspective. Being Humble. How lucky am I to be doing this? I don't take a second of this for granted. I'm doing it. I just wanna create art that evokes sentiment. Put yourself in the seat and write. And then go out and play for people. That's art.
LUNA: Since you're not trying to make music for one genre, are you listening to a variety of genres for inspiration? Who have you been listening to lately?
JACKSON: At the immediate moment, I'm listening to a lot of Eminem. Old and New. I have always been a fan, since the Slim Shady LP.
This Leif Vollbeek record Twin Solitude is something I can't stop listening to. I love his approach. I can't explain it. And that is exactly what makes it so fascinating for me. I can't define what he is doing. He tapped into something with that project. I hope he knows how brilliant that record is. I absolutely adore that record.
That Bon Iver - 22, A Million record is something really special. That thing sorta transcends time. I'm still trying to wrap my head around those songs. I watched a few youtube videos on how that record came to be sonically designed. That guy is a genius.
Ryan Adams has always had a way of calming me. Prisoner was a nice band-aid for me. I attached myself to a lot of those ideas. But I love his whole catalog. His B-sides are endless.
There is a band called Lover, Lover. Check out that record.
The Killers are such a wave of reverence.
That Brian Fallon record Painkillers was badass. Lyrically it crushed me.
If you want to hear a country record....go listen to Charlie Crocket. That guy is pure gold. If anyone sounds like Nashville its Charlie.
Patrick Droney is another one to keep an eye on. He is really a great songwriter and player.
Bob Dylan.
LUNA: On the flip side, you definitely seem to have an aesthetic going on. How important is that to you?
JACKSON: I just wanted to create art. I want people to invest in my art. Not me.
My art is just a distillation of my identity. It's the ego.
I wanted to create a visual representation for the music. These songs are poems that carry colors, images, scenes and also characters. Everything that is created or designed is by solely me.
I wanted a place listeners could go to sorta experience the album from a visual standpoint. We live in a visual world. I take just as much pride in my music as I do my visual design.
Both of these things go hand in hand now. This is the world we live in. I work endlessly on every little detail. While we were making the record I was constantly thinking about the places in my mind and the colors. At the end of the day, I view the thing as one big project. And the next project will conduct itself in the same way this one did. It will have its own identity.
LUNA: What's been your creative process like lately?
JACKSON: The process is just the same as before. I put myself in the seat and write. I do not set times to write. I write when I have an idea. I push the idea up a hill, and sometimes those hills are easier to climb than others. I sit right in my bedroom like I always have. I still play in front of the mirror at times.....imagining there are 10,000 people in front of me. There is more inspiration inside this room than any place I could preordain. Memories hang from these walls.
I tend to keep things organic as possible when writing. This keeps me honest with myself, and that is one of the most important things about the craft. I want it to be an honest representation of who I am.
Most of the time it feels like your wandering around in the dark when writing a song, and then there are moments of light. And that light can be gone in a fraction of a second. One thing I think people don't understand about artists, or at least myself is that everything is retrospective. I can't write in the moment or even more so in the future. I write about experiences and things that my mind has saved. Data. And that data is just a problem that I need to solve. I don't have any reason for it. I just sit down and write......and then write again. I do not think. I just am.
LUNA: You're coming into the music industry at a really interesting time between the rise of streaming and social media. Artists seem to have a lot of mixed feelings about platforms like Spotify - what's your take on all of it?
JACKSON: Are there corporations/individuals financially benefiting from artists who are starving, because I think that is the question you're asking?
Yes, extremely. It's more than frustrating to watch and even more so frustrating to be a part of. But the industry sorta always has been taking advantage of artists in some shape or form. The industry has a firm grasp on creatives, but what it doesn't have a grasp on is....trends or culture. This actually shows how important artists are to the world. Artists have the ability to transform trends and especially culture. This is why I think we are so important to the world.
Music to me has always been this conduit for people to share humanistic experiences.
LUNA: Is there something you want people to take away from your music?
JACKSON: A release...A release from all of the bullshit in the world or in their own lives. Art has the capability to transcend while simultaneously creating an identity for people. Everything is there if you just listen for it. Love, loss, fear, regret, joy, happiness, drugs and sex. I don't need the songs to remember the moments. I painted them.
I feel there is this information overload society that we live in. We are never inside of our own thoughts. As soon as we get bored we move on to the next thing that consumes us. We just haven't figured out how to stabilize ourselves within the consumption. We haven't figured out which side to stand on. Music for me has always been about capturing moments. Being able to stabilize an idea or scene. Balance. I want them to find their own identity within the story.
I have always wanted the listener to paint their own pictures of the scenes. I already painted my story, I wanted people to see how beautiful the colors are. How beautiful those particular moments, the ones I chose to write about, were to me. Everything is from now on. Don't look back. But these moments defined me as an individual. I've never been one to indulge people into what a song is or what it isn't. Love is better than anything else in this world. It will save us if we allow it to. Sometimes I think we have forgotten who we are... time and time again. It's never easy, nor should it be. It feels like we are on the road all alone. But whatever............gotta keep on.
