The Artist Interrogations podcast. Hey, Aaron. Hey. What's going on, man? Sorry about the delay there.
It's all good. How are you doing? I'm doing good. How are you doing? Doing fantastic.
I read on Wikipedia, you know, the trustworthy source. It was your birthday yesterday. It was my birthday yesterday. Yes. Happy birthday, sir.
That's awesome. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. So we've been playing your tracks.
We've been playing Mercy, Supercharged, also Take Me Away, but also the most recent one, Hot Friends, I was listening to the lyrics and you first start off the song with this woman named Alicia. Now my big question to you, is that song based off a real person? No. And not and not not as far as I I know. You know what I'm saying?
I I was just recording the song. I didn't write the song myself. Actually, that song was written by, Paul Meaney, who I worked with on, as a producer and the songwriter on that. He just thought I was the the best voice to to fit the part. He just chose you and you wrote the guitar part?
Or how did it all break down? You know, he well, he just reached out to me. He said he has a really cool guitar song. He he wanted to record, and he just wanted me to hear, like, to see if I my voice would fit for the part, and it and they just all came together kind of, you know, magically, I guess you could say. That we were just happen to to be able to to get together and and make that happen.
So, yeah, I mean, it was it really was, I mean, honestly, really, kinda random that it came all together. And, did you pitch the, big screen in the beginning? Yeah. Well, those are kind of the some things I threw in there just just, for just for my sake. But, you know, yeah, I just, when we got the studio, I thought to myself that, like, you know, I just kinda want to make it me, and so I I listened to a lot of, James Brown when I got into that role.
The that's how I see myself when I sing, you know, it's, like, in a in a role. I was looking at James Brown in that role. I thought, what would James do here, what Prince do here, you know. So whenever I go, like, towards the sexy vibe, I try to, like, look at the Prince of the James Brown look. Well, I know you aim for the, for the sexy vibe and the new song Filthy.
I got a sneak peek of it before, before I got the chance to talk to you today. And can you tell me more about that song too? Yeah, man. Filthy is just, you know, I think on the first record, I I came out, and I think people got an opportunity to to get to know me from where I'm from and, because of my background and my story. But now I get to fill in the gap from, you know, those those beginnings to now, and that that journey is is probably a little more insightful as to who I am today.
So I think Filthy is kinda just that breakout song. You know, I was looking to write a a rock track that could sit somewhere, in the ether, you know, somewhere in the realm of rock and pop and funk, and soul, and all those things, and, you know, something that I felt really represented who I was as an individual. And then I saw something somewhere about, something called The Complete Collection. The Complete Collection. Yeah.
That just came out. That's that's even news to me. I just saw that recently. Yeah. The complete collection.
I think that's just, like, from from a to b, what what's happened, thus far from, the year 2020 when I got signed, and, it will at least take me later now. I think it's just kind of a a the the top tracks, the ones that that really, I think, stood out to people over the last year. Oh, okay. Gotcha. And, I I'm, I've been talking to my morning show host, Victor Wills.
We were talking back and forth about different musicians with their guitars and what guitars, they use nowadays. But what guitar started it for you and what at what age? Oh, man. 13. I I had a my first guitar was, like, some beat up acoustic that was given to me by, like, you know, some some of these gangsters up the street, you know.
And, so I done I done the music for a while. My first guitar, though, like anybody else, you know, who's into guitars. You got what you could. And I got I was the the affinity Stratocaster and the old school Strat Pack. I used to come with, with the the, little, solid state champ, like, Fender champ amp and, like, the affinity, Squire Stratocaster was my very first guitar ever.
That's why I I've always been in the in Strat since that day. And were you self taught as well? Yeah. Yeah. Completely self taught.
I never never got lessons. I just picked it up and, you know, I I always had a gift for being able to, like, pick up notes and, like, being up, so I repeat notes on the piano. But, like, the guitar, I guess, just, like, really spoke to me. And I I learned how to play and taught myself how to how to do you know, just listen to songs and and play the notes and the chorus back. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Hendrix, and all these different records, you know, from Rage Against Machine to Nevermind, like, just, like, figure out what they're playing and play it back, you know, and then that's kinda what sparked me wanting to write my own music too.
So And you just, like, progressed down the line, of course, from that beat up acoustic to what you have now? Yeah. Yeah. The the you know, I over the over the years, I came across a bunch of different guitars, and I've smashed some guitars. I was like, you know, I've done a lot of different chainovers, for many different reasons.
And the the journey, actually, from guitar to guitar is actually a really interesting one. Hopefully, I get to tell that story at some point. But, you know, the current guitar I have now is, like, my a one of a kind, like, Stratocaster that that I, like, have my hands all over, and, it's, like, personal to me. Like, nobody else has a guitar like this in the world. Oh, that's awesome.
Well, that's really cool. Yeah. And luckily enough, we get to see you perform right here in East Idaho here in about a month or so, I would say. That's right, man. I'm looking forward to it.
Looking forward to it. And it's funny too because, I saw your name on the the banner, and they they keep misspelling the first name. Now the guy like myself as well with a a different spelling first name, do you often get upset when you see something like that? No. Because you're just mad all the time.
Yeah. You know, you sit Right. In real time. No. I I, it's all good, man.
People people just, like, are trying to to figure out a weird thing. It's like, if it's uncommon, it makes it harder, I think, for people to, especially if it's like an uncommon common name, like, a derivative of Aaron, not Aaron, but Aaron with a y, you know, like, that's probably really difficult for the brain to wrap around a little bit. I don't get too mad. Did your parents name me that or is that just like as I was such a unique name, I had to ask that question. You know, I I didn't really know my mom very well, and, and, I didn't really know my dad either, so I don't know the the answer to that question as much.
But, they, you know, my mom just named me Aaron because I don't know, man. I really couldn't tell you. She named me Aaron, though. And I think, you know, if I if I had to guess, it was probably because my dad's middle name was Aaron, and that's was kinda like her way of, like, sneaking his name in there without it being me, you know. For me, it was for mine, originally, my parents told me this later down the line because their both names are Jeff and Karen.
They were about to name me Jaren for being the combination of the 2. So I was wondering if that was the case for you or something like that. Man, I don't I don't I wish I knew more of the story, you know, from what I know, my mom, like, a long time wished told me, it was, like, because of the dude she met who was a sailor, you know. I was like, that's weird. Down the road I kinda I just he told me I was like, what are you doing hanging out with a sailor, you know?
What is this? The older I got the more I realized that like, you know, she it was really tied probably to my dad's middle name. And that was our way of like sneaking his name in there, like, in a part of him into into me without, like, having to tell the truth. You know? Yeah.
And where where did you grow up at? I grew up in Seattle, man. Born and raised in Seattle. Yeah. Okay.
I didn't I was wondering that because I forgot to completely ask you that from the beginning. But, you All good. Yeah. Yeah. You mentioned Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, a lot of your Rage Against the Machine as well.
Well, what was what would you say what was your first concert to get you really in even more into guitar? Oh, my first concert. I don't you know, I don't even remember my first guitar concert. I I would have to about that, but I'll tell you my first concert ever was, like, watching Incubus at the key arena when I was, like, 15 years old. And, Alien and amp Farm Road performed.
So that was, like, you know, there's this is, like, the post runs, like, late nineties, early 2000s era, you know. Oh, it's so cool. Because mine I think mine was, like, Hannah Montana or something really gross like that because it was, like, 6th grade. That's funny. Yeah.
Yeah. So we can catch you here September 30th, and people can buy tickets at aaronjones.com? Yeah. Yeah. Aaronjonesmusic.com.
You can buy tickets there, or you can just just Google my name, and the next event should pop up. Awesome, man. Well, we're looking forward to seeing you. Thank you so much, aaron, for joining me today. I truly appreciate it, and looking forward to seeing you perform.
I can't I can't wait to to see you guys, man. I'm I'm really excited. The artist's interrogations podcast is a production of Riverbend Media Group. For more information or to contact the show, visit riverbendmediagroup.com.