So I've been a fan of guitarist Aaron Carey's work for a long, long time. We've been corresponding since the days of MySpace (oh gawd), so it was definitely interesting to interview someone who was a friend first. In this interview Aaron discusses his musical past, sources of influence, and what happens next.
The
Forest of the Soul album, as you've told me, was six years in the
making; what is it like to work on a single album for such an
extended period of time? Did it start off with a different sound and
vision or did that remain constant? What comes next for Forest of the
Soul?
It
was not a continuous process of working on it, or it probably would
have been like four hours long! We started compiling and demoing
stuff by about summer 2005 and some of the material I was writing was
so different that it became the debut Nechochwen album ‘Algonkian
Mythos’. Our focus also shifted to releases by Angelrust, Harvist,
and other projects, but occasionally we’d share a riff or song
skeleton and think about when we were actually going to get this
album together. At one point we had a gig in Texas that was a big
deal for us so we quickly released the ’Faun Song’ EP but weren’t
completely happy with some of the song versions. Some of this was
re-done for ‘Restless’, as well as two tracks from the
self-titled debut. The other tracks slowly manifested over time. I
think songs are like beer, they have to ferment.
As
we discussed my review of the FotS album, I found out that, while I
had compared the album to grunge, you nor Della Cagna had really
listened to grunge outside of the infamous Alice in Chains. What DID
influence "Restless in Flight"?
That’s
not exactly true. We grew up in the early 90’s, how could we avoid
listening to grunge? It was everywhere. We were aware of those bands,
and I liked Alice In Chains and older Soundgarden because they made
really good music regardless of genre. I wasn’t a big fan of the
style overall though, as I was extremely excited by the death metal
explosion of the time. As a fourteen-year-old, how could any of those
grunge bands compete with the likes of debuts by Dismember,
Incantation, and Amorphis? I’d say Restless was influenced more by
folk music, Irish immigrant songs, maybe even Lep Zeppelin and Pink
Floyd, but not so much by grunge bands. The more ‘new age’ type
stuff is influenced by artists like Phil Keaggy, Michael Hedges, and
Ian Melrose. We like blues too and old Appalachian tunes.
Having
branched into varying styles of music ranging from Appalachian folk
to the black metal-tinged "Azimuths to the Otherworld" or
the more rocking Forest of the Soul material, it is obvious that you
utilize a vast array of influence. What are some favorite
albums/musicians/compositions that you can say have shaped you as a
musician?
Steve
Morse – The
Introduction and
High
Tension Wires;
Pink Floyd (all); Tiamat – Wildhoney;
Anathema – all, but particularly Serenades;Mick
Moloney – Far
From the Shamrock Shore;
LAGQ – For
Thy Pleasure;
Christopher Parkening (all); David Russell – Plays
Bach;
Julian Bream (all); Ulver (trilogy); Iron Maiden (first 8 records);R.
Carlos Nakai (all); various Clawhammer Banjo players. I think the
most powerful influences of all are the ones you don’t realize you
have. If you can’t find some musical influence in nature itself,
there is something wrong!
How
long have you played guitar? Have you had any formal musical
training? What is your absolute favorite tune to play on guitar? Any
genre, of course.
It
will be 23 years next month. I took lessons for a couple years, and I
really took to tab books and learning albums by ear. I’d come home
from school and figure out tapes by Maiden, Metallica, etc., later on
going to Death and Morbid Angel albums. My first teacher tried to
teach me notation and theory, but I was stubborn and got bored with
the academic end of it. I quit lessons after two years. When I was
about 16 or 17, I felt like I’d gone as far as I could go with
playing, and so when I started college I took a basic guitar course
and decided to finally get serious about learning music. I earned my
B.A. in Music from West Virginia University in 2001 and took various
graduate courses along the way. I was trained in classical and jazz
guitar and was president of the University’s guitar ensemble. I got
to participate in master classes with David Burgess, Larry Coryell,
and Paul Galbraith, which was good to experience.
My
favorite original piece to play is probably Forgotten Day from
Restless
In Flight.
I’d say my favorites beside that would probably be Michael
Lorimer’s edition of S.L. Weiss’ Lute Sonata in Em or Sunburst by
Andrew York. They’re both fun. I miss playing in a classical
ensemble, trios and quartets are really fun if you have reliable
players in your group. I prefer playing my originals anymore, the
classics are played much better by the multitude of virtuosos out
there.
Upon
ending Angelrust, what made you decide to move into a folkier, more
classical guitar-oriented side of music?
I’d
say it’s more the other way around. I wrote a lot of classical and
fingerstyle acoustic music before I ever joined Angelrust or Harvist.
Some ended up on the s/t Forest of the Soul album, some never was
recorded or became the basis of metal songs later on. So this
(Nechochwen in particular) has really always been my style. Angelrust
had a little bit of this too, but it was more than just me writing
the music. By 2005, I started recording rough little acoustic demos
at home that eventually became Algonkian
Mythos.
Originally the project that is “Nechochwen” was going to be an
all classical guitar album for Dark Horizon Records but I can’t
force a particular style or concept unless I want to. It came out
more diverse than just a classical guitar album whether I planned it
that way or not. At the time I was way more into steel-string
fingerstyle guitar than classical. In some ways I still am. While my
brain was trying to come up with good classical solos (of which there
are some on Algonkian
I
think) my heart kept telling me to write with the slide, psychedelic
keyboards, and ebows. If I’d done strictly classical solos to
convey the heart-wrenching subjects on that album, I don’t think
anyone would have remembered it 5 or 6 years later. I had to mix up
the folk and classical styles. Keep in mind this was three and a half
years before Angelrust split up; I think I just chose to focus more
on Nechochwen after the breakup. I really enjoy the process of
creating Nechochwen albums.
What
comes next overall? A new Nechochwen album? How about some ANGELRUST?
Eh? Eh?
Yes,
of course. We just finished mastering the new Nechochwen LP-only
release last night. I have no title yet, I’ve been 100% focused on
the music and lyrics spanning two languages, English and Shawnee.
It’s about a half hour in length. Although the songs complement
each other, the album is not as much of a concept piece like Azimuths
to the Otherworld
was. I consider it a Double EP, if such a thing exists, with side A
being more ethnic/acoustic and side B being heavy. It has some
surprise twists to it but if you liked the first two albums you will
enjoy this as much or more. It’s the warmest, most natural sounding
music we’ve ever made in my opinion and (even as their new-ness to
me has worn off) probably my favorite batch of songs we’ve done
with any project.
Some
Angelrust songs may be re-worked and recorded in the future but I
don’t see an actual reunion on the horizon. I do have a death metal
project called Infirmary that is a bit more extreme than Angelrust
was. There is a split with The Reprisal called Unholy
Conception that
got a limited local release. I’m hoping this gets officially
released and distributed soon; I’m very proud of it and plan on
writing more Infirmary material next year. I have two songs posted at
www.myspace.com/infirmarywv
for those interested in checking out Infirmary.
Any
parting words?
Thank
you for the opportunity to speak about the music I’m involved in. I
hope people out there are enjoying it. Please support artists and
small labels by contacting them and purchasing their products. If
you’re reading this, you probably already do and for that I am
grateful!
-Jon
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