Artist Of The Week #0094 - Aaron Smith
This week’s Artist Of The Week is the amazing Scottish singer-songwriter Aaron Smith, who has released his debut EP ‘Loveless’ via Platoon. Since releasing his debut track ‘Unspoken’ in July, Aaron has hit seven million streams online with his music, he took a moment to talk to us about winning guitar competitions and how his whole EP came together.
Your EP ‘Loveless’ is out now, where was it recorded?
We recorded the EP in London. I’ve been working with Platoon for this EP and they now own Mark Ronson's old studio so I was lucky enough to be able to record in there. Some really cool people have recorded there like Adele, Lady Gaga and YEBBA so to get to record my first EP there was cool.
Any behind the scenes stories you are willing to share with us from the recording process?
I actually found the recording process quite stressful. It’s the first time I’ve really done this and spent any time in a studio. Don’t get me wrong, I loved recording the EP and got to work with some really amazing people but it was hard work. The content of the songs and the stories behind them are all very personal so I was wearing my heart on my sleeve recording the tracks and it was tough at times.
Your debut track from the EP was ‘Unspoken’, which has gained millions of streams since it’s release, how does that feel? Were you expecting that sort of response from it?
Definitely not, I was so shocked but I feel very blessed to have got that sort of reaction for Unspoken. I guess you don’t really know what to expect when you’re putting your first track out to the world - it feels mental that that many people have listened to something I wrote.
What is the inspiration behind the EP’s title? Is it a theme for the whole release?
Yeah loveless is a theme behind all of the tracks and the concept of the EP. The meaning behind 'loveless' is to feel a lack of love in your life and to want more of the love you’ve lacked. That's something that has played a big part in my life and I'm sure it plays a big part in a lot of people's lives.
What was your creative process like, when putting the EP together? How did you pick which songs to go on it?
I’ve spent the last year and a half writing songs, I wanted to have a bank of work that I could choose from before I put anything out. From that time spent writing I have about 70 songs, I sat down with my management and went through all the songs that we felt were a good introduction to me as an artist. It’s hard to pick what goes out to introduce you to the world but I think we’ve picked a good bunch of songs that represent me and fit together for this EP.
You picked up the guitar as a friendly completion with your cousin, we are assuming you won?
I wouldn’t say that I won haha. I’ve just stuck at it and decided music is what I want to do and hopefully playing the guitar can become a job for me.
Now the EP is out there, what next? What are your plans for the next few months?
Now that its out there I’ll be doing some live shows, excited to get some shows announced and start playing. I think playing live is my favourite part of all of this. I’m also going to get back to writing, I’ve taken a bit of a break from writing to concentrate on putting this EP together and working on the creative side of how to release it - even though I’m writing constantly and working on ideas it’s good to have some time set aside to just focus on writing. I’m looking forward to seeing how the rest of this year goes!