In Conversation With #124 - Aerial East
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Aerial East has just released her new album ‘Try Harder’ - an elegant piece of desert folk about the feeling of groundlessness. She took a moment to talk to us about the album and how it all came together.
It is titled ‘Try Harder’ - does that have a certain meaning behind it?
Well it's the title of a song on the album but I think it's about recognizing that things aren't easy. It's going to be a struggle and to not give up.
Where was the album recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from that experience?
We recorded in the west village in my producers studio where we made my first record 'Rooms'. I seriously considered going to the desert to make the record but that idea was not as compatible with my process as staying home and taking my time. We were in the studio three nights a week for over a year recording producing and mixing the album. We both have other jobs so we would meet up in the evenings after work and work for a few hours.
It feels like a ‘coming-of’age’ album, was that your intention?
That was not my intention at all and I didn't even recognize it until enough people around me got there independently. I was like 'how can it be a coming of age? I'm 30!' But we can't always see ourselves.
There is a sense of calm on this record, especially due to the fact you decided to have no drums on it - what led to that choice?
I wanted the record to be very calming because I was experiencing a lot of anxiety and it honestly felt collective. The news cycles were so overwhelming and I felt it was taking a toll on me and the people around me so I wanted whatever noise I was adding to the mix to hopefully be a sort of balm or respite.
You come from a military family, so spent a lot of your childhood in Europe and teenage years in Texas - do you feel all this traveling helped shape your writing style at all?
I don't know that it shaped my writing style but it definitely shaped my worldview and my inner world and therefore the content of my writing. I think the thing that most influenced my writing style was moving to New York and discovering so many other inspiring songwriters.
After finishing college, you left for New York - what made you head there and more importantly what made you stay there enough to call it home?
I never actually finished college. I went to two different community colleges for 1-ish semester each before moving to New York. I moved to New York because Katharine had moved here to model and go to fashion school and she invited me to live with her. My parents were leaving Texas and I was living with my then ex- boyfriend so New York seemed as good a place as any. I stayed because it was the only place I ever belonged.
What are the key themes and influences on the album?
Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Gebrou, Agnes Martin, the desert, quiet, empathy, home, wind, nostalgia, nighttime
Do you have a favorite lyric on the album? If so, which one and why?
I think 'The things we build don't always feel like mine' might be my favorite lyric. I don't really know where it comes from and it feels so true. I think that feeling of... the loss of agency expressed in that lyric is something I struggle with a lot. Taking ownership over something. I struggle with it in my personal life but also in music. I don't play an instrument, I didn't study music, I don't really know how to run a session on a computer, and I don't always have money to pay people to play instruments and run sessions for me so I have to always fight to work with people who are dedicated to my vision and able to be really connected and listen to me and luckily I have found that. But when I find myself in situations where I can't connect to my agency it is really painful and I have to trust myself and let go of those moments.