by AEONN
Photo by Erin Floyd
Ultimately, I am not a musician. I’m a storyteller. I just happen to be very good at using music as a medium of communication. , and that is why I have always been fascinated by film scores. Everyone loves a good story. My music is definitely a journey that I invite my audience through. And if it triggers an emotion, then I consider my job almost done. Moreover, I intend to say something that you can relate to, hopefully.
Listen to the EP while reading the text.
Music before Ego
Composing music is the most exciting experience as a musician. And being the only captain on board kind of makes everything smoother when it comes to expressing yourself.
I played in different bands, and I liked it. The collaboration, the fun, the ideas that you come up with that you wouldn’t have found by yourself and so on. But it is also very energy-consuming. And more than once I ended up dealing with ego issues.
You can’t blame musicians for putting their ego on the foreground though, every one of them needs a tiny bit of recognition. But there is a distinct shift the moment you realize that whatever choice you make should serve the music, not the artist behind it. I try to stick to that more than ever.
Using the right Language
As a composer I have been tempted to try way too many things on my tracks. Especially when I started composing for myself. And I feel like somehow, I am still battling with my tendency to clutter a mix with too many instruments. Fortunately, I am more experienced now, and I have learned to focus on the intention. Because it is the primary drive that will condition my choice regarding arrangements and melodies.
Writing for Films
My most recent work is the “Jia” – EP, which is a collection of 4 tracks inspired by a short film that I have been working on a year ago. The creation process was exciting and humbling because it did not always go as planned. But I loved bringing life to that music.
So I have been contacted by one of the film writers (Raphaël Bouchez) because he liked my album “Instar,” and he wanted me to compose the music for his short film named “Jia.” It was still raw footage at the time. And even though they did not have a proper edit to work with, he sent me a brief with a broad description of the music atmosphere they wanted.
Then I did something I would not recommend to any film composer… I was so eager to get started on the composition that I created a track with the basic understanding I had of the film, without having seen anything before. Once I had the chance to see the first rough, not only I was stunned by the quality of the film, but I realized how irrelevant my first track was. So I threw it away and started over from scratch.
For the next month, I worked on ideas that were fitting the mood but not the timing. So I had to “kill my own babies” and start over again, and again. Eventually, the structure of the Jia central theme was done. So I worked for another month to get the right instruments and sound.
Why Stopping There?
There I was in my home studio with all those stems and ideas I had composed for Jia that never made it to the final edit. And still, I was playing them on the piano because they stuck in my head.
So to scratch the itch I composed an alternate version of the central theme without following the video timing. And I got carried away, so I spent another weekend composing what then became “Celestial I” & “Celestial II” with synthesizers only.
After making the most of that creativity burst, I just thought it would be great to release an EP for Jia since those 4 tracks are revolving around the same melody. The story doesn’t have to stop at the end of the first track, but it carries on with alterations and from a different angle.
My Sound
The last two releases I have composed are instrumental, but it is just one side of my musical language. My next album is definitely going to be back towards the sound of my first EP (The Thing You Breed) with more guitar and synthesizer as well as vocals.
My so-called sonic signature dwells in the melody I create more than the instruments I play. As an independent artist, I like to have the freedom to pick whatever suits my intention, and it will always sound like me.
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