Fast-forward some and in 2009 he came up with Anodyne Industries and started writing breaks. “I knew I wanted to produce drum and bass at some point, but it was difficult because I had so much respect for the genre and history of the scene that I didn’t want to make my mark by churning out a load of utter crap. So I started my weird, techy, progressive half-step sound and just took off from there.” And today little has changed – he’s still doing a lot of drum and bass, breaks, IDM – actually you name it. His boundaries are limitless and his taste varied.
But he remains modest – and admits he’s still on the learning curve. “It has only been in the last year that I’ve been confident enough in my sound that I’ve started reaching out to the local San Francisco/Bay Area drum and bass scene. Before that I was pretty content just cultivating my sound on the Burning Man circuit. It’s really awesome to be meeting people who are just as insane about the music as I am, in my area anyway! The artists in San Fran are a huge source of inspiration for me. They’ve been slogging it out in the trenches for over a decade keeping the sound alive on the West Coast.”
Indeed, the half tempo drum and bass that he produces and plays reminds him and I quote, ‘of an evil villain in some hyper-violent anime stalking out of raging flames, eyes glowing with a crazy grin slashed across his face.’ And even better: ‘a giant mecha slowly unfolding and unleashing a torrent of destruction on an incoming wave of enemy drones.’ Or even: ‘an unlikely hero accepting repetitive assaults of torment and punishment as he drives his blade deeper into the heart of his nemesis.’ Deep. Yet he sums up with this: “I’ve always written my music to play next to a scene or chapter of a story. Anodyne Industries brings that to the dance floor.”
So other than a forthcoming set of gigs Down Under, Aaron is excited and honored to be sharing in a production workshop concept, billed with the likes of Dusty Fungus, Safire and Morph. He explains: “a few years ago when I was a member of the IDM forum, I put out a few tutorial videos about production on YouTube. People just can’t seem to get enough insight into production and sound design and the videos got a decent number of views. So when Jay Curtis from Hopskotch Records and I started kicking around the idea of bringing me out to Australia for a string of performances, we agreed it was a great opportunity to pull together some kind of workshop too. Honestly, I just hope it turns out to be a room full of nerds sharing ideas and helping each other out. Working on this music in a room by myself for years is a solitary undertaking. I love hanging out and talking shop with people who are just as passionate about it as I am.”
So coming back to the party for a moment, Aaron is pretty wild about the whole thing. “The party this Saturday is going to be off the hook – I can’t wait to meet more people out here that love the deeper, technical side of electronic music. I just met Dusty Fungus last weekend at Earth Frequency Festival and he was a rad dude with insane sound design.”
And at the show on Saturday, Aaron will be throwing down some punishment with his partners-in-crime Dabs, Dusty Fungus, Safire, Snareophobe, Dyslexic and CM & Lickweed. “I’ll be playing old, new and unreleased Anodyne Industries tracks along with a blend of half-step drum and bass. Expect the vibe to be rowdy, coupled with the appeal of an eclectic international lineup of big sound artists and DJs.”
BY RK
