Interview with Aeron Aether!

Another interview is now set up for you here at Progressive House Worldwide. Today we are truly honoured to show you one of the biggest stars out there, this time we went to have a chat with the one and only, Hungarian superstar Aeron Aether. With big releases on some of the biggest and best labels around such as Morphosis, Silk Royal, Mango Alley and of course Arrival that he have a special affair with. We all know what he is capable of when it comes to producing melodies, rhythms and the special progressive breaks sound were he is one of the leading producers on the market. Let us learn a bit more and hear what this very talented producer from Hungary has to say!

First of all, a very big thanks you for taking some time to make this interview possible, it’s our pleasure to have you with us. Could you tell us your story, how it all began with your interest for producing music and how you turned in on the electronic dance music scene? Also, tell us the story about you, who is hidden behind the name of Aeron Aether?

All this electronic music madness started in my childhood. I still remember when I first heard music only made with analog synthesizers when I was around 3 years old. I was blown away by those new sounds, and I decided to make this kind of music someday. I spent all my life to get in touch with softwares and synths, and I studied electrical engineering to complete my interest about electronics.

When it comes to your productions we all know that you have the special gift to create some great melody lines and the structure of your tunes are always at top quality, could you try describe how you think when starting a new project in your computer?

The first thing I usually do is to play random melodies on my midi keyboard, and tweak some sounds on virtual synths. When I got something I can follow, a lot of additional melody comes up in minutes in my mind to complete the first melody. This is the quickest part of music making for me. After I got the main melodies, I start to experiment with them, and with some beats and percussions using different effects and synthesis methods. This is the second best part, where you can feel the real freedom of creating electronic music.

How long have you been in to the producing and how did it all begin?

I’ve started producing more than 10 years ago in elementary school with a friend, and just for fun. Several years passed with only producing for ourselves, and for some local vocalists. We started producing separately after a few years, and after I tried myself in different genres, and changed my name several times, I started my own project as Aeron Aether. A friend helped me to get in touch with Tilth Music in 2006, and my first track, ‘Abandon’ was released there in 2007. Labels are started to ask tracks and remixes from me from all around the globe in the next few months, and now I have around 80 releases.

What do you see as your main strengths as a producer?

I think my main strength is what I like to make the most, and those are the melodies and experimental soundscapes. Melodies are for the mind and soul, and that’s what I’d like to manipulate. This is the best part of music creating for me. The other thing is I always try to achieve new things in my music, even if it’s not successful sometimes. Combining things to create new ones, warping and synthesizing new elements, cut them, reverse them, mix them. This is all so much fun. I think I always can do my best in those things, where I can play with music like an enthusiastic child.

How would you define a good progressive track?

A progressive track – as the name shows – should be always something fresh, interesting and progressive in also the sounds design, and melodies. I think progressive tracks shouldn’t follow any clichés, that’s why we call it progressive. It’s all about following the technical evolution of the electronic music technology. That’s what the word “progressive” means to me.

The most of us that listen to your music are definitely interested in how you do it. What programs do you work with, any specific vsti’s that is significant when it comes progressive melodies and Aeron Aether? Also, do you work with both software and hardware?

I work mostly with softwares, I have only a few MIDI controllers. I tried many DAWs until I found Ableton live, and I think I found the best software I need for music creating. Of course I use many other VST’s and audio apps. My favourites are the NI Reaktor, Arturia synths, Massive, East West instruments, and the internal synths of Ableton. I have a pair of Alesis M1 Active Mk2, and an Audio Technika ATH-M50 headphone.

We all know you have a special love affair with the fantastic Arrival label. Could you tell us some more about it? How you got in there and how the work with Silk labels goes.

We are very close friends with the founders of Silk from the beginning of my music career as Aeron Aether, and that was the time when Silk Music is launched as well. They had an idea some years ago about a Silk sublabel for the new faces of electronic dance music, and they asked me if I’m interested in managing it, because they trust in my musical taste. I said yes without hesitating too much, because the whole mentality of Silk and the guys behind it are very close to me. So the main concept behind Arrival is to find new talents, and give them opportunity to show themselves, but after more than a year, it’s something more. We have great core artists like Terry Da Libra, Andre Frauenstein and many more, and already released remixes from Proff, Fretwell and some other big names of the electronic music industry.

When it comes to listening to music, what can we find in your Ipod? A lot of different styles, strictly progressive music or what is there in it?

I’m listening to a lot of different music from new jazz to drum&bass. At the moment I have Bonobo, Seba, Adam Freeland, Trifonic, and a lot of progressive house and breaks music as well. I’m very picky about tracks I like to listening to, so I try to collect those ones, which are good enough to listen for years without get bored of them. Those are the real gems.

What inspires you to create the beats and tunes that you come up with?

I’m inspired by all the music I heard in my life, and the world itself. Feelings, everything what happens, and the nature is also one of my inspirations. All these things comes together when the creativity shows itself. You just sit down, and a few moments later you just realize that you created something nice.

You are not to many guys out there on the electronic dance music scene making progressive breaks but you are one of them, leading the pack. It’s a special thing to many people. Why do you think there are not to many guys out there creating those wonderful breaks tunes?

It’s not “cool” these days, that’s the problem. If there would be a lot more progressive breaks artists, people could find their own favorites, and fall in love with this genre again. I think it’s a very valuable and complex style, which needs more attention. I remember when 5-6 years ago big dj’s played progressive breaks in the middle of a progressive house set, and everyone was blown away.

A lot of the music today is not sold, it’s spread through Internet and musicians hardly make any money at all on their productions. What are your thoughts about the sharing through blogspots, forums and all other ways for illegal sharing of music and what do you think there is to do about it?

I think there’s nothing we can do, because people will always find the way to share music. I think the best would be something like this: let all music to be downloaded for free, and get incomes from the advertisements on the site, and divide it between artists in the rate of their downloads. I heard this somewhere some years ago, but it looks like it isn’t working somehow.

If we look in to the future, what can we expect in the coming months from you and your productions?

I’m planning my artist album for years now, but I haven’t got enough time for it yet. Finally I could stop remixing, so I can start to work on it this summer. I hope I can finish it until the end of 2011, this is the goal for me as Aeron Aether this year. As for the other projects, a new formation called Abstracta is on the way to show itself. It’s a collaboration between Solex and me, and we are specialized to big room trance tracks. If you like trance, you should keep an eye on us, a lot of tracks will be released soon on the biggest trance labels. We’re also working on some interesting collaborations with Matt Darey, Retroid, Elfsong, and some others, so I’m looking forward to the second half of this year.

If we move a bit further, were do you see yourself and the name of Aeron Aether in a couple of years?

My dream is to make movie soundtracks, and I will try to do my best to reach that goal someday. Until that I’m sure I will continue my journey on the road of music producing, and I will always try to improve my skills. I’m that type of guy, who never satisfied with his own creations, so there will be always something I can learn, and develop.

Any final words to our PHWW viewers?

Thanks for this interview guys, I really like PHWW, so keep up the good work! And to PHWW viewers: always listen to quality music, and support your favorite artists in any way. That’s the best way to say ‘thank you’.

We’d like to thank you once again for taking some time for us, hope to see more of you here at Progressive House Worldwide in a near future.