Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Willman
Hi Aaron, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I started playing drums when I was about 8 years old because my older cousin, whom I idolise to this day, is also a drummer. In fact, when I was 13 I became a roadie for his band, Endochine and this is when I really fell in love with the live music scene. I wanted to do what those guys were doing, every single night…So I taught myself how to play the piano, guitar and bass and set out to follow in their footsteps.
I started my first, “official” band while studying English Literature at the University of Texas and it was on from there! Late night gigs, early morning classes, it didn’t matter! I finally felt like I was doing what I was born to do!
In all the bands I’ve formed (The Roulettes, The Greenbirds and now Queen Henry) I’ve always been the sole songwriter, rhythm guitarist and keyboardist, having learned the craft from the best like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Muddy Waters, The Kinks, Howling Wolf, The Beach Boys, T-Rex, The Misfits and such…
At some point I wanted to start playing solo acoustic shows to push myself and I found that to be extremely thrilling since there’s no room for error…just you, a guitar and microphone…. You’ve got no one else to lean on but yourself and of course, the songs.
It’s always been my personal belief that any song should be able to stand alone, acoustically… Because if all the other instruments can be stripped away and it still resonates with people, then it’s a sure fire solid tune. In fact, all my songs start off being written on an acoustic and built upon from there… Melody first, then lyrics…always.
When The Hole in the Wall gave me a month long Friday night solo residency, I was like, hell yeah… I’ve got this!
Of all the gigs I’ve played and things I’ve done, that was a really gratifying moment… I mean, to be honest, it meant the world to me. It told me everything I believed in was true. The songs can stand alone and pack the house, every single Friday night.
Then of course, the pandemic hit and all live music pretty much shut down…so I began making my own recordings, as analog as possible these days, playing every single single instrument myself, under the name Queen Henry! That’s been beyond fun and that’s what I’ll continue doing, but in a more professional studio environment, with actual engineers and a producer! [Laughs].
I really dig being able to jump from one instrument to the next, writing and building as I go… I usually lay down an acoustic or electric rhythm guitar, then bass, keys or more specifically a mellotron these days, drums, then lead guitar and any other noise candy the song may need. It’s all about what the song needs, nothing more, nothing less! And I’m keeping it really simple, using only 2-3 plugins per track, max, trying to capture that vintage soul of years yonder but with my knack for songwriting. Because it’s about the performance and how it’s recorded…not all the digital trickery you can utilize to try and cover up piss poor playing.
I also like record each individual instrument track all the way through, no splices or anything like that… It’s like practice for when I start to record to tape! [Laughs]. That stuff is expensive! [Laughs]. You have to get it right, as quickly as possible! I grew up on music from the 30’s to the 60’s and 70’s… I dig the way they did things and it sounds better for a reason! [Laughs]. To me at least! And I guess that’s what really matters? [Laughs].
I’ve also got a couple other recording tricks up my sleeve that I don’t really want to share at the moment though! It’s a grind, doing it all yourself…recording, then re-recording to what track you just laid down, over and over again in order to make it sound like a super tight band tracking live in a studio. It’s the kind of madness I can’t get enough of! [Laughs].
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Oh man…I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there’s no smooth road being a musician! It’s a challenging but deeply rewarding profession…that’s for sure, but there’s always ups and downs! Finding then taking that proverbial road less traveled by is something I constantly strive for. I can’t help but rebel against the status quo… it’s just in my DNA to reject trends and whatnot.
I mean, with any new band, you’re not going to be given the best nights and time-slots. You’re going to be tested with a Tuesday night at 11pm gig and have to earn those coveted weekend ones. Some people can stick it out and some can’t… it’s just the way it is. But I love it. Whether you’ve packed the house on a weekend or it’s just the bartenders and the occasional girlfriend in the audience, you’ve got to plug in and rock it like it’s a sold out show at MSG.
To be honest though, some of those early desolate gigs were wild because I’d just turn to the guys and say, “we’ve got nothing to lose, let’s just go berserk and try out new shit we’ve never really practiced before and see what happens!”… But more times than not, afterwards at the bar we’d just be like, “well, that was rad…let’s try and do that again, if we get invited back!” [Laughs]. Of course we’d usually get invited back…usually! [Laughs].
The main thing is, you just have to believe in yourself and trust the fact that people keep showing up for a reason. And if you know your songs are good, which mine are, naturally, then nothing can stand in your way.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I think being a multi-instrumentalist and solid singer-songwriter is without a doubt what I’m most proud of. I mean, not everyone can pick up any instrument and figure it out on the spot using only their ears…It’s a gift that I’m beyond grateful for.
Shout out to my childhood friend Ryan for forcing me to learn songs by ear! And beating into me the undeniably utter importance and mastery of rhythm guitar! Anyone and everyone wants to shred lead, but the rhythm is the foundation…the bedrock of the song! It’s something you either have, or don’t… Which ties back to being able to play solo acoustic gigs!
But anyways, [Laughs] he’d just put on a record and bluntly say, “figure it out”… And he’d play it over and over again until I got all the chord changes and rhythm right. Our philosophy was like, “The Beatles couldn’t read music either and they damn sure didn’t have the internet, they’d just go to a record shop, pick out their favorite single and cram themselves in a booth and figure it out before the shop owner gave them the boot… so we should too”.
I honestly wouldn’t be the musician I am without that kind of mentality!
Also, I guess I’m really damn proud of my downright tenacity. Having been doing this for so long and gone down some of those long, ephemerally furrowed roads, I’ve always been able to pick myself up and continue chasing the dream. It would be so damn easy to quit, but it’s just not possible for me. I love writing and playing music so damn much! It’s in my soul! And there’s nothing that can take that away from me.
Oh, a really prominent moment for me was becoming a BMI Artist… It was like, right on, this is cool…And they make sure I get paid! [Laughs].
I’ve been told, staying true to myself, doing what I do best and not following what’s popular for the sheer sake of making a buck is what makes me different from the herd. I refuse to make plasticine sounding music just because it’s in vogue, you know what I mean?
I just love music, from jazz to blues, punk, country, pop, metal and everything in between… I like to tell people no matter the genre, you can always find at least ONE song you dig… But for me…for me, the end all be all is rock n’ roll, so that’s what I’m going to play until my fingers fall off, whether it’s fashionable these days or not.
How do you think about luck?
To me, luck doesn’t really exist. If you believe luck got you to where you are, then did you really achieve anything? You dig?
We done here? Right on, I’ve got some things to do! [Laughs].
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/QueenHenry?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=c1defe1c-0173-453c-86e7-80a3ed4990c8
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queenhenryviii/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/track/6pMqo6vhb921uydYNLA9Wi?si=5f6a7e37762449d2
