Regular RUSSH readers will know that I have a soft spot for Porches, an American synth-pop project of New York-based musician Aaron Maine, ever since I was introduced to his song Goodbye. So my ears pricked up when I heard that he was working with Nick Ward, remixing his song Control. Ward – soon to be opening for Troye Sivan – has been gaining momentum with his bedroom pop and holistic approach to his visual world. We had the two artists, who had never met, interview each other. Maine from a hot New York summer and Ward from a freezing Sydney winter, to discuss the new new albums, Brian Eno and the lines between artists and self.
NW: Do you think the weather effects what music you like to listen to?
AM: Yeah, definitely. I was born in October, and I feel like that maybe has something to do with birthing or something like that. Like, I feel it's the most peaceful, pensive melancholic time and I feel like a lot of those sentiments are kind of present in my music, or team up well with what I've been making, as opposed to like, brat summer. I don't feel like I make summer music necessarily, but there's something about the fall...
NW: There was this Brian Eno quote where he was saying that he lived in this really noisy apartment in New York, and it was when he started to get into ambient music, and the quietest music he'd ever made. And then he moved out to a really quiet apartment and suddenly he was making his most aggressive, loudest music.
AM: Huh – yeah! What's it like where you are set up?
NW: Well, this used to be in my bedroom, but now it's my studio. How about you?
AM: I moved my music shit out of my house for the first time ever, like a year ago, because I'd always wondered what it would be like to not have it at my fingertips every waking and sleeping second of my life.
NW: Is the separation good?
AM: Yeah, it's really good. I panicked at the last minute like, fuck, what if it just totally isn't cool? Or I can't do it? Or is it not the same? It’s a 15 minute walk from my place, and I really like feeling like I'm going to work and having to be a bit more focused there. I kind of have an idea of what I want to accomplish while I'm there and I can't just mess around all day – the decisions I make are a little more economic or smarter or something like that. It's this whacked basement in Soho and I do think that – back to the Brian Eno thing – in hindsight it affected the way the record sounds a lot. Being in this new space, where it was super dim and felt womb-like – you could make as much noise as you possibly wanted. I've never had that, living in a New York City apartment, so I was cranking it. The kick drum and the bass were really important to me. I could play them loud enough that they felt physical, as opposed to having to keep them at a reasonable volume in the house to not bug my neighbours or whatever.
NW: Yeah, to me it feels like your most aggressive and kind of, uncouth album. What do you think was behind that? Do you think it's kind of angry or more impassioned?
AM: Yeah, I think uncouth is a cool word to use to describe it. I wasn't angry making it and I'm never trying to like, really provoke anyone necessarily, besides myself. I think maybe the privacy down there and not being around my belongings or having any real attachments to reality, it felt weirdly like anything went, and allowed me to dig a little deeper and fish around with these darker, uglier parts of my psyche or moods. In general, it felt important to embrace those moments this time around, as opposed to steering around them and only putting the nice, watercoloured, vibe-y stuff forward. So yeah, it's interesting to bare my soul in a less pretty way this time, but you know, you've got to tap in. Often the places that feel uncomfortable when you tap into them can be really fruitful creatively and, even personally, it was cool to spend some time in those places instead of hitting the eject button when it gets like weird.
NW: Yeah, fully. When you’re making music I feel like you need to scratch a certain itch in order to feel like you're actually getting something off your chest and, I don't know, it always has to risk feeling a little bit unflattering. Like 'Oh I don't want my friends to hear this or my parents to hear this', and I feel like those unpleasant emotions usually end with me feeling more satisfied with the result... usually.
AM: I think it can be comforting to hear someone else talk about certain things that most people typically don't, and maybe you would feel less alone hearing some interesting, difficult story or subject matters you can relate to. But yeah, trying to be honest, as honest with yourself as you can possibly be, it's like love, really.
NW: Do you see Porches as a different character to Aaron? Or does it help you get to that spot? Do you think you'd be writing the same music if you were just going under your own name?
AM: I don't think it's a character. I was thinking the other day that I feel pretty lucky that I don't have to be a character and that I've carved out a creative lane. Porches is essentially whatever I want to make; it’s typically pretty drastically different from whatever I made before and there's no costume or specific sound that I feel like I really need to stay true to. So in that way, I feel like it's very much just an open diary, and an extension of my life and whatever I'm interested in. What about you? You release music under your own name. I sometimes wish I could go back in time and just call it Aaron Maine.
NW: I remember around the time of my first shows, when I was supporting an artist, a lot of people were asking me about that choice, because they went under pseudonyms. For them, they wanted the separation and I think when I was 17 years old, I was like, 'No, I want this to be me'. Now, the time where I wish I could have that separation is more on a personal level, than maybe an artistic one. There’s Nick Ward the artist and Nick Ward the person, and I don’t know where which one is at any given time.
AM: So, when do they feel most at odds with each other? The artist and Nick Ward, the guy?
NW: I think it's definitely during this roll out process, because it just feels funny when you make something that's so personal and you get to keep it a secret the whole time. I love the experience of people hearing the music, but I also don't like releasing music because it's a very vulnerable process and you feel a little bit exposed and it all happens really quickly too.
AM: Yeah, 5,000 albums later and there still comes the point right before it's going to come out, where I’m like 'What the fuck was I thinking? Why am I doing this?' – especially when you do a lot of it alone, which it sounds like you do. It is a very personal, private experience. It couldn't be more of a polar opposite thing to cheerlead it out into the world.
NW: I think also, you're always striving for perfection with the thing that you're making, and almost like, a perfect version of yourself that has made this record or something. It's definitely strange.
Whilst Ward is releasing his first record, Maine assures him that those nerves around pre-release are beautiful and should be cherished. The artists get deep into their production techniques and how they almost marry the lyrics before returning to their friends and peer’s opinions and the remix.
NW: It feels like sometimes your friends know you better than you do, especially artistically, almost from an outside perspective. It almost feels so close, like everything's under a magnifying glass when you're working on things. I should have also said at the start, but thanks for doing the remix as well! I love it.
AM: That was fun! I really like that song and I know immediately when I put the stems in if it's going to be a joyful experience to make a remix, or like, pulling teeth. And yours was a breeze! I love when the experience is really fun and I feel like the energy is there. I related to it and immediately had a bunch of ideas – and it's definitely not always like that, so thanks for letting me have a crack at it, you know? Fun to hear the stems and stuff too, I didn't know that you produce most of it yourself at that time, but it is interesting to me as a producer and a nerd to hear the layers and understand more of the song.
Porches’ new album Shirt is out 13 September via Domino and Nick Ward’s debut album House With The Blue Door is out 4 October.
