Interview AEONS

AEONS began in a pub in 2016, borne from a shared desire to create meaningful music after previous projects. Their journey is rooted in camaraderie and musical exploration.

1. Can you tell us about the formation of Aeons and how you all came together as a band?

Sure! Thanks for taking the time to ask us these questions! Like all good things, AEONS started in a pub, in 2016. With Scott, Justin and myself lamenting the ending of our previous projects and deciding “Hey, let’s do a good thing!” and so we did. I had just come from a heavy alt-country band and Scott and Justin and Skippy had been in The Water is Rising, but their drummer had left. So we started something new based on the song “Strange Aeons” that I had demoed to Skippy a few months prior. The band name comes from that very song when we shortened the titles in a messaging group. That song is on our first album and we try and play it at every gig where we can. It has the multi-layered long, dynamic prog shit and harmony vocals we have been doing ever since. It’s part of our DNA now.

I’d also just like to shout out Justin who had never played drums in a band before AEONS and now he’s a fucking machine. Even on practice one it was obvious he was a ferocious talent and now seven years into our career we are dropping massive complex prog pieces and he sounds like he’s been playing for all his life!

Personally I couldn’t wish to be in band like this with anyone else. We hit jackpot with the lineup.

2. How did growing up on the Isle of Man influence your music and creative process?

Well for a start only three of us did. Skippy is from New Zealand and I am from England. The other boys grew up here. I don’t think it affected them too much except Justin can’t say the word “fourteen” properly. The Isle of Man is a lovely place – if a little boring – to grow up in so I’m glad I came from a rough part of the UK. And Skippy will regale you with tales of Kiwi debauchery. Musically there nothing definably “isle of Man” about our music, but the island has a way of getting under your skin. We are all proud to be Manx. We fly the flag always whenever we can. There is a great musical and historical heritage to this wonderful island and it deserves to be heard.

3. What was the inspiration behind your second album, Consequences, and how did it shape your sound?

One word – COVID. While everyone else was locked down, the Isle of Man ( being an island ) managed to keep the indoors shit to an absolute minimum and we went on pretty much as normal except for a couple of really short lockdowns ( Like 8-10 weeks total over a year ). So while we could not go to the UK and tour the first album like we wanted to, we sat down and we wrote and wrote and argued and wrote some more and argued some more and before you knew it Consequences was all done.

Thematically, the clue is in the title : All of the songs reflect stories or situations where the Consequences of your actions – or inactions – are the thread of the narrative. From the modern plague of being unable to see someone else’s point of view to the inexorable end while you float through space in a suit with a dwindling oxygen supply to the tragedy of a turn of the 20^th century chorus girl watching her husband murder the man who assaulted her.

I’m saying this lightly but each of the stories means a lot to us – we each have our own different favourite from each album which I think is a very good thing for a band. I hope people not only enjoy the music but can read the lyrics and enjoy the narrative equally well in isolation. We always ensure out lyrics are printed on the physical CD as this is not only an old vinyl album thing that I sorely miss but it really helps the listener to engage with the tracks.

4. How did it feel to see Consequences make it onto numerous "Best Albums of 2021" lists?

Aw man! Feels amazing! When you release an album it’s like baring a part of your soul. And to know it’s close to the hearts of so many people is incredible. It means we are doing something right! But also that there is a connection between us and the audience. Doesn’t matter if they just wanna thrash around to the grooves or do a dissection of the music theory or just want to sing the catchy choruses. It’s the connections that make a band – and thus the songs – become real and grow. We are so very grateful and hope you find the next offering equally noteworthy!

5. What was the experience like playing your first headline show in London after the release of Consequences?

Technically that was an industry showcase – I won’t say for who but let’s just say it put a smile on our faces! And we learned a lot. For a start, even to an audience who had – let’s face it – no idea who the fuck we were the songs sounded epic in the room and the crowd fucking loved them. If you can get a visceral reaction to a cold audience that’s a great feeling. Yeah, you love it when the audience knows the words and sings them back to you but to see complete strangers get totally on board was an amazing feeling. Thankyou to everyone who came and amazing bands we played with!

6. How did the creative process for The Ghosts Of What We Knew differ from your previous albums?

Honestly I think it was faster. We write fast. We already have 90 minutes of material ready for album 4 to go through. There’s no real difference in the process – it’s just familiarity with what it is to write an AEONS song gets easier with every session.  We try to not write the same song twice – by that I mean we don’t do two songs on an album that could be considered in the same sub-genre – and that gives us a wide creative canvas to write on which makes the creative process much easier.

7. Can you walk us through the songwriting process for The Ghosts Of What We Knew?

Sure. The magic tends to happen in the demos. We record them all ourselves ( We do everything ourselves except mastering ) and then we learn those demos in the practice room. If we can we will gig them a few times. But then the demos get replaced in the same project by the re-records with all the little changes we have made and then mixed by myself and produced by the band. Almost everything except the drums happens in my front room. Some songs need a lot of changes. Some are just exactly as draft one. Weird that, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

There is usually a lot layers happening in an AEONS track so we divide those up for live. Scott and I are rarely playing the same thing on stage. Then the vocals get divided up as they’re almost always written in three or four part harmonies. We try and use our individual tones and ranges to their best. That comes from my love of country music and their multi-layered vocals. There’s not a lot of metal bands – in fact I can only think of one – who does what we do vocally and getting that right is the key to standing out on stage or on a line-up with a lot of other bands. We aren’t shy to drop in the acapella sections  - and making those a feature of the songs especially where the narrative allows it.

8. Which track from The Ghosts Of What We Knew are you most proud of and why?

I can’t speak for the boys here but my personal one is Ghosts itself. It came together quickly – about a month which is good going considering its something like 19 minutes long – but shows off not only the writing but also the individual talents of everyone in the band to their fullest. What I mean by that is across the mammoth runtime we tell this coherent story that you can really feel in the playing on the record. I never get bored of listening to it. There’ still parts in there I forget where in there and go “oh yeah Scott did that there? “ or “Fuck me Skippy really nailed that!”

What our personal favourites are is a different question. I know Justin loves Machines. Joe loves Collapse. Skippy loves Thanatos and Cascade. For me my favourite one to listen to is Noose because its everything I ever wanted in a metal track.

9. How did you achieve the final sound on The Ghosts Of What We Knew, and what was it like working with Sebastian 'Seeb' Levermann on the mastering of the album?

Let me tell you that man is a fucking legend. We do all the recording ourselves like I said. And the production and the mixing. So we stem it down and send it to Seeb and he works his magic to add that 10% “better” that just makes it sing. We do the best we can – and we are fortunate our skills in this are getting stronger every record – but having a great ear on the mastering is the number one difference between a good album and a great one and he certainly delivers. He also loves the music and understands it which is an absolute must for a great sounding record. Thank you sir! We do love you!

10. How do you balance technical proficiency with emotional depth in your music?

That is a fucking great question! I’d say personally that they are one in the same. Technical proficiency on your instrument is a must anyway – but I mean technical proficiency in the writing process. You have to understand what you are trying to say and let the music tell the story. I’ve always said “a riff is not a song” and we hold that dear.  Yeah killer riffs are important but if the musical narrative doesn’t match the lyrical one then you’re fucked. But technical proficiency is also when to lay back. Think of your favourite singer-songwriter acoustic player: They have so little to work with that you need to really understand your song to make it sing. So yeah you can widdle all you like but without a function for it there’s no real point - its just wanking. But you shred a fucking face-melter at just the right point in a song’s finale and you can open up people’s hearts. My advice to any young musician is yes learn your instrument – of course – but also listen to all your favourite songs and break them down – deconstruct them. Find what makes them great. It’s the best tool you will ever have in your pocket.

11. What can fans expect from your live shows in support of The Ghosts Of What We Knew?

Well let’s see! We don’t really know ourselves. We don’t plan ahead very far. We are lazy like that. But hopefully something amazing before we hit a festival or two next year.

12. What are your plans for the future, and how do you see Aeons evolving in the coming years?

Album 4 already has some amazing tracks on it – we already have one in our live set! And there is one enormous prog 24 minute piece that we may release individually. So it’s more of the same but never quite the same, if you see what I mean. We don’t write the same song twice. So hopefully we can keep doing this until something important falls off one of us.

But I think that’s a way off yet!

 A E O N S