Q: Can you describe how you compose a song?
A: I find music somewhere between sleep and dreams. When I’m drifting into sleep, I feel the creative forces working and words start linking up like DNA strands. It’s really wild. As far as the actual process is concerned, I listen to the beat first. Usually, I’ll have a concept in mind–what I want to get across. It takes me awhile to come up with the first line, but after that it’s all a very fluid thing. I try not to be too sprawling. I try to stay directed and focused. I don’t bite lines from other rappers. I don’t put on a show or lie about my life. I used to write on paper, but now I use a laptop. A lot of rappers think that’s blasphemy, but I find a lot easier.
Q: I remember you saying your younger brother creates your beats–can you explain how you guys work together?
A: My younger brother Chester goes by the name InfinitiRock. He started producing for me when he was 5 years old. He’s 17 now and he’s a real monster. Since he’s still in high school and living in our hometown in New York, he sends me his songs online. The sheer volume and breadth of his work is daunting. He makes so much music and it’s so often and he’s so young. They’re all viable, accessible tracks, too. Yeah, that guy really pisses me off.
Q: In “Bring Nick Back,” you reference Jock Jams…can you tell me about your memories of “Jock Jams”? I was a big fan.
A: Out of all the ’90s references in that song, I’m sorry to say that “Jock Jams” is my least favorite! I just have bad memories of girls in middle school dancing around to it and it just reminds me of that scene in Mean Girls when that little girl is suggestively dancing around to some pop star on the TV. But that being said, back in the days you couldn’t really escape the Jock Jams.
Q: How has it been recording your album?
A: So. Damn. Good. I’m working with Matty Trump, Boston’s hip-hop producer of the year. He’s a real whiz in the studio. The sound is clean and we have a real chemistry. I’ve been turning out an insane amount of product, coming home each night with great stuff, and listening to it on repeat to catch any mistakes. In the past, I’ve worked with a lot of people who don’t know what they’re doing in the studio, so I feel blessed to know the people I know and be in this position. It’s been a long time coming…like 12 years.
Q: What have you learned about recording an album–what has the process taught you?
A: I’ve actually been recording a mixtape called “Thank You, Come Again.” It’s over other people’s beats and we’re giving it away for free to promote the release of my album. Recording both of these has taught me that you should always stay focused because working in a nice studio is costly. You have high quality instrumentals broken down into session files and have a firm grasp of your own material and how you want to sound. Also, for those who record, you should listen to your rough mixdowns on different kinds of speakers to see how they turn out.
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Aviator hopes to generate buzz this Friday with the release of his “Thank You, Come Again” mixtape and successfully release his album, “Bigger Than My Matador,” later this spring on Base Trip Records. The artist considers the mixtape to be his deeper, more sophisticated material, and the album to be dark, heartfelt, and electronic (his brother is putting together all of the collection’s beats).
Aside from music, Aviator wants to make it through his twenties, never stop learning, and share love and art with the people he cares about.
Oh yeah, he’d also like to have a wine and cheese party with Barack Obama.
To listen to Aviator, check out his Myspace at http://myspace.com/aviflow and watch the video below to hear track four from Aviator’s “Thank You, Come Again.” Aviator will be performing LIVE this Saturday at BU’s Scarlet Fever 2010. For more information, click here.
Write On – Aviator from Dimitri Kouri on Vimeo.
