Interview with a Musician: Cameron Aerts

Interview With a Musician:

Every month we are going to highlight one musician who we as a team particularly enjoy listening to and think our readers will enjoy too. So the first ever musician we are highlighting is Canadian singer-songwriter extraordinaire.

CAmeron AErts

When I was very young, four or five, I was all about a great Canadian band called Great Big Sea. That got me interested in music, but it wasn’t until I was ten that I decided I should get an electric guitar and start taking lessons. I was very into Rush at that point (like all ten-year olds, I’m sure), so that catalyzed the finally getting lessons! For a few years, I stuck to just learning guitar, bass, and drums. I would learn the parts of different songs that I liked every week. By the time I was thirteen, my teacher was becoming very insistent that I start singing, but I was very hesitant…singing seemed like it was “uncool” for a thirteen-year-old dude, imagine that. But one day, before we got in the car to head to lessons, I basically said to my older brother (who was also taking lessons and was nervous to sing), “I’ll sing if you sing”. And so, I started to learn to sing, singing lots of folk-rock songs by bands I liked. Then a few years after that, my teacher thought he would try to push me a little further. He insisted that I start writing my own songs…but that seemed “uncool” too! What cool sixteen-year olds spend their evenings writing poetry?! Eventually I caved, and realized that if I really want to be a musician, I need to write my own songs.

What inspired your song ‘And All the People Said’?

I wrote and recorded this song back in the spring [of 2020]. Early in the spring, most of my writing had been rather subdued singer-songwriter-style songs. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but I typically like to have a good amount of upbeat songs in the mix. So, when I sat down to write this song, I was consciously trying to write an upbeat folk-rock song. The first part of the song that came to me was the title phrase at the end of the chorus, “And All the People Said, ‘Eh, I just wanna rock n’ roll’”. I was playing with the phrase, “And all the people said Amen”. This is definitely not an anti-religion song in any sense, but I thought (with my terribly dry sense of humour) wouldn’t it be funny if it sounded like I was going to sing “amen”, but actually sing, “Eh…I just wanna rock n’ roll”. And that set the tone for the rest of the song; it wasn’t about something specific, but it was all about conveying that attitude of ‘I just wanna rock n’ roll’. So, I wanted the verse lyrics to display a certain about of swagger, in lyrics like, “I’ll take a moment for the fascination, then let me simplify / If the devil’s gonna try to take me down I’ll bring the devil down with me / ‘Cause I’m fool that’s free to fly,” and the tongue in cheek word play of, “It’s a good thing looks can’t kill, ‘cause I’m dying to get just one good look at you”. Then, of course, I wanted the music to allow that swagger to come through. I had a lot of fun recording the different guitar and harmony tracks on this one.

Is there anything going on right now that you are particularly keen to continue the voice on? (eg. Sustainability, music artist rights, equal education etc)

I am definitely one to advocate for the rights and compensation of musicians. The development of streaming platforms has been great for the consumer, but not so great for the artist. Musicians receive such a small amount of money compared to what they used to just from people listening to and buying their music. This has created a very top-heavy industry. It is becoming harder and harder to be a successful, young musician with a small to medium sized fanbase…in ways it never has before. Music streaming is great, but I think that we need to find a better way to compensate musicians, or this industry won’t be sustainable long-term.

‘And All the People Said’ is a song so perfect for

a road trip, what are you go to listens when on a road trip?

I have a huge playlist of well over 100 hours of my favourite songs that I’ll put on shuffle in the car. The beautiful thing about it is its diversity: I can happily go from listening to Bruce Springsteen to Barenaked Ladies to Arkells to Stevie Wonder to Rush to Joni Mitchell to Walk Off the Earth, all in a half hour. This summer I also found myself listening to a lot of live albums (maybe because concerts couldn’t be happening). It can be great to liven up a road trip by listening through an entire live album!

This month’s issue is all about Staycations, what is your favourite thing to do on a staycation?

I really enjoy a nice hike through conservation areas or provincial parks, then maybe a good game of cards.

Where has your best staycation to date been?

I have done some nice camping up in the Tobermory area of Ontario in recent years which is always great, that’s a beautiful part of Canada. And growing up on a farm, I enjoy a good visit to the smaller towns of Ontario for a meal and a walk about; towns like Kingston, Goderich, or Ailsa Craig.

Where can our readers find you and your work?

You can find me on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon…the whole deal. I release a new song, typically, every few weeks. Then I’m also on Instagram (@cameronaerts) and Twitter (@CamAerts), that’s where you can stay up to date on what I get up to with music.