Ayron Jones

Walt and Ayron Jones talk playing guitar, Seattle, Sir Mix A Lot, and more.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Yet it's Wall from Rock ninety fivefive. I am backstage with a guy
I've been trying to see dude,I've been trying to see you for years.
Man, thanks for coming to Chicago. I'm with Aaron Jones. What's
up? Vans going to see you? Get to see you too, man.

(00:22):
I think your music is fantastic andit's fascinating. It involves so many
different genres. Uh. You playeda lot of instruments, Yeah, you're
growing up. I did, man, I played quite a few. What
made you pick up the guitar?I want to play that thing, I
think. I think Uh, Iwouldn't even played a lot of intr experimented
with a lot of different instruments.I think guitar was the one that just
like suke with me, and itbecame kind of a vehicle of expression for

(00:46):
me, you know what I'm saying. So I always had an im up
write write songs and to try towrite write music accompanied by instruments, and
I was dabbling with you know,and I think guitar was the first time
that it made sense, you know, And so I got really this pretty
goo. Yeah, man, Igot really into songwriting on guitar and then
I got really in the guitar playingafter that. How old is this how
old? I was like thirteen yearsold? Okay, yeah, thirteen,

(01:07):
and I had already I had writtena few songs as a kid and put
on piano and just different blood instrument. Are you the worst at the worst
at yeah? Oh lord, Agood question. The drums probably I probably
worse the drums. Worse of thedrums. Yeah. I just never really
got the whole polyrhythmic limb thing down, you know, and like and I
never really had the patience to takethe time to figure it out. So
it's difficult, kind of a jackof all trades master yea. So it's

(01:30):
like, yeah, yeah, it'sit's a it was. I never I
could never figure it out. Man, Violin would probably be probably be second
worse of Violent because I just neverwant to practice or take time to figure
that out either. But you know, guitar, That's why guitar was what
it was for me. Though.After playing Violent a bunch, I had
kind of picked up with the stringinstruments familiarity and then jumped into playing guitar.
Man, And is there an artistthat you heard You're like, oh,

(01:53):
oh, yeah, I want todo that. It was it was
all like the nineties guys. Imean, like you know the Sound Garden
and all those days, and thenI went backwards after that, right,
so it was like sound guard anaudio slave, where at Rage against the
Machine, you know, Steve vlike all these really great guitar players.
And then like I remember one whenI began playing guitar, I jumped into
listening to TeV Ravon and then JimiHendricks and all these cats. And that's

(02:13):
kind of what opened me up tolike really embracing the guitars. It just
a different kind of instrument, butyou can hear it and you're playing.
You grew up in Seattle, andhow has that being in that Seattle scene
affected you as a musician? Howhas it created who you are? I
think it's it was just super influentialon the music. I mean, I
just just on how I hear music, how I even produce it, and

(02:36):
listened to myself and listen to otherpeople even you know, it's like it
just kind of seeped into it seepsinto you after a while. You know,
you live in this isolated region inthe Northwest, and you know,
we don't we don't have a lotof things. I mean, we actually
do. We have a lot ofthings that we are very proud of Northwest.
We started ups, you know,you know what I'm saying. We're
Boeing and Microsoft all those things.But in terms of the arts and the
music scene, I think it's alwaysbeen kind of isolated place that nothing a

(02:59):
lot of people really knew much about. I still don't know really much about.
But then when so when grunge becamea thing, it was like suddenly
like like Seattle was his hot spot, you know, and that kind of
just that kind of epitomizes the Seattlefor me. It's like it's always got
something bubbling into the surface. Youknow. You you put your band together
and you're playing in a bar andyou got a little help from another Seattle

(03:19):
guys or mix a lot. Yeah, how did from what bar? Because
I spent two years living in Seattle. Yeah, the rout in the raven
right there opened up in kay andthe university district right there Seattle. Yeah,
okay, uh and how did hestumble upon you? You guys playing?
Uh? You know, we werewe had been doing this Battle of
the Bands thing and somehow a friendof his uh named Scott had gotten had

(03:43):
gotten wind of us, and hewas like, yo, man, you
know good friends with with Anthony,you know somebody slot And he says,
yo, man, you gotta comecheck these guys out. So he walks
in checks us out. Man,see a three piece black rock band.
He's like, I love it.And at the time, we were jammers,
man, we were just like,we didn't really have a bunch of
songs. He's had a bunch ofjams. We kind of like dabbled with
and we jumped on stage and noactual structure to what we were doing.
And that was the first time Igot in the studio and actually worked on

(04:06):
how to record. And you know, I'd already done dabbled in recording before,
but that was the first time weactually had the opportunity to do that.
And uh and then after that,like the rest was history. Man.
I mean, you know one thingthat I don't talk about much to
be the first one I talk aboutit, but the Hendrick family actually played
a direct role in my career asit is right now. Yeah, because
well so in uh when I whenI started playing guitar, this is kind

(04:28):
of around the time I'm it makesa lot too. Twenty eleven, twenty
and twelve, I would play atI would make money by playing, having
a day job, but also playingweekly gigs at at little bars and clubs
and bistros and things like that.So, uh, every every Thursday night
I played the place called a ScottaBistro which was owned by Sean kemp Right

(04:48):
but also but also co owned bya cat named Troy Wright. And Troy
Right at one point for a longtime was married to Janie Hendricks. So
Troy, Troy has has all thesekids are Hendricks is. He's a part
of the Hendricks family. You know, he's really really he was really deeply
involved with that. And so Ibecame close to the Hendricks's through through Troy
at the time. And my firstgig, really touring ever was working with

(05:13):
Jenna Money because uh, Troy's son, Austin Hendricks was working closely, would
you know, and he had askedme to come and be a guitar player
for a group called Deep Cotton,who was comprised of the producers for Jenna
Money's first record. Uh. Andso that was my first little anything.
But the Hendricks family itself had adirect role in my career being what it
is today as well as so mixa lot. You know, So I

(05:34):
got deeply tied into it's amazing.I think it goes back to that Seattle
community. How you were saying,it's kind of isolated there in the Pacific
Northwest and they kind of keep totheir own and it is a community.
Yeah, it is, man,it is and and and you know,
and you know, the Hendrick familyhas always been really involved in the Seattle
music scene and as well, it'sjust been like a source of promoting you

(05:56):
know, African Americans and music inthe Pacific Northwest around the world, you
know. And so I have theHenderson's that thank Janey and the family and
Troy and all those guys, likewe're all we're all still really close them.
Well, it's amazing. I mean, they obviously put their money on
an amazing artist because it is takingoff. New single Blood in the Water
is incredible. I love how itstarts on one level that's right kind of

(06:19):
low here, and it builds andthen it just hits and it slams.
It's epic. The guitar is amazing. What's the song about? What was
the impetus behind that song? Theblood in the water is about just you
can't choose the cards you're dought andyou can you can only play them,
you know, you can only handlethem, like play the cards you get

(06:40):
your your dought. And for me, it was just the irony of being
born into these two people who livewhose lives you know, for better for
worse, were just end up beingreally hard, challenging, you know,
drugs and alcohol and like all thesethings. And if you look at statistically
speaking, how how people like thatend up, you know, they don't
end up very well, and thechildren don't end up very well. And

(07:01):
so here I am, you know, I'm in my thirties now and I
got I'm on the verge of havingyou know, four top five Billboard rock
hits. And my parents never hada chance to see me play, you
know, like never never saw meplay one time. Never knew what would
I would become, you know,And so it's about the irony of that,
you know, like how something ifyou look at you know, society
would look at like my mom anddad and be like you guys are just

(07:24):
trash or nothing. You know,you would never be anything, You'll never
create anything. And here they are, they created something to share with the
world. So in a way thatlike putting the waters about that their love,
you know, and and who theyare as people being shared with the
world, and this kind of almostlike backwards way backdoor kind of way.
You know, that is an amazingmessage. Yeah, that's that's great.
I can't wait to go back andlisten to the song again. Knowing that

(07:46):
new album, Chronicle of the Kid, is fantastic. It definitely you can
listen to your previous albums and thenhear the growth to where you are now
with this album. Oh yeah,what what has elevated for you in making
this record? Uh? You knowthey I think that for me, it
was just the experience, you know, Like my first record was kind of

(08:09):
a compilation of older songs that Ihad brought up to date. There was
a couple of new songs that Ihad written within that year that I was
doing the record. But when Istarted writing for Chronicles of the Kid,
Uh, I was just I wasin it, man, I was really
in it. I just had beenblaunched into the public eye and like the

(08:30):
sudden surge of fame and like attentionand you know, just like being thrown
into this whole new class of musicianshipand all those things. I think that
that's what made it happen, youknow, was that like, you know,
I had already come of age,you know, in my first record,
I feel like, but people werestill getting to know me then,
and so it's like almost like hewas taking all this old music and coming

(08:52):
forward, but like they hadn't reallyheard what was going on like right now,
you know. So I think Chroniclesof the Kid is more of a
story of the taking place right thismoment, you know, And so which
goes in along the line with like, ka, how I've been looking at
my records, you know, whichis like, you know, Chronicles the
Kid, Child is state you know, these are past present and hopefully we
get a third record out it willbe about the future, you know.

(09:13):
Ah, I love it. Yeah, I love it. Big master plan
going on. Yeah, I amexcited to hear this answer. Give me
three records that define you define me? Oh man, dude? Uh Audio
Slave by Out of Slave. Ithink was it would be one that defines
me never Mind by Nirvana, andthen Access Vote is Love Little Jimmy Hendrix,

(09:35):
Little Jimmy. Yeah. I lovethree probably my three top record Yeah,
that's see, that's an amazing listand I can hear all of those
influences in your music. Yeah,it's fantastic. All right, So you're
during this tour, this acoustic tourwith Chris Daughtry. Now, what's what's
next? What's coming up later thisyear? For I got a bunch of
festivals of doing Oklahoma after Shock.I'm playing at Disney Disney World for a

(09:58):
couple of shows. Can I tellyou something. Yeah, my wife and
I are going to be there becausewe have annual passes and we're like,
well we have to go down foryou know, food and wine or whatever
it is, and then what wecan do? You want to go?
And she's looking at like, oh, Aaron Jones is playing this weekend.
I'm like, that's the weekend.Yeah, we're gonna get to see my
kids. Man, you get tosee all my all five of my kids.

(10:20):
My wife's coming, my sister's comingand stuff too. Man. So
it's gonna be a big family affairs. Awesome. Yeah, man, But
that's happened. I got some shows. I got a headlining show coming up
in Baltimore. I got uh,let's see here, I'm playing in Paris
and you know, we're just gonnakeep pushing this record, credable. It's
just beginning, yeah, man,Yeah, we're still grinding that. I
keep telling me with that too.Man. It's like as as much as

(10:41):
happened last you know, you forget, it's only been two years, you
know since my first record dropped,and so a lot has been going on,
like keeps happening man, you know. So it's exciting. I'm excited
to get to be here to meetyou, and I can't wait to watch
this ride because it's gonna be agood will Thank you. I appreciate you
being a part of it. Too. Awesome, Thanks Aaron. Hanging backstage
with Aaron Jones on A Rock ninetyfive five