Hey, can you tell us about your background and how you got started in the music industry?
Despite forming China Aster about 10 years ago, it wasn’t until last year that I really decided to enter the music industry with our first release ‘If I Could Dance’.
The band was formed by me and Oliver Marson (solo artist in his own right now) when we were 16, bonding over the likes of The Style Council and The Cure. We stopped because we went to university and didn’t really have the money or logistics to continue. I also went to art school where I questioned everything I did, more so than was really expected of me I think, and so the image and message of China Aster was up in the air.
How has your upbringing and cultural background influenced your music?
I learned the guitar and started writing music at maybe aged 11 or 12 and it’s probably no coincidence that this took off after ‘failing’ the 11+ which was still taking place where I grew up in the 90s. Through my family I was always listening to The Beatles and Oasis, two poles of a lineage that included many bands that I would spend the rest of my teenage years exploring.
Culturally and socially my background was working class but, whilst my family weren’t wealthy, I was slightly better off than my classmates, which was a bit of an identity crisis for me. The music journalist Simon Reynolds talks of a ‘liminal class’ that he ascribes to the similar backgrounds of many of the UK’s punk and post-punk artists. He sees this not-quite-middle-class but maybe upper working class interstitial zone as having a lot of ‘musical energy’. I think it’s worth considering why this might be, because the punk and post-punk scene that China Aster is inspired by was effectively a coalition of the working and middle classes – something that so many political movements are aspiring to but fail to do today.
Can you share some memorable moments from your early years in the music industry?
We’re still in the early years haha! A meaningful experience for me was when I was 15 and a band I was in got invited to play the main stage at Jersey Live, which was headlined by Paul Weller. It meant the world having Mani from the Stone Roses host as well. I got to hang out with him backstage!
What challenges have you faced in your music career, and how did you overcome them?
When I went to university music became unsustainable, partly because Oli and I were in different parts of the UK and partly because we didn’t have the money to pay for things like practice rooms. But it was also a time where I questioned everything I did and for a while I just didn’t think I had anything to say. I liked the music I was writing and I had hoped I’d meet someone that could front the music and write the lyrics etc. but that never happened. I came through though and I’m in a better place now that I know who I am, where I’ve come from and what I care about. It’s enabling to have a worldview.
What motivates you to continue creating and performing music?
Maybe it’s the continuous sense of a potential to create something impactful, something that more and more people will connect with. I guess I just feel like I haven’t exhausted that potential yet.
How do you balance your personal life with your music career?
I’ve always jokingly said that no one should really express themselves – I mean we’re all very very messy deep down right? But I think it’s true in a way – not only could fully expressing yourself in all its rawness be disastrous, it would also probably be uninteresting. I think it’s about taking those honest and open aspects of yourself that matter and which people can relate to.
What are your future goals and aspirations in the music industry?
To grow the fanbase and have more opportunities. We just want to get people listening and relating to the music more.
Are there any collaborations or projects you are particularly excited about in the near future?
We’re currently working on a music video for a song we hope to release in January next year called ‘Memories’. We’re quite excited about this one. In the meantime I’m still writing and spending time in the studio that is my bedroom.
How do you keep your music fresh and innovative in a constantly evolving industry?
I think you’ve got to just keep exposing yourself to more and more different kinds of music. Sometimes music is pleasurable and is all the stuff you like but sometimes music is research or an encounter. The latter is not necessarily pleasurable or is pleasurable in an eerie way. It usually becomes pleasurable over time.
People often box our music in ‘80s’, which I understand but I think there’s a lot more contemporary stuff going on production wise in our music that is quite subtle. Also, a lot of 80s aesthetics don’t belong to the 80s per se – they have a kind of aesthetic surplus that has yet to live out its time I think. There’s difference in repetition sometimes and occasionally repetition is radical – not that China Aster is…yet.
What are some of the challenges you face as an independent artist, and how do you navigate them?
To do so much we want to do costs so much money. We also don’t have an immediate network that we can fall back on – it’s something we have to build. In a way this is good because it gives a sense of merit and the connections you make with fans are probably more meaningful but it’s also harder.
Can you share any behind-the-scenes stories from your music videos or studio sessions?
Working with Oli is great because he effectively acts as producer. We both entertain one another’s ludicrous ideas. Oli is a bit of a sadist – like making me sing my heart out when I’m massively hangover, just ’to see what it sounds like’ – things like that…
Can you tell us what inspired your latest single, “Reason?”
Like many humans, I like to deal with serious topics through comedy. ‘Reason’ is on the face of it a love song about someone, which it is! But it also becomes a love song about reason itself. It’s certainly not the usual nice love song about handholding etc.. it’s a bit rawer than that. There is talk of a ‘reason to care’ but this is more in the sense of giving a shit about something. There’s also talk of hyperactivity, teeth gritting, a motivation to be political etc. I think it’s about love in a real and honest sense – love as embracing the whole. I think love takes courage because when you love someone then suddenly things matter – the good and the bad – you suddenly have reasons to be happy and sad.
What is the message or story behind “Reason” that you hope listeners will take away?
Reason (or rationality) is cool actually. Seriously though reasoning is not just about the boring logical arguments of a private school’s debate society. The history of philosophy and science is full of ridiculous and wonderful ideas. Gilles Deleuze describes philosophical reasoning as a kind of science fiction.
Also, reason is not necessarily ‘cold’ and abstract and love is not necessarily irrational. There’s merit in looking beyond that binary.
Are there any specific moments during the creation of “Reason” that stand out to you?
I’m not sure – maybe me recording the choral vocals into my laptop with other people in the house wondering what the hell I was doing. The choral bit appears after the chorus in the song and I sang all of the parts which span almost the full vocal ranges of a choir from treble to bass.
What’s next for you after the release of “Reason,” in terms of new music or projects?
Got a gig in London lined up that I’m excited about. Then we have the release of ‘Memories’ that we’re really looking forward to. In the meantime, more songwriting!
