Meet Aidan Ochre

The perfect soundtrack to accommodate your morning coffee consumption. Aidan Ochre is sweet and smooth. Their intimate hazy production style ties in nicely with their introspective lyrics. We had a chance to chat with Aidan Ochre about their latest release “Ochre”, pickles, and ice cream.

A self-portrait by Aidan Ochre

Would You Rather

only be able to buy things with coins or by trading random objects? Please explain.

Trading random objects. Coins are intense. Not ideal for pockets, too heavy and they make too much noise! I would much rather trade a plant for a sandwich or something.

Some Questions with Aidan Ochre

If you could create your own Ben and Jerry’s flavor, what would it be?

Taro. That would be cool. I love ice cream.

What inspired you to begin producing your own music? Are you self-taught?

I became a really big fan of the band The Internet early in high school. Then I found out that the guitarist Steve Lacy was close to my age and making songs on Garageband. And good songs too. Before that I had never really thought of making music as something I could do, but that was kind of the moment where I realized that one of the only real barriers of entry was owning a computer or phone. So that was definitely a pivotal moment for me. I had been singing and playing guitar for a while, took lessons for a month or so as a preteen but it never really went anywhere, so I would consider myself self taught mostly. Started messing with Garageband until I was able to figure out the basics to make a song and then just started making songs on the regular.

What are your thoughts on streaming platforms? Have they helped or hindered the industry?

I feel like it’s a pretty complicated question and the answer will vary depending on who you ask. On one hand, streaming definitely breathed new life into the music industry and helped to save it from the constant decline it was in. And it has provided a platform for a lot of independent musicians to potentially reach a large audience in a way that might have not been possible in the past. But at the same time, artist payouts are abysmal and people are being inundated with new music (maybe the latter isn’t necessarily a bad thing). It has its pros and cons but at least from my perspective it has allowed my music to reach a lot more people than I ever expected.

What do you hope listeners take away behind the latest release, Ochre?

A lot of the project speaks on my own thoughts and experiences in relationships, but I hope that people can find something they can connect to on a personal level. I think the feelings I’m discussing are universal. Also hoping people recognize the progression of my production and songwriting. I feel like this is my most mature project yet, sonically.

Writing and producing your own music seems like it can be an intimate, personal experience. Is the process ever cathartic, or does it become somewhat daunting?

It can definitely be daunting at times. Especially now that there is an audience for my music, I feel a level of pressure to produce music that I know people will like. I try not to think about that too much and to focus more on what I want to create but that pressure does exist. At the same time, it is cathartic. There have been moments where I was really struggling with something on an internal level and recording helped me to process those emotions. A lot of those songs will probably never be released but it felt necessary at the time to release or channel that energy.

How did your genesis on SoundCloud influence or shape your current work?

I think that it had a major influence on the network I have today. There was a whole community of Soundcloud artists who were connecting irl and on Twitter around this time of like 2017/2018. It’s been pretty exciting to see how everyone has grown over the past few years. There seems to be a lot of successful artists coming out of that scene. I appreciate being a part of that in a way.

What is the worst mixer of all time?

Pickle Juice

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Stop giving Amazon your money