Aloe Blacc X FAULT Magazine

 

 

 

Photography: Lee Malone

Styling: Graham Cruz @ A+R Creative

Grooming: Sally O’Neill @Caren

Photography Assistant: Ryan Rivers

Styling Assistant: Andrew Burling

Grooming Assistant: Colton Chase

 

Words: Miles Holder

Today Aloe Blacc returns with his brand new single ‘My Way’. While Blacc has released four studio albums to date, his upcoming fifth album will see the musician focusing on a subject he’s not often tackled, his personal life. We caught up with Aloe is discuss his new music, process and as always, his FAULTs.

 

What headspace were you in when you wrote upcoming single ”My Way’.

I like to write in a  theme that I call affirmation, inspiration, motivation. The music I release centres greatly around self-determination and motivation. My Way is about having goals, but no one is around to motivate or encourage you. It’s a song I hope inspires people to live their best lives and recognise their dreams.

 

Why is now the right time to release the single?

I recorded the song a long time ago, and I’ve been holding onto it. I wanted the song to be a part of an album, so although I’ve been performing it everywhere and received positive feedback from audiences, I thought it would be helpful if the song came with an album instead of being alone in the world. Receiving such great feedback also helped me see how important the song was and the need to share it to a broader audience.

 

When can fans expect to hear the album?

The album should be coming out in the fall, but it’s mostly an album that focusses on my personal life and relationships.

I think I’m more into this album than my previous albums. My previous work was very experimental, I tried a lot of different things as a young man in LA. My upcoming record will be a combination of my political commentary and my soul roots. I love folk music and smalltown writing but I never really had a lot of time to write about family, and it’s time to share a little bit more about me.

When you’re putting so much of your personal life into this album, are you not worried about the scrutiny that can come with it?

The practice of being an artist is about being very vulnerable and one that makes you nervous when you’re going to release a project because you never know how it will be received. But it’s just the job that I signed up for and the fear is what drives me. When you put music out to the world, you don’t want to break your career, but I feel like we’re in a time where I can be more candid and share the past 15 years of my life.

The music industry moves very quickly, but you took your time with this project – why?

I recognised how hard it is to continue consistently releasing music and as an artist and having had such a long career, I just, recognised you’re only as successful as your last success. You can release a lot of songs, but if it’s not successful no one will remember it. The music won’t leave a mark on your career or others. So it’s better to take your time on something that’s very high quality and share it with the world with as much vigour,  passion and, intensity, as you can. There are a lot of “pat yourself on the back” awards in the industry, but if it doesn’t feel very natural, what is it worth?

 

It’s noble but difficult for many artists to do. When awards and accolades are seen as the currency of famous music artists, how do you stay focussed on the music?

We see the ranking of ‘best song of the year’, but is it really true? How do you even pick who is qualified to make this decision?  Worrying about rushing and getting a single out makes sense from a business standpoint, but once you’ve established yourself as an artist and you have a career, then you can focus on bigger things than just timing.

What’s the hardest song for you to write emotionally?

There’s a song called ‘Owe It All’ I wrote about my relationship with my dad and his relationship with his godmother. That one was tough because my Great Godmother passed away and had left home for my father to live in. I was tasked with emptying her house and cleaning away all of the memories she had made for decades in the home. So to write that song was very emotional for me.

More recently a song on the new album called ‘Harvard’, it’s not a personal story, as I was writing the song, there’s a line in the song which mentions a child with special needs and my collaborator stops and says, “Oh, wow. I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but my daughter has special needs, and we’ve lived this.” It was just such a human moment; it definitely gets me.

What is your FAULT?

My wife would definitely be able to answer this much better than I can! I think I get stuck in my head a lot. I’m writing songs all the time and I get “Charlie Brown hearing”, it’s in one end and out the other. Sometimes miss out on some things that people might be saying to me because I’m in my head a little bit too much.