Aaron Garcia: Pillbook PLBK-Q&A
Chelsea born Aaron Garcia AKA Pillbook PLBK is making huge strides into becoming a great success in the indie pop industry. Aaron’s style is very indie pop but he ALWAYS has a soothing bassline in the background which gives his music that unique freshness. Over quarantine, he has produced and performed these “quarantine sessions”. The visuals are spectacular and always set a great mood for the song he is performing. Aaron is signed to FiveByTwo Records of Boston and has multiple projects in the works.
Johnny Dube: What was your childhood like in Chelsea?
Aaron Garcia: Man, Chelsea was an amazing place to grow up in. Although it's getting “better” now, it was still super ghetto when I was a kid. I saw just about every type of character growing up and I think that prepared me for the interesting people that I would encounter later in life. I live in Marlborough now and living here really makes me miss the size of my hometown since you could basically walk anywhere you need to go. As I got older, I was able to see the city change and transform into something different.
JD: What/who inspired you to start making and performing music?
AG: Michael Jackson. I remember watching his performance videos on the internet for hours and trying to emulate his dancing style. My MJ obsession probably started around age 9 old and I had his entire discography burned on CDs. I later got into bands like Slipknot and Nirvana, and that’s when I decided to pick up a guitar.
JD: The photos and videos of you performing in your house over this quarantine have been some of the coolest content I’ve seen recently, what is the process behind making those?
AG: Thank you so much! I'm happy you enjoyed those. I got to work on those as soon as I got off tour just to distract myself from post tour depression haha. Each video took a little over a week to make. I would take a few days to write and record everything on Ableton. I really only left my room to eat and use the bathroom during that time, Once I had the entire song written, I would teach my band their parts and rehearse each song in my bedroom for a day or two, Then we would choose a night to film and just record the parts to a click with the camera rolling. Mixing and mastering each song took me about a day or two. Video editing would take about a few hours. Then I would discuss with the label about release times and promo stuff. Thankfully, I'm in the position where I could do this full time so I didn't have anything else to distract me.
JD: Last winter, you went on tour playing bass for the band, Young Culture, describe that experience and what you took away from it?
AG: W I L D. It was my first real tour. For most people, a first real tour is usually a weekend run, but this was full US for about a month and a half. I learned so much about the live music industry. From stage hands, to management, it opened my eyes up to how all the individual parts of the “machine” work together to make live music exist. It was very inspiring to play to an audience who’s been brought together by art. I made so many friends along the way as well and I can't wait to see them again. The main thing took away from that was how extremely diverse the different regions of the US are. Once we hit Texas and headed towards California, it felt like I was in a different world. And the diversity in culture around the US is wild. I fell in love with San Diego, I'm pretty sure the west coast is where I belong.
Aaron playing the bass for Young Culture in New Jersey, photo by Danny DeRusso.
JD: As of right now, are you working on any projects and do you have any release dates set?
AG: I'm working on quite a few things right now. The label I work for (Five By Two Records) recently signed Jesse Damon aka Geskle, so we’ve been tracking his EP at the studio and just started mixing. That should be out within the month. My sisters and label mates in Circus Trees just got back the final masters for their upcoming album. I got to produce the interlude tracks on that one and it should be out next month. We’ve also been working on a livestream session series where we record a full band’s live performance at the studio. The plan is to set up a three or four band “bill” and premier the episodes on TwitchTV. We have about 6 sessions recorded so episode 1 will be out very soon. I think I’ll be live streaming my mixing sessions as well for those videos. I also started tracking my album about two weeks ago and that should be out around September.
JD: If and when the world opens up again, what are the first spots you are hitting up?
AG: Definitely going to visit my mom in Chelsea and catch up with friends. Another spot I really miss is this restaurant in Chinatown called My Thai Vegan Cafe. I’m not even vegan anymore but I crave their food all the time.
Follow Aaron on Instagram: @pillbook
Listen to his music below!
