The last name is Swiss in origin; from the German region of Switzerland to be accurate. He was born and raised in Durham NC. But, he always hears the question, “Are you from Europe?” Or, the statement, “You look like that guy on Friends.” Someone actually asked for his autograph and asked if they could take a picture with him. Whoa. Strange icebreakers for sure.
Aaron’s services as a bassist are being utilized in the music worlds of Jazz, Folk, World and Theatre; and in the flm world as a production audio recordist and post-production editor. Now, on with the tale…
It all began 25 years ago when he heard his uncle play bass in his bluegrass band. He freaked out and picked up his dad’s classical acoustic guitar. That’s all he had access to at that point. His parents wouldn’t buy a bass guitar for him. So he had to earn it. So much for cliche that “only children are spoiled.” Not so in that household. He began performing a few years later; both in church playing gospel tunes on guitar, in theatres playing in various pit orchestras and rock bands as a bassist. Studies with the mighty Robbie Link on upright bass got him into shape. Touring began after graduating from college with a band playing original compositions that conjured the essences of Elton John, Monk, Jeff Buckley, and Soul Coughing. There is no better way to learn to play live than on tour. Check. Done. And the hook was set for life. Just the right amount of the horizon opened up to reveal the various possibilities of living in the creative world.
Running one’s band on the road begged entrepreneurial skills usually not required of a twenty-something. And the chutes and ladders of the touring world honed the confidence and patience of a young musician beyond one’s years. In between tours, Aaron began giving private music lessons. What a cool way to give back to the community; by teaching a kid how to play an instrument. It was now time for him to gain more knowledge. He always loved going to master classes at Penn State. Well, it was off to one of the best master classes of all; in New York with Medeski, Martin and Wood, Steven Bernstein and David Tronzo. They focused all he had learned up to that point.
But, what to accomplish next? The need to understand the crafts of sound design, music production and film audio post-production. That’s what. An audio production degree was earned. Contacts were made. Meetings were booked. Plans were hatched. A reinvention of a musician into a production/post-production audio recordist was revealed. Feature films, short films and commercials have been worked on and presented to the world. But, again, the world of music ebbs and flows endlessly. He got a call from a friend, Ed T. Butler, to audition for a band. Sessions were held, friendships were formed, and a band was reinvented and poised to embark into the strangely familiar unknown only musicians can fathom. The band ,Ecco La Musica, set out to record the album, MORNING MOON in only two days; two years after reinventing itself.
Thus the tale brings us to the present…