Aaron Hemphill of Liars: Authenticity Is An Aesthetic
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15 years now, Aaron Hemphill has been a part of the experimental band Liars. With a discography that includes 7 albums including last yearâs LP Mess, they have already delved into a wide range of genres.
For Sissy Spacek, noise heavyweight John Wiese now took Aaron with him on the road to let him perform lyrical duties on stage.
Aaron and John met for the first time around of the turn of the millennium, shortly before Liars were born in New York in 2000.
While Aaron toured Europe with Wiese and drummer Charlie Mumma, I talked to him in Strasbourg about the experience of fulfilling a different role on stage, what social media means for bands and the advantages of being on the road.
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Ezra: How does it feel to take a more dynamic role on stage with Sissy Spacek as opposed to Liars?
Aaron: When Liars first started playing music, we all sort of were more animated on stage. I think what changed that, was the music that I had to play live. Also, the responsibilities I had with performing required me to be more focused. I couldn't dance or jump around because the music, I feel, became more melodic. With Sissy Spacek, itâs given me an appreciation of what Angus has to do every night.
E: Yeah, heâs wild on stage!
A: Itâs interesting to see. Even though my role in this, in Sissy Spacek, is very limited as far as the creative output goes. Naturally, a lot of attention is put on the singer. This just really makes me appreciate what Angus does even more.
Of course I always knew he had a hard job but when you sing with a band, you're able to hear the performance in a different way: Where itâs not about who messed up a note or something. But you get a fuller picture, whereas with Liars iâm so immersed in making sure that I play the right notes. What I think is a good show might not be a good show to Angus and it makes more sense. So I think this really helps me to appreciate that dynamic in Liars more.
E: So would you like to do that more, singing and being the center of attention or do you like to keep a healthy balance?
A: Being behind the instruments and from time to time doing stuff like that tonight? With Liars onstage, if everyone was doing the same thing, it would be kind of boring. Itâs nice to have a contrast. So with Liars, iâm just happy to do whatever fits the music we write. And if that ends up changing - how I behave on stage will change but I guess thereâs no preference.
I don't prefer one to the other. After all, Liars is a completely different thing than Sissy Spacek. It is just something where Iâm a guest member whereas Liars is music Iâve written with Angus for a very long time. I wouldn't even say theyâre comparable.
E: Does John give you any chance for creative input or does he just give you instructions like âthatâs what you gotta do, or what to singâ?
â¨â¨A: No, he gives me freedom to things. Itâs more or less his project but this is not about me getting creative fulfilment. I mean I do, in a different way. Itâs not about me adding something I feel is crucial for me to let out. Itâs more about me being with a friend whose perspective on things I really enjoy and seeing what I have in common with it. Itâs a totally different thing - like being a guest in someones house.
E: How do you see social media for bands? Is it something youâre glad about or is it just something thatâs necessary for bands?
A: Angus does more of the social media. Any of these sort of things that come up when times change, they always allow for you to be more creative. Personally, I don't participate in social media outside of Liars. I don't understand that world. Maybe because of my age. Maybe because Iâm a private person.Â
But I think when it comes to the band, we generally try to see that as a challenge and try to view it as a different way of doing something creative. It becomes a lot of work when sometimes your Instagram becomes something that you take very serious. You want to post something visually interesting and you end up getting a little⌠not sidetracked - itâs hard to say because anyone who grew up without it would reminisce about how things were before.
I canât say if its good or bad. If people get enjoyment out of it and if they get to see a different perspective of what the bandâs like then I think itâs good. But personally, I donât have a Facebook or a personal Instagram.
E: It can be kind of creepy when you see how fans react. Like One Direction fans going all wild on Instagram on their bands pictures and all that stuff.
A: I think itâs just an age thing or how times have changed. Itâs just how people consume things these days. They want another component to the music. We just try to view it optimistically as a creative challenge. I don't see anything wrong with trying to take interest in photos to post to Instagram.
But if you ask my opinion if I preferred it before bands had Instagram, thatâs different story and just preference.
E: I grew up with the internet. I was glad to see what all the bands I was interested in were doing, itâs a good way to keep track like that.
A: Yeah, it seems like what people respond to more is revealing of peopleâs personal lives.
E: That can be a bad thing too, sometimes.
A: Yes, but I get it. Angus and I are both very private people, so its kind of difficult to find a line where we put something out there thatâs creative that pertains the band and not our personal lives.
E: Is there still some leftover material from old albums that youâre working with?
A: We always have a lot of leftover material. We have tons. We have so much and we generally try to not rework old things when we work on something new. But sometimes they find their way in there. If we really opened ourselves up to it, thereâs like a ton of material from every record that wasnât used. But I donât know how important that is. When you release a record, you're saying that thatâs the statement that you want.
E: Right now at that time.
A: And it feels like putting out this unreleased material is like âoh wellâ. It seems indecisive.
But itâs not to say that we wonât ever release that material. Itâs just part of the process.
E: You get new ideas and get obsessed with newer ideas and new material and all that.
A: What we hope happens is that what weâre excited about makes other stuff not fit because itâs new or current to us. It happens once in a while but itâs not something we rely on.
E: When you start with an album, can you already make out a direction youâre heading in - stylistically or in a way it will sound? Whatâre you at right now with the next album? Is there already some kind of theme in which direction youâre heading into?
A: Thereâs always a theme but itâs always between Angus and I. Whether that translates to the listener is questionable. We always work very hard at trying to have a theme. Maybe its a product of when we started making music but we still try to make albums as a whole. Whether or not people consume it that ways is up to them.
E: Itâs changed a bit in the last ten or so years. Now people just don't listen to an album as a whole anymore like you used to have it in the 70s or 80s when you had vinyl. You had to listen to the whole album in one go and couldnât just skip any songs.
A: The honest truth is that Angus and I - when we listen to someone new or check out artists, weâre still in the mode of listening to it as an album and see how they present it. But it doesn't mean that thatâs what we command of our audience. Itâs just things that we feel are important in order to make music. We don't feel that that extends to how people should hear us.
E: Social media again: I heard that youâre a big fan of Prince. Have you heard about his new Princestagram?
A: I have! He became active on Instagram and has also taken part in Jay Zâs Tidal.
Yeah, Iâm a big Prince fan. I think Prince has a lot of contradictions. Thatâs always good in music. People seem to think that that makes artists less genuine but I think it makes them have more extreme emotional tendencies.
Prince was notorious for saying that he hated hip hop and he ended up basically rapping on a few of his songs. Authenticity in music is something that I always had hard time discussing with other people. I mean - is David Bowie dressing as a Starman inauthentic because heâs not like a real guy that wears a gas station coat and plays music like Slint?
Authenticity means that you never know the full story. And I think that authenticity is another fantasy that people are drawn to.
E: You canât really grasp it. Itâs nothing physical.
A: Yeah. Prince changing his mind about social media and things like that. His music is worth being heard and if it gets him new followers I don't have a problem with it. The fact that he changed his mind! Itâs boring if a band is stuck.
In my opinion, authenticity is an aesthetic because you don't really know what a song is written about. You donât know the struggles that the person has been through.
E: Itâs the same with any interpretations towards lyrics.
A: Exactly! The fact that someoneâs willing to change their mind is more authentic than just being the same way for 30 years. That doesnât mean that I don't like the Ramones.
E: Yes but some bands get boring if they never change or get influenced by anything else.
A: Prince has never pretended to be a normal guy and to expect him to be this stringent would be wrong. People change and artists should change and itâs fine in my opinion.
E: Some people might not be content with what your music is changing into but itâs always the artistsâ choice.
A: I completely understand that. I listen to bands where I don't like the direction theyâre going in and I wish they would just do what they just used to do before. But if you like what an artist is doing at the time you should do your best to appreciate it because theyâre going to change. Hopefully.
E: Are Liars thinking about putting out any singles in-between albums like you did with I Saw You From The Lifeboat/Perfume Tear?
A: If people request them, weâre happy to do those things. Right now, itâs a little early but weâll see. It just depends on the situation. Those things generally come from people approaching us and we appreciate the interest.
E: What are you listening to right now? Is there anything that youâre obsessed with at the moment? Are there any new albums or artists you discovered?
A: Iâve been having a hard time with this because I havenât really been listening to much new music. I really like the Future Brown record which isnât new anymore.
Usually, when we write music - which is all the time - I listen to things that are very different than what Iâm making. I listen to a lot of stuff thatâs old. I listen to a lot of The Cure. I try to see new stuff as much as I can and I appreciate a lot of it.
The last person i was really blown away with was Arca. On this Sissy Spacek tour, we played with a bunch of great people. C. Spencer Yeh, whoâs not new - but heâs doing great stuff, still. And Pedestrian Deposit from LA had a great show.
But in general, I tend to listen to more boring stuff. I guess thatâs just where my head is at after. We don't want to be too influenced by what weâre listening to and I don't think that we can be.
Personally, my musical taste is very stuck in a certain era. Angus is really good at consuming new music and he would have a better answer for that.
E: So youâve been touring quite a few countries in the past weeks. What was your favourite country so far? Maybe food-wise? Because food is important.
A: (laughs) Everyoneâs been so nice on this tour! People have cooked for us. Itâs different on tour versus what a country has to offer for food.
E: Yes, you don't get to walk around all day and try different restaurants when youâre touring.
A: For example, we were at a place in Bremen, Germany where the cook made us this amazing food. France is always one of my favourite countries. We played Instants Chavires in Paris.
When we tour with Liars, generally what happens is that the whole crew and the band eat dinner together. I find that very civilised. It makes sense to share a meal with people. I think itâs a big deal.
Itâs something that Iâm not used to growing up in America. I grew up in a certain situation where we didnât really eat dinner together.
And to have them bring out really nice cheese and things like that! ⌠I sense that theyâve grown up appreciating it, is something very exciting because itâs very foreign to me. Now itâs like something that I've grown used to expecting from a meal. France is always great for that reason. I like eating with the people that put on the show and enjoying a meal and learning about their lives a little bit more. Good company makes the food taste better, you know?
I used to be really into food - just going out on my own. I live in Berlin now and Germany is not known for being the greatest country  when it comes to food - but the company I have makes it great. Most of my friends are German in Berlin. They make a traditional dish for the season or the holiday and on its own, it may not be spectacular but the history behind it or the fact that weâre getting together and celebrating it is really special. So itâs actually that my thoughts on food have changed quite a bit and to me its just more about learning; having something more than just filling your stomach.
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Visit Liars on Tumblr or their Official Website and check out Sissy Spacek on Tumblr
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Sissy SpacekâLive At Human Resources December 2014
