It’s been an excellent year for music and an equally excellent year for acts touring through Richmond, some of which have graced us with multiple dates on separate tours.
It’s been an excellent year for music and an equally excellent year for acts touring through Richmond, some of which have graced us with multiple dates on separate tours. For the second time in six months NYC’s Porches will take the stage at Strange Matter this Monday night, though this time as the sole headliner.
Porches, the synth-pop project of musician Aaron Maine, has had a busy year after releasing his second studio album Pool in February and touring for most of the year since then.
“I like touring but I don’t like how much time it takes up, it just disappears,” Maine said in an interview with RVAMag. “You get home and it’s like a little twilight zone thing.”
Maine said touring also has an effect on his creative process, making him feel somewhat limited.
“… a lot of the time I’ll be in the van taking a nap or waking up early and I’m always in this weird state of consciousness where I’m just kind of zoned out,” Maine said. This state only leaves room for scribbling lyrics and not broader song writing. “It’s nice to go home with this journal full of weird lyric ideas.”
Though he feels limited creatively on tour, Maine doesn’t see the time as a waste.
“It’s nice to step away sometimes from the creative process because I’m pretty obsessive, so sometimes it’s good to physically be away from the studio,” Maine said.
A few weeks ago Maine gave some insight into his creative process by releasing demos from Pool called Water along with a couple of new tracks. True to form, the demos, while resembling the final versions, nonetheless bear their own distinct sounds and personalities while still containing the same musical DNA.
Along with the demos, Maine also released a hypnotic video for one of the new tracks, “Black Dress.”
Though a well known perfectionist, Maine is no stranger to collaboration, most commonly with Greta Kline, better known by her stage name Frankie Cosmos. Though the bulk of Pool was written and recorded by Maine himself, when it came to live performance preparation Maine and the band would work together to figure out the best arrangements, some of which would come to alter the final version of Pool.
“The band arrangements are pretty collaborative, and some of that made it back onto the final recordings,” Maine said. “All the lyrics, the melodies, the general ideas are mine, but when it comes to live performances I work with the band and we figure out the best way to present it.”
Pool not only marked Maine’s first full studio album release in three years as Porches, but also a change in tone musically for the project. Drawing inspiration from a variety of sources, including famed folk singer Arthur Russell, Blood Orange and Drake, Maine sought to create something different.
“Lately it’s definitely been more electronic because that’s where my head’s at,” Maine said. “I’ve been trying to experiment with sounds over the years, always trying to craft something that sounds fresh to me.”
Pool also marked a more mature and darker tone for Maine, something he wants to explore to a greater extent in the future.
“I’ve been exploring some newer territory/refining what I’m already doing, trying to make things starker and a bit more raw now that I feel more comfortable in an electronic setting,” Maine said. “I kind of want to keep getting harsher, I want to make something really odd.”
Maine described this new tone as being more metallic and danceable–a collection of words that don’t immediately sound like they should belong together, which is exactly what Maine is going for.
“I always think it’s exciting to have things taken out of their normal context and juxtaposed next to each other,” Maine said. “There comes a time every two years or so where I find it fun to dive in and reinvent and create something new. It’s good to be excited when you’re making stuff.”
Porches will perform Monday, September 5th at Strange Matter along with Japanese Breakfast and Rivergazer. Tickets are $15 on the day of the show and $13 in advance.
