Aidan Jude Polemeni’s album, One Way, was released on all major streaming platforms and included the singles “Bear Mountain” and “Shallow Wave” and showcases Aidan’s advanced grasp of pop songwriting with its explosive layered keys and vocals backed by a cymbal-heavy drum technique and sing-along choruses. Aiden shares his career with the Hollywood Recorder.
Since sixteen you have been writing, recording, and mixing albums. How do you describe your style of music?
Mostly Pop with Funk/R&B and Dance elements. I just want to make people sing and dance and Pop music is the best avenue for it.
Do you consider your music eclectic?
Sure, although I don’t like putting any labels on it I like to think there is a certain amount of individuality to it, there’s certain things in my songs that you can’t find anywhere else and that’s what keeps me writing.
Tell us about Bear Mountain which has garnered a lot of attention.
Bear Mountain is what I consider to be the first true song I ever wrote. I had been working on making beats with samples off of the internet, but I went up to Bear Mountain with an old friend and I came home and sat down at the piano and wrote the song. It was really the birth of how I write songs to this day. Everything before that was recycled material I found and made in my room on my laptop, but this was 100% mine, it was exciting.
You have written many love songs including Puppy Love. How do you blend emotion with your choice of instruments?
It usually just starts with an idea; with Puppy Love I had the hook in my head for months and tried to write it 3 or 4 times until I got the version that ended up being the record. I loved the shuffle style rhythm, it reminded me of old Sinatra standards. Emotion-wise, it was a love song, so I just wanted all the chords to be jazzy and for the rhythm to keep pulling you in. When I worked out the demo It was the first time I really blended my pianos with my guitars in that way, it’s a simple process but adding all the guitars lightly strumming while the piano chugs away keeps the song moving forward. I try to make my songs as relatable as I can. With puppy love, I wrote it so that the first verse was the guy talking to the girl and then the second verse was the girl responding, but all you have to do is change the pronouns and it can be about anybody, girl to guy, guy to guy, girl to girl. It really is just a song about how one person believes that falling in love will make everything better and the other person telling them that that’s not how love works. I wanted the whole song to have the feeling of how kids feel when they first start having feelings about other kids. Puppy Love’s whole vibe is the sweatiness of your hands and how red your face gets when you step up to talk to the girl you like.
How has your father influenced your career?
My dad has been my teacher through this whole experience. I try to learn from everything, but he helps me out when I just need to ask a person a question directly. He taught me how to play guitar and is always the one to chime in with a bit of advice when I’m writing a song. “try to get to the chorus faster” “maybe you can try strings or horn in this bit or that bit”. He understands that I’m independent and lets me roam free but he’s there to pull me back to the ground and keeps me from getting too self-indulgent.
David Polemeni is the Vice President Film & Television Publishing at BMG – Polemeni develops music publishing partnerships in Film and Television worldwide.
Creatively who inspires you?
Everything, my dad always says, “originality is the art of hiding your source”. I have a few big heroes when it comes to writing songs like Paul McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Bands like F.U.N, and Vulfpeck, but my influence reaches far and wide. I love rappers like Kendrick Lamar and MF DOOM, my vocals are inspired by Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nate Ruess, my drumming style is inspired by James Gadsen and Jeff Porcaro, my guitar playing by John Mayer and Bob Dylan. I can’t narrow it down to even 10 artists because there are just too many to pick from.
Tell us about your new single, Fall too Short.”
This is the first song that I recorded in my brand-new studio, Evandria Recording. My last record I went to a recording studio in Teaneck, NJ and it was mixed by a wonderful engineer named Dave Kowalski but this time around I’ve come back to the same process as my first album, as in writing, recording, mixing, and mastering everything myself. I got two of my buddies to play bass and electric guitar respectively and it was fun to collaborate with them. It’s basically coming from the perspective of a friend telling his friend that he has so much opportunity and shouldn’t just waste it away, you can get to the place you want but don’t fall too short, get it?
How have you evolved as an Artist? What is next for you?
I’ve learned so much in the 4 years I’ve been writing songs. I’m just getting tighter and tighter; this newest song has no fat on it. You need every piece and without it, it just doesn’t work. I like to think I’ve gotten to the point now where I’m well versed in writing Pop songs. I have a vast knowledge on songwriting and am just getting better and better when it comes to recording. I no longer feel like I’m walking in the dark, I know what I want for every song and I stick to it.
My personal Instagram is @aidan.jude. if you’re looking to follow the band it’s @judeandthestrangers on Instagram and @judestrangers on twitter. For youtube just search “Jude & the Strangers”