Interview: Aras & The Volodkas

First up, in a week of Bandwidth previews, we have Aras & The Volodkas, Chicago's undiscovered Brian Wilson with a proclivity for 60's pop, Japenese Culture, and bespectacled girls. Aras is sure to enchant all with his classic piano melodies and nerdy charm when he takes the stage on Friday as a part of Bandwidth. We asked Aras a few questions, as he readies himself for friday night.

How did you get started in making music?

In high school I had a very smart friend who programmed computer games, he started doing that at the age of 3! I was interested in making music for his games, so he taught me how to make music with a program called Impulse tracker, which is used to sequence 16 bit samples of whatever you can put in there, and it had a lot of features. Yeah, I'm a nerd. His first advice was "don't play the notes c and d together, because then it will be dissonant", that's all I had to go on music theory wise. I did that for a while, then slowly I started getting into real instruments, and listening to 60's pop music. So I went from being a mega nerdy kid who hung out with the D&D crowd to going the bohemian route.
What you hear is the result.

Do you have any major influences on your work?
The Beatles and The Beach Boys!

How do you go about creating music?
It's a lot of happy accidents, usually the lyrics come later in the songwriting process. I will go into a song thinking it will be about something, but it turns out to be something completely different when all is said and done.

What is a Volodka?

A Volodka is all that a person could hope to be, and even more. To be a volodka is to embrace the ideas of peace, love, and understanding, and to live by those principles.
A Volodka eats oatmeal, fat free hotdogs, peanut butter sandwhiches, and organic cheetos. A Volodka's habitat must be warm and hospitable. A Volodka must sleep on average 6 hours a night, and prefers to sleep for an hour and a half in the afternoon. A Volodka looks like a cross between a cat and a bird with a very big nose.
Ok... Ok... Volodka is just my last name, so I hope that when additional band members join in, that they don't mind calling themselves a volodka.

You perform as a one man band, any plans of incorporating a full backing band, or do you plan on embracing the solo performer route?

I would like to incorporate a band, I've had my problems doing this however. I have been talking to a bass player who might join in.

What can an audience expect from your live show?

They can expect to laugh, with me and at me :)

Who are you listening to these days?

Komeda, The Beatles, the high Llamas, Marcos Valle Eggstone, Oucho Sparks, for any musician or music enthusiast who wants to hear something new I recommend listening to "passport" on NPR (91.5FM) on friday nights @ 9pm.

Thanks for your time, Aras! You can check out Aras live when he kicks off the night Nov. 17th @ SubT.

Download:Aras & The Volodkas - "Girls With Glasses" - (MP3)