Making Melodic Riddim: Atlanta EDM sits down with Ace Aura [INTERVIEW]
BY ANASTASIIA AND STEPHEN RIDDLE
In a riddim scene that’s been bombarded with the absolute heaviest riffs possible, it was only a matter of time before an artist brought in a fresh take on the heavy growls this music is known for.
Eric Seall, artist name Ace Aura, has taken the heavy bass scene by the reigns and steered it in a much lighter direction. With his unique sound design combined with an ear for melodic and beautiful music, his tracks bring a lighter feel to the heavy scene while never losing the intensity and energy we expect from dubstep. He has inadvertently created a trend, becoming one of the pioneers in “melodic riddim” in doing so, and we don’t expect that trend to leave any time soon.
Ace Aura brings the same energy to his sets, and you can bear witness to his love for the music in his stage presence. We got the chance to talk with Ace Aura before his set on the Black Tiger Sex Machine tour, where he told us about his start in music, influences and what he has in store for his fans in 2022.
Atlanta EDM: Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started in the music
ACE AURA: My name is Eric Seall, producer name is Ace Aura. I've been a musical person my whole life, really. My parents raised me listening to music all the time. My mom kind of gave me more of like a hip-hop and gospel background while my dad listened to rock and metal. So, those kind of influenced my sound today a little bit. But I started my own musical journey when I was about eight. My parents got me a drum set for my birthday and then I was in the band program in middle and high school (in the percussion section as well). And then I started producing in 8th grade when I first discovered Skrillex through a friend. So, after that, I was like, "I really need to figure out how these people do this!" And so that's when I started getting my feet wet with electronic music.
Atlanta EDM: Whenever you first started off, who were some of your influences?
ACE AURA: So, Zomboy was definitely a big one. He's been one of my biggest influences ever since I started. At the time I discovered dubstep; Flux Pavilion and Doctor P were definitely up there. They had really cool melodies and their stuff that I really enjoyed.
Atlanta EDM: Do you have any big influences nowadays?
ACE AURA: Yeah, Must Die! I think if I were to pick my top two influences, it would still be Zomboy and Must Die! For sure.
Atlanta EDM: So, your original sound design and tracks have brought a breath of fresh air to scene that almost seemed pigeonholed by the monotonous, heavy drop after heavy drop, riddim scene. Did you always see yourself becoming an innovator or pioneer in this scene or did that just happen organically?
ACE AURA: It's kind of a mix of both. So, I've always kind of had that like "chord-like" style in my head ever since I heard "Scary monsters and nice sprites". That was what I envisioned for the kind of music I could make; Just combining chords with the heavy stuff. And so, it took probably five years or six years before I actually developed my skills enough to be able to do it. Then once I figured it out the first time, I wanted to just keep pushing it further and further and figuring it out.
Atlanta EDM: That's awesome! Do you create tracks using only your own sound design or do you incorporate like other sample packs alongside them?
ACE AURA: Typically, the main synths in my songs are all me. I make those, but I'll definitely use other drum samples and stuff like that. Recently I found the producer, Eliderp is his name, his Patreon's got a bunch really good drum samples that I use a lot now.
Atlanta EDM: The past two years the name Ace Aura has appeared on so many lineups, going from the drive-in shows to Lost Lands to this tour with BTSM. How has playing more and more live shows helped you evolve your sound?
ACE AURA: It's helped a lot, especially just being around creative people in a live environment. I just got off the Subtronics' Fractal tour. I was on with them for about a month and just being around creative people for pretty much 24/7 for a month straight was really cool! All these ideas bouncing back and forth, hearing each other's sets every night was really cool. Being able to pick different ideas from their sets and kind of incorporate them in my own style. I think playing live music and going to live shows was the biggest thing that shifted my perspective on producing music in general.
Atlanta EDM: Has seeing how the crowd reacts to certain tracks influenced your sets?
ACE AURA: Yeah, even hearing how things sound different on headphones versus like a live system, because certain things in headphones might sound super empty and almost not "full" enough, but on a live system It sounds great because the room noise is kind of fills in the reverb sort of.
Atlanta EDM: Are there any festival lineups that you can't wait to see your name on one day?
ACE AURA: EDC! I definitely would love to play EDC sometime. And then Rampage Belgium would be really cool.
Atlanta EDM: If you could collaborate with any artist of any genre, who would you pick?
ACE AURA: Any genre? Oh man, that's tough. I wanna say Must Die! because he's always my biggest inspiration, but the "any genre" kind of opens it up a little bit... It would still be Must Die!
Atlanta EDM: Give us a top three list of the tracks you have playing while you're trying to go for your max bench?
ACE AURA: "FUNNYFACE" by Leotrix! That just came out and it's an absolute banger! "Tuba Demon” by Subtronics another one that I like to listen to as I'm trying to go for it and "Ground Pound" by Crankdat and CHRMNDRS.
Atlanta EDM: Let the Atlanta fans know what you got in store! What do you have in store for 2022?
ACE AURA: So, I have one or two EPs coming out this year. I've got a lot of collabs that I've been working on, and I'm really excited to wrap up a lot of remixes.
Atlanta EDM: Maybe one with Must Die!?
ACE AURA: Maybe! Just like a lot of new music and possibly a headline tour at the end of the year, that would be really cool. But other than that, just scattered festivals, support with BTSM and support for another artist that I probably shouldn't say yet, but that's it! I'm just super excited to have more opportunities to do cool things with.
Atlanta EDM: That's awesome, man. You're killing it.