INTERVIEW: Alternative Folk from Aoun

Aoun Hamid is a seasoned Brooklyn-based producer and songwriter of Palestinian and Jordanian heritage who’s recently ventured out under his first name Aoun with a decade’s worth of musical experience under his belt. Having collaborated with artists across New York City and all over the world, Aoun brings a hugely diverse range of influences to his solo venture, a unique exploration of sound shaped by the varied cultural influences and energy of New York.

He’s influenced by a diverse array of artists, in particular, the work of Black Country, New Road. Last year he set out to capture the full-scope of his sound across a full-length record, the upcoming album titled The Shepherd and All Her Beautiful Sheep.

On his album, he’s linked up with longtime friends and collaborators including Guillermo Goldschmeid on bass, drummer Eli Fowler, Sean Brennan on cello and Tree Palmedo on trumpet to add their own sonic flair to his compositions. The album is set to take on a storybook structure that recounts a year with a past lover, capturing the struggles and challenges faced along the way.

Late last year he unveiled the first chapter in his new creative story with the debut single “Kangaroos,” coinciding with the project’s first live show that saw Aoun open for Tor Miller on his final night of his residency at the Bowery Electric in New York in December. Now he follows up the album’s lead track with his sophomore single and final song on the record titled “Smoker’s Cough (Afterword).”

Delivered as a solo performance of Aoun’s delicate indie folk style in one live take, the poignant writing of the single thematically covers feelings of isolation and loneliness. Produced by Aoun as well as Dan Alvarez of the New York band TOLEDO and Los Angeles-based Estelle Allen, “Smoker’s Cough (Afterword)” captures an intimate showcase of Aoun’s emotionally charged sound that threads his meaningful songwriting through a stripped-back arrangement of acoustic guitar and vocals.

Started with a warm up chord and cough, setting the in-the-moment spontaneous feel, Aoun spin subtly lively melodic leads above the warm strums of his guitar. Crafting a gentle, melancholic sound with a reflective glance at his past year while looking ahead, Aoun serves up a charming slice of alternative folk music in a highly enjoyable two minute dose. It’s another distillation of his accomplished songwriting and performance panache while building excitement for his upcoming debut record.

We caught up with Aoun to find out more about his musical journey so far, his new single “Smoker’s Cough (Afterword)” and what he’s got lined up for the future. Check out our interview with Aoun below.

Hey Aoun, how’s things?

All is great, busy as all hell but nothing to complain about.

What’s your earliest memory of making music?

My mother was a flamenco dance teacher when I was very young, and she would sign me up for lessons at the dance center there, so my weekends tended to packed with music.

In terms of writing or making music that didn’t really come into play until high school playing with my band at the time, before that it was mostly obsessively playing guitar.

Which artists do you draw most inspiration from?

In terms of specifically the sound on my upcoming record, Black Country, New Road was a very big inspiration. However as a songwriter I’ve recently been getting really inspired by Blake Mills and Dijon.

How else do you find inspiration for your music?

My songs are all largely taken from own life experiences and stories, and so inspiration tends to come in the form of a really simple lyrical concept that I take and run with. This song is actually a good example of that, it started with me telling a friend that “I’ll quit smoking in my thirties,” and it just sort of snowballed from there.

What was your highlight of the year for 2023?

Honestly, the biggest highlight of last year was absolutely finishing this album. The concept around the album was just so heavy that it was a really therapeutic and cathartic process for me.

What do you love about the Brooklyn music scene?

There’s really a lot to love about the scene here in New York. One of the biggest for me is how organic it all feels, sometimes you find yourself at a show where even though all the acts don’t feel like they should share a bill on paper, it comes together quite smoothly.

What would you say is the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy your sound?

I couldn’t really tell you the best place where someone should or shouldn’t listen to my music, but I could tell you that my favourite way to listen to any music tends to be while on a walk with my dog, but I think people should listen to music however they want to.

Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?

Right now, without a fail I think working with Blake Mills in any capacity would be a dream, whether he’s acting as a producer, writer or player.

How did you find making your new single “Smoker’s Cough (Afterword)”?

In terms of writing the tune, this song came together faster than any other song on my record, it was definitely one of those songs where once the idea was there it really wrote itself. On the recording side of things, this one was both one of the easiest and hardest songs to record. I was lucky to have my dear friend Estelle Allen visiting town from LA, and she convinced me to record this song live as opposed to multitracking it, so she came into the studio with me and we busted out 30 or 40 takes and just chose our favourite. It was an interesting exercise, because instead of choosing the take with the least “mistakes” it was the take that had the strongest emotional delivery.

What message did you want to get across with this release?

I’m not sure I necessarily had a message to get across with such a personal song, it serves more as an exploration of loneliness as the anxious person I am, and I can only hope people out there can relate to that.

What artist have you been listening to most recently?

An artist I’ve recently been into is Daudi Matsiko, I believe he’s from Nottingham. Other artists would be Dijon, Madison Cunningham and Genesis Owusu.

What’s the main thing you want people to get out of listening to your music?

I feel like that’s kinda cheating for me to say. I think when people listen to a song for the first time they tend to put themselves in there and get what they need out of it.

What’s been your favourite live performance so far?

Towards the end of last year, I had the pleasure of opening for my friend and colleague Tor Miller, and that was a really special show as it was the first time I performed the album top to bottom and really got to tell that story on stage.

Who would be 3 artists to headline your dream festival? And where would it be?

Dream festival headliner trio would be Bjork, David Bowie and myself so could get to meet and hang out with those people. In terms location either New York or Sicily, so I could easily go home to my apartment or my farm.

Do you have any advice for a new artist wanting to follow your footsteps?

Don’t be a perfectionist, consistency is always key, better to finish a song than fixate on one lyric you don’t love, it’ll eventually come to you.

Finally, what do you have lined up for the rest of 2024?

I have a music video for Smoker’s Cough coming out real soon, after that we got a couple singles as well as a couple of fun remixes of some of the songs from some producers I really admire, and then of course my album, “The Shepherd and All her Beautiful Sheep” will be coming out in the spring.

Listen to Smoker’s Cough (Afterword) below