EXCLUSIVE: Aron Piper On His Album Debut at Madrid CUPRA City Garage
It's a known fact that most Madrileños evacuate the city during the punishing heat of the summer months. But for those who braved this year's inferno, there was a very cool reward: catching Aron Piper debut his new album at the Madrid CUPRA City Garage.
For the unexpected gig, the Spanish sensation delivered a unique set accompanied by a talented band of musicians, where he debuted two tracks from his forthcoming album for the first time. He also played “Invisibilidad,” a new track that explores themes of loneliness and acceptance, as well as fan favorites like "Nieve." The surprise show follows his unannounced set at CUPRA City Garage during Fête de la Musique in Paris in June.
Piper, who made his breakout as one of the resident heartthrobs of smash-hit teen drama Elite, turned his attention to making music in 2020 with his first single, "Sigo." Fast forward to 2024, he now boasts an impressive set of releases (and a 12-million-strong Instagram following) that have cemented his reputation as a rising star in the Latin music scene.
In an exclusive interview, we caught up with Piper to discuss his new work, pre-performance rituals, and the unifying power of music.
Aron, what was your journey to becoming a musician?
It's been a long journey. I’ve always listened to a lot of music with my family, they played a lot of different genres of music in my house, so I had lots of options, lots of CDs to play. But when I was 11, I discovered rap music and I loved it. Then, I started writing my own songs. I remember it was five minutes of non-stop raw songs, no chorus, no nothing.
Since then, I’ve always tried to be connected with the music. I was lucky that in my school I had friends that had home studios, and so I started recording my songs, but it was always a hobby, not for the public. Then, when I finished “Elite”, I became really famous from one day to the next. So I decided to release my music and start showing my songs to the world. But it's been a long journey until I finally found my sound and I think I really did it with this last album. I'm really happy.
Fête de la Musique really showcases the unifying power of music. How do you see your music fostering a sense of community and connection among your listeners?
I think the music that I'm doing now can reach more listeners than the music that I did before. It was really nice to do this show in Fête de la Musique because it was the first time that I played with the band. That was really nice. People didn't know the songs, but even so they danced and they enjoyed themselves. I'm happy with that.
It's the beginning. I just dropped one song. I’ll drop the next song this month. So, I hope we can create a great community of honest people who also want bands back. I think bands are coming back 100 percent.
Contemporary musicians often blend their music with performance art, highly technical sets, and are generally pushing boundaries in a big way. How do you approach pushing boundaries in your work?
The more arts you try, the better you get in all of the areas. I think I'm good at art and I'm not good at any other work. Maybe tomorrow I will start painting, I don't know, that's my area I would say. It's a plus for each art if you explore the others. You don’t have to be afraid to try new things. Imposter syndrome is very normal and every artist has it, but I think if you try with your heart and it's real, pure and honest, it's good.
You have to do it.
That's very inspiring. With this second CUPRA City Garage concert and your second song about to be released, would you say that when something deeply excites you, you are obsessed with living it over and over?
Actually, yes, I do. It also happens to me with TV shows or series, I watch them over and over again rather than try to watch others. But I also get really excited about something and the next day I'm not. It's a problem, because sometimes you have to say to yourself: "You were really excited yesterday, so try to get excited again to go deep into those feelings.” But I like to repeat what satisfies me, of course.
Why did you choose Madrid for your second “Unexpected Session”? How has this city influenced your artistic journey?
It's my city. I have lived here for ten years and I think it's the best city in the world, because me and my team travel a lot and Madrid is always the base camp. It's a bit like home.
To finish it off: What’s coming up for Aron Piper in the next few months?
New music is coming. I think sometimes, as artists, we are thinking all the time: “What can we do now? What's banging now? This artist is doing this and it's working… We have to try to do the same…” But when it's honest and real, and I think this album is really, really honest, the fans are clever and love what you do.
