A Dirty Dozen with AIDAN AMINI from SLAVES TO HUMANITY – April 2022

According to a recent press release: “Slaves To Humanity released their brand new single “Shake My Faith” to all digital platforms today via FRAME|WORK. Slaves to Humanity (STH) is a Sunset Grunge band from Orange County California. It’s members include Aidan Amini on vocals, Pierce Akers on guitar, Shane Ryan on drums, and Nathan Johnson on the bass. Together the band mates create a sound like no other, mixing the melodic guitars of the late 80s era hard rock bands, and the lyrics and vocal sound of the 90s grunge era, as well as throwing modern rock elements all around. During the pandemic, the band worked hard on putting together their social media presence and continue to do so today, showing success on Tiktok and Instagram. As of April 2022, the band continues to play shows in Southern California as well as build their social media presence.” We get singer Aidan to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

“Shake My Faith” is a hard-hitting hard rock song that just blew us away while writing it. The song was just a Frankenstein’s monster of different parts that we had pieced together within a practice of two, and we were so excited about the outcome!

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I credit my upbringing in music to my dad! He was always playing guitar when I was little, and even joined his own cover band, and he always advocated that I did music! So, one day he took me to a Slash concert, and watching that blew me away, and from that point on, all I could think about was learning guitar and being able to sing like Myles Kennedy!

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Yes! Minutes To Midnight by Linkin Park, changed my perception of incredible music. Our producers Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh we’re both close friends with Chester Bennington, and always talked about how incredible he was as a singer, musician, and human being. At the time, the only thing I had heard from Chester was his cover of “Home Sweet Home,” and I had never really thought much of it. But the deeper I dove into Chester, Dead by Sunrise, and Linkin Park, the more appreciation I had for him, his voice, and his immense talent. Minutes To Midnight has some of my favorite tracks from the band.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Chester Bennington, Myles Kennedy, Chris Cornell, Michael Jackson, and Slash are all people who have inspired me endlessly. When I was younger, I never thought much of musicians past their songs, but as I grew older I came to appreciate these legends as musicians and people.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Personally, I’d love to work with Mike Shinoda, or Gavin Rossdale on a song! Mike Shinoda purely because of his incredible talent with writing instruments and song structures, and making modern sounding tracks that hit hard. That’s another thing I had always loved about Linkin Park. I’d also love to work with Gavin Rossdale, just cause he’s a really nice guy, and I’d love to see how he could guide me lyrically, and I’d be interested to see what he could teach me when it comes to writing vocals, he is an incredible writer and I’d be interested to see what would come out of a song If we collaborated! Although I’d love to work with ANY great musician that comes my way!

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I’d say that our music could be described as a mix of the late 80’s sunset strip hard rock, and the early 90s grunge, we actually label ourselves Sunset grunge for that reason!! Lots of people say we sound like Metallica… which although EXTREMELY flattering, I just don’t hear in our music. If anything the people that say we sound like Soundgarden are closer.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

For me the best thing about being a musician is the shows. Whether there is 10 people in the crowd, or 100, playing shows will ALWAYS be fun and every show will always be a unique experience. Concerts are what keep the bands alive and keep them growing, and I just absolutely love that!

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

When the band hangs out, it usually goes as follows… I order a bunch of food… we all play a bunch of card games, and laugh until our stomachs give out… Pierce picks up his guitar and starts shredding… Shane makes an awkward joke that nobody gets… and Nate saves Shane’s joke by making the same exact joke but somehow funnier… and that’s about it. We like hanging out and having fun, and we love just bein ourselves, and despite what it may seem on social media, we’re just a bunch of goofballs who love and treat each other like brothers.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

The last time I was star struck was on the set of No Cover, a show we did with Sumerian Records where a bunch of bands like us compete for a bunch of prizes and a record deal. On the show, the judges consisted of Gavin Rosdale, Tosin Abasi, Bishop Briggs, Lzzy Hale, and Alice Cooper. Being in the room with those LEGENDS, had me shitting bricks, and it shows on the show!

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

Honestly, I have no clue. I mean I have A LOT of hobbies. I play video games, I do graphic design, I like video editing, and I like 3D modeling. I also enjoy code and all the other complicated computer things that nobody ever wants to do, so probably something like that!

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Honestly, at this point in time I have nothing to regret. We’ve been EXTREMELY lucky in our careers which is just incredible. I absolutely love and am proud of everything we’ve done. From working with Scott Holiday, to Ryan and Amir, to Charlie Colin of the band Train, I don’t really think I’d change anything… except maybe my haircut from when we started… that was something else…

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I’d love to have been in the studio when Appetite For Destruction was being recorded. Everything I’ve heard from that album is absolutely insane and I’m very interested in seeing it all play out in person!

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Category: Interviews