Symphonic Soul Pop
duo Aziza and the Cure is
the brain-child of violinist Joelle Britt and guitarist Bradley Rouen, a
musically gifted couple sharing their love of composing soulful, melodic
ballads with classical & Jazz sensibilities. The two held a
successful Kickstarter campaign
to fund the recording of their debut album. Appropriately so, they
kickstarted their stay at MetroSonic with a live streaming concert held in our
Showroom. The concert was simultaneously recorded, mixed, and live streamed. A
first for MetroSonic. As you can see in the pictures, a diverse & talented
group of musicians accompanied the duo, including Ian Baggette on bass, Jamie
Eblen on drums, Jujari Britt on cello, backing vocals, and a string section.
Bradley and Joelle returned
to MetroSonic to produce and record their album over a period of two
weeks. The process began with recording basic elements from where the
compositions were originally inspired, guitar and vocal parts. Next were drums
and bass, followed by strings and vocal overdubs. As seen in the
photo, MetroSonic’s RCA 44-BX pair were used to record drums,
allowing for the uncolored sound the album aimed
for. Later, the string section was recorded in our Show-Room, also to
enhance the recording’s live and realistic feel.
Once recording was
completed, Pete worked in solitary mixing the album’s tracks as Joelle and
Bradley graciously took some time to talk about the album with us. We began to
discuss the concept of the album and what they wanted their listeners to experience.
The two exchanged glances and Bradley began, “It is a song cycle, portraying
the first few years of our relationship, meeting, being enamored, our issues,
societal issues, in order for us to be in a good place. There are themes
throughout like an opus, or symphony that reoccur throughout keys, time
signatures, songs. It was not intellectualized, we wanted to have fun
writing music, doing things we thought were cool.” Joelle added, “We want the
listener to take something out of, it does not have to be how I felt, I want
everyone to connect on some level even if its subconscious or subtle. Its a
pretty honest album, not just the story, but how we recorded it. Its supposed
to be like a live performance, people can relate to that fact, its intimate and
exposing. Listeners will feel you’re probably telling the truth when there’s no
auto-tune.” Bradley described a ride he envisioned the listeners to be on
with the couple, “They are going with us to all these places, up and down,
dynamic changes, an emotional roller coaster. At the end of the album, the
first few seconds of silence I want the listener to be there in awe. We want
each song to stand on its own and interweave together to form a well
constructed tapestry.”
Joelle spoke of the
difficulties they encountered while writing the album, “Its about a
relationship, and we are trying to put it in one person’s perspective. It’s
like, ‘I didn’t do that’, and you reply, ‘Uhh yes, you did.’ There was a lot of
growing we did to perform those songs, they were so personal. The first time we
preformed we did the songs in New Orleans for Bradley’s friends and family, it
was so exposing, I was yelling at him in his house, in front of his mother,
like should I stop? Its so hard separating yourself from it, accusing, ranting at
the other person. Then explaining it to them, you have to sing like this, cause
they can’t sing it right if they don’t understand what they are singing about.
Just organizing it was hard, writing for 12 people, especially the string parts."
Bradley concluded, ” We
just want to make the best music we can, live the best we can, and make the
world the best it could be. Joelle smiled, “Its true but when you read it or
say it, its like sure. Everyone is so jaded, like ‘Hah, right’. Aldous Huxley
said words are like laundry, people feel ‘I don’t care about this anymore, I’ve
heard it so many times’. We just want to be as harmonious as we can.” When
asked about their experience working at Metrosonic, Bradley replied, “Pete got
what we wanted without us having to tell him, he captured the concept. It was a
special place to perform in as well, the showroom has a great energy, a
supportive environment.”
