A few piano chords, some strumming of strings, and bits of stories that Simon Buret notes down in his notebooks. Simple, instinctive, AaRon, it’s a little music that stays in your head. “We sing about the emotions of everyday life. You come out of the cinema, you have things to say, you write them down. Our lyrics tell stories of experiences we’ve had,” explains Olivier Coursier, the pianist and guitarist. He is 30 years old, Simon 26. They are from Versailles and met at a mutual friend’s place. A musical love at first sight. That’s where the duo’s harmony was born. The harmony between the two friends and their universe, between their melodies and their presence. Two brunette heads, four big black eyes, two warm voices, and a lot of melancholy. The duo likes to ride imaginary worlds, as highlighted by the acronym AaRON: Artificial Animals Riding On Neverland. Why this name? “Why not! It evokes the part of the dream that we lose as we grow up. We tend to forget the imaginary, over time. There is reality, work, taxes, but you must know how to keep that part of the dream that is important for living.“
Unpretentious and unashamed, these independent artists wander somewhere between nostalgia and hope, between grace and broken loves. Simon, studied Fine Arts before becoming a model, then an actor. Olivier, a former guitarist of Mass Hysteria, was a graphic designer. They began the AaRON adventure in 2004. Simon is more inclined to sing in English, 11 out of 12 tracks.
With a French mother and an American father, the young man is bilingual: “Simon thinks as much in English as in French. It’s always strange when you have two native languages, sometimes he dreams in English. It’s the same in life. We’ve done several songs in French, but we found that only one had a coherent place in the album. Above all, it’s about music, the language doesn’t really matter.“
A Cinematic Music
Their success began, somewhat by chance, when Simon starred in “Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas” by Philippe Lioret. The young girl we see (surviving) was supposed to be named Elise, she becomes Lili: AaRON’s melody, U Turn Lili, charmed Philippe Lioret, who made it his original soundtrack. A painful story, with touches of hope, for a French film full of humility. A year later, when you listen to U Turn Lili, the emotion from the film still lingers. “If the two atmospheres are close, it’s a coincidence, it’s just as well. Our album was written before Simon started filming. It’s true that, from the beginning, our music has been quite cinematic: we first work on lyrics, to tell a story, create a setting. Then, the music follows. That’s how we create images.”
If you say November 24, Olivier responds without hesitation “the Olympia.” His first reaction? “It’s scary!” A year ago, the two boys couldn’t even imagine doing a concert, one day. They have a magical memory of their first stage, with quite a few chills. “For the Olympia, we want to do something really special. It’s a mythical venue! Brel, Piaf, and many others have been here. It’s strange to find ourselves here, now.” Their album is a gold record, and might be a double gold record in September, with the release of a live album. But what matters most to Simon and Olivier are the 20 festival dates this summer and the 35 upcoming concerts: “the purpose of a tour, for us, is really to play in as many places as possible, to meet as many different people as possible.“
The duo has never been to Nice yet. Will it be an opportunity to visit the city on December 6? “Exactly!“
