Airports: From Fourth-Grade Bass Player to Platinum Producer - A Musical Odyssey of Blink 182, Rave Festivals, and Smooth Criminal Outfits!

Come along for an unforgettable conversation with the immensely talented Australian artist, Aaron Lee, also known as Airports. Marvel as he guides us through his incredible journey from being a fourth-grade bass player, to becoming an internationally recognized singer, three-time platinum producer, and engineer. Aaron doesn’t hold back as he reveals the fascinating story behind his love for Blink 182, his electrifying encounter at a two-day rave festival in Canada, and the creative process behind his poignant tribute to his late mother, titled "Living Proof".

Brace yourself, as Aaron reveals his battle with a rare blood disorder, and how it significantly shaped his life. He opens up about how music served as his sanctuary during these challenging times, with impactful childhood memories of emulating Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal' outfit to performing on stage for the first time in front of his parents. Aaron also shares his thoughts on fame’s effect on child stars, and the critical importance of mental health, adding a unique perspective to the conversation.

Finally, Aaron sheds light on his experiences as a co-writer and his DJ days. He shares his passion for creating music, and his love for 80s film art that heavily influenced his nostalgic music video, Oxytocin. He gives us a glimpse into his mental vault of favorite memories, from performing in London to meeting the frontman of Yellowcard. Aaron’s story is an inspiration to all aspiring artists dreaming of a music career. His resilience in the face of hardship and his dedication to his craft is a testament to the power of determination. Don’t miss out on hearing Aaron’s remarkable journey and his invaluable insights into the world of music.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome everyone to music junkies, a podcast about people sharing extraordinary stories about how music has impacted their lives. Welcome everyone to music junkies. I'm your host, annette Smith, and today our guest is on his own unique path to carve his own sound and legacy. Singer, writer, three time platinum producer and engineer, aaron Lee, aka airports, this Australian one man army takes listen listeners on a journey of their own of self awareness. Please welcome to the show, aaron.

Speaker 2: 0:42

Hello, thank you very much for having me in that.

Speaker 1: 0:44

Yeah, we were just discussing. You're in Australia and I'm in.

Speaker 2: 0:47

Canada.

Speaker 1: 0:48

And what time is it there? Right now in the morning. It is 10 am 10 am 6 pm, you know that's.

Speaker 2: 0:54

That's early for musicians.

Speaker 1: 0:58

Were you out partying this weekend.

Speaker 2: 1:01

Yeah, well, it's two, it's what is the days, and it's Tuesday now and I was on the weekend and I kind of burnt myself out of it, so yes, we were.

Speaker 1: 1:10

I did a. I did a wedding on the weekend, so I'm going to get a wedding on that weekend. And then we went to chasing summers yesterday, so it was a long. Okay, yeah, it's always fun.

Speaker 2: 1:21

Is that an artist or a festival? It's a rave so it's a two day festival.

Speaker 1: 1:26

So yeah, on Saturday they had, like Tia Stowe closed and then last night. Zed closed so it was.

Speaker 2: 1:34

I used to be a DJ and producer in that world, so like that would have been awesome.

Speaker 1: 1:40

Yeah, it's cool. They got three stages so you just kind of hop around yeah, three different stages and see what you kind of like, so you're always going to be, you know, listening to somebody cool, which is awesome and it's yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Speaker 2: 1:54

I just imagine this out in a forest, because you're in Canada and that's like all our visualized Canada as far as some lakes.

Speaker 1: 2:01

This one is, and you know it's so crazy, as most of the time they are, but the chasing in Calgary, it's like on Calgary and yeah, well cement, no tense to hide in your like dying of water and yeah, like they could really do a better job. For sure, for sure.

Speaker 2: 2:24

Isn't that a bird of crazy? On on the weed like you like weeds legal, and it's just everywhere, like in.

Speaker 1: 2:29

Yeah, so this little thing here. I took my daughter into like a place where we could just go sit down. Yeah, they brought. I didn't know that it was a weed place where people smoked weed.

Speaker 2: 2:43

So she got contact time.

Speaker 1: 2:45

Oh my god, we're just being there and they brought out these bazookas of weed. We're just blowing them in people's faces and we're just, oh my god, so well he laughed a lot just from the weed, so it was kind of fun.

Speaker 2: 2:59

Let's go. Yeah, we don't have that in Australia, but a lot of people wish we did.

Speaker 1: 3:04

So tell me your experience putting your playlist together for me today.

Speaker 2: 3:08

Yeah, so when I was asked to put together a playlist of this 10 songs I can tell stories about, I kind of went through a live journey, putting in songs that you know were very important to me, shaping where I am now as an artist musically, from, like my, my younger years to recent things that I've worked on. Yeah, hopefully I have a few stories for you.

Speaker 1: 3:34

Yeah, I love it. Let's get started with your first song. You ready?

Speaker 2: 3:38

Sure.

Speaker 1: 3:53

So Blink 182, feeling this great tune.

Speaker 2: 3:58

Hmm.

Speaker 1: 4:00

So tell me a little bit about the story behind that song. Why do you love that I?

Speaker 2: 4:04

started eating almonds because I thought we're going to listen to the whole thing. I'm like, ok, I got three minutes. Ok, caught me with a mouthful.

Speaker 1: 4:15

I wish we could play it all right.

Speaker 2: 4:18

Is that a? Is that a legal thing?

Speaker 1: 4:21

I think so. One day they'll catch me, but I'm going to do it until they do, I guess.

Speaker 2: 4:25

There's a way, I think, to put a tree or to do it with a podcast where you can segment it and have the actual song on Spotify in it.

Speaker 1: 4:33

Yeah, you're going to have to show me how to do that.

Speaker 2: 4:35

I don't know. I've seen other podcasts do it, I don't know how. Ok, what was the question?

Speaker 1: 4:41

What's your story, memory behind this song, feeling this?

Speaker 2: 4:44

Right feeling this, I think, went to. So they're my favorite band of all time. I'm very excited to finally see them. Well, I saw them in like 2005 I think, before they broke up, but I'm seeing them in February here and I don't know how much you know about them, but one of the original members, tom DeLong, who has been off chasing aliens and working with the government, is back in the band right now and they're at an all time kind of high vibe, so I'm really excited to see them.

Speaker 2: 5:15

But this song, I think, was just a really important song in my high school years. It just made me want to like leave school and be in a band or make music or something and it really helped as part of my escape from the very, to me, very boring education system and I was like I already know what I want to do in its music and just let me leave. So but yeah, it's great. It's just such a good summer song and one of my recent releases, called second to breathe, actually referenced that intro drum, so that drum kit. It's on like an effect called flanger and it's doing this like sweeping sound to the drums. So I kind of use that in the intro of the next song we're going to listen to, which is my song. Second, to breathe as homage to that link, or a two song.

Speaker 1: 6:08

Yeah, so what was your first instrument?

Speaker 2: 6:10

you learned how to play base in the school band and in grade four. And because my dad's a musician, he's a country musician and so part of me is captured, this like country pop thing in my chords and songwriting that I like. But I went into that pop punk, yeah, and then I went into like rap and then I went into EDM but I was playing like offspring in blink covers since I learned bass and I learned guitar and a bit of drums and then finally singing.

Speaker 1: 6:44

What was your first song? You learned on the bass.

Speaker 2: 6:47

Probably some boring thing like Tequila or something from the school band, like one of those, one of those standards you know that they teach. You couldn't remember how to play it.

Speaker 1: 6:57

So why did you transition out of base into guitar just?

Speaker 2: 7:01

because the front man plays guitar. It's like whatever I just sing, which instrument gives me more girls? You know?

Speaker 1: 7:13

drums are good, but I think guitar would probably do singers really let's, let's be honest.

Speaker 2: 7:18

Here I am, the one man band singing, that's right.

Speaker 1: 7:21

I'll do all the instruments and I'll sing.

Speaker 2: 7:24

You think it would work. It's not working. No, maybe because my voice I sung too much like Tom DeLong, where he has that whiny like where are you like? And then it took me is to kind of get out of this singing whiny kind of thing.

Speaker 1: 7:41

Got to grow into your voice.

Speaker 2: 7:43

Yes.

Speaker 1: 7:44

Just kidding. All right, here's one of your songs. Second to breathe Just play a little bit of it.

Speaker 2: 7:53

You hear the drums.

Speaker 1: 8:02

Right. What's that song about?

Speaker 2: 8:05

So second to breathe is kind of like a weird mix of a lot of my influences, which are punk and then electronic music, and I feel like that's my niche because I would say pop punk is my musical backbone from being a kid, but I spent so many years being a DJ producer that the way I write and produce is kind of EDM-ish and I've always found myself putting them together. But I feel like that's a bit unique. You don't hear a lot of that, so I'm definitely trying to make that my thing and a thing. And the song Second to Breathe is about just going through a heap of shit.

Speaker 2: 8:57

I think that time I wrote it was that time in the world so people could relate. But then there was personal issues too and it was really just going like I need a second to recoup and get myself together and find myself again, and then I'll fucking back, let's go. And it was kind of like that hey whoa, like I just needed a second. But I'm back here now and it's Leo season, baby, it's my birthday this week, so you know, taking charge, that's good, I love it.

Speaker 1: 9:27

So what has been your favorite part of kind of your career so far? Do you love kind of doing it all?

Speaker 2: 9:35

I do love doing it all and it's just, I would say it's all just like an exploratory journey when, you know, at the time when I was learning instruments in high school, that was what I had to do then. And then when I left and I got into EDM and I was DJing and playing clubs, that's what I was loving then. And then now I'm like really bored of like being. I would be really bored if I was a strategic producer and I wanted to sing more. So I went to that and then started producing pop music and and now, like where I am now, my passion is really trying to mix those two genres and perform it. So, yeah, I just say it's an evolution, hey. And then I'm sure, down the road, like I'm like I hope at one point in my life I make some like something a little bit country. I don't know why, just maybe because it's my roots you do so much for Dad.

Speaker 2: 10:34

That'd be cool. And then I'm even like listening to Post Malone's new album, which is quite acoustic and bluesy, country rocky as well. I'm like I would make a strip back like record one day, but I think that's really far away. Like I'm like, well, right now I'm just making bangers that people in like into bands like, as well as people that are into a bit of electronic music. So yeah, it's a bit everywhere, but it's just just creativity.

Speaker 1: 11:04

Yeah, have you had lots of collaborations that you've really enjoyed, like? Is there one that really stands out for you?

Speaker 2: 11:11

Yeah, we're. At the moment I'm working with a maid of mine from the UK who's an amazing drum and bass producer, and we connected when I went out there to London recently and I was like I want to work with drum and bass producers because for a while I've felt that pop punk and drum and bass have very similar tempos and energies, but I haven't seen anyone put them together and I wanted to do that. So we'll get to it later. But my recent single need you here is where I feel like we've successfully put that together and I got some help from this guy's names Laminar, and now we're working on like a whole EP, like collaboration EP, of pop punk and drum and bass. So we're finishing off at the moment, but it's really cool. I'm super excited for that to get out because I just think it's quite different and I'm really into. I'm really into like pushing the boundaries of ideas and genres in with still some pop sensibility.

Speaker 2: 12:10

I really like artists who do that.

Speaker 1: 12:12

Yeah, as long as we can still go like this, we're okay. Yes, you'll still be able to go like that when we were at the rave last night I was like, okay, so it doesn't really matter, as long as you just have bass, you're good, Like you could go do whatever you want but the drop's going to be there. You got to have the bass there and then the crowd will still love you.

Speaker 2: 12:32

But if you take all that, out.

Speaker 1: 12:33

The crowd's going to hate you because they're going to like. I don't even know how to dance to like what are we? Doing this is ridiculous.

Speaker 2: 12:40

Yeah, they will be bass, that's right, Love it All right.

Speaker 1: 12:44

Next song no 741,. Fat lip Sounds like a fight. That is a classic. Got a fighting story with this one or what Almost Okay.

Speaker 2: 13:07

So I was in, I was doing karate when I was a kid and I was on karate summer camp so we would go camping somewhere and they'd get us up at some obnoxious time and we'd be on the beach doing like formations and stupid shit that I definitely don't want to do. And I just felt like I was on a path into something that I was good at, like I did pretty well at karate and I was like winning tournaments and stuff, but I really didn't want to do it Like it wasn't me and I wanted to pursue music. And then I remember I didn't know what this song was, but I had like a little cassette deck recorder and I recorded it off the radio. When I heard it come on again, I waited for it, heard it come on, recorded it, and I remember taking this little stereo with me to karate camp and I was just like at night in the tent listening to this one song and that made that, got me through that grueling week and I was just like I just want to leave this place and I just want to go make music that sounds like this.

Speaker 2: 14:23

And, funnily enough, not long after that I actually got really sick and I got and it was like right when I was in the middle of a karate tournament and I was about to win and this guy I was fighting, I was like winning the rounds and all of a sudden all my energy just disappeared and my dad was like it was like someone just like took the battery out of you. Like all the energy just got depleted and I lost around. And then I found out after that that I was sick. And then I went to hospital and turned out I had like a life threatening blood disorder and yeah, and then I was in hospital for like a year and all this stuff.

Speaker 2: 14:57

But being sick that took me kind of like off that trajectory of becoming I don't know a martial artist and then into my trajectory of music. Because in the war that I was in in hospital I made other friends that were into music and then the next summer I ended up on a music summer camp and then I was staying with that friend that I made and he was like a guitarist or something and like we got along through music and then I ended up like staying with him during the camp and everything. So it was just like such a crazy turn of events, but it was like my body was like, uh-uh, can't be doing this, I'm going to force you to stop. And it really got me on my path.

Speaker 1: 15:40

Wow, I love the way you turned. Most people would you know, look at an illness and then you know it's like whoa is me this kind of pity party. But I love how you turned it around where it was.

Speaker 2: 15:52

Yeah, Well, I have this weird thing where, like you know, most people don't like being in hospitals, like I hate it here. It feels sad or whatever, because maybe because I've lost someone or whatever. But I've, my brain has like a positive thing with hospitals and I go there quite a bit because I still I still get chemotherapy every few months for a different rare blood disorder. Um, but I think just because of those formative times it really helped me find who I was and I had like good times in hospital. I made friends and connected with people through music for like the first time. So it was weird. So, like when I got to hospital, it just doesn't faze me, I'm just like, yeah, I'm always here and it's just where you have to go to get things done. Like it's just an office, Like so.

Speaker 1: 16:41

It's something you got to do. Yeah it's crazy. You have some Michael Jackson on your playlist. I love it. Let's check it out.

Speaker 2: 16:48

Yeah, sorry.

Speaker 1: 17:03

It's amazing how many people have Michael Jackson on their playlist.

Speaker 2: 17:06

Really. Yeah, like so many that's snare Slap so good. Okay, so you remember the smooth criminal video. He has a white suit.

Speaker 1: 17:19

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 17:20

Okay, so I'm like probably around 10 years old and MJ is like my favorite artist, like Ferret Music. I'm like I want to perform like him all this time. I'm like borrowing my dad's microphone and little like PA at home when he's out on the weekend playing gigs, and I'm just like performing MJ songs like to my mom, because she's the only one home. And I remember dad gave me this white tie and I was like sick, I want to look like the smooth criminal outfit. And I realized that this tie was like a diamond cut tie like on the bottom, and MJ's tie was a straight cut tie. And I'm like trying to do a bit of alteration.

Speaker 2: 18:03

This could have been my gateway drug into designing my own clothing. So I cut that thing to make it square like MJ's, and dad gets home and is like what the fuck did you do? I didn't give it to you, I lent it to you and now you've ruined my tie. So I got in trouble and I had microphone rights revoked, maybe even. Maybe it was just for that night, maybe it was for a week, I don't know. But to me at the time and my age, it just all it said to me was like you tried to sing and express yourself and you were shot down for it, and I didn't sing in front of my parents again until I was 21.

Speaker 1: 18:46

No way.

Speaker 2: 18:48

And that was at my first EP launch and it was like sold out like 300 people. And they came along and I was like and it was like the first time I incorporated singing into my music, because before that I was DJing. Now I was like, guess they're hearing me sing now and now I'm fine with it, but like it really, yeah, it instilled something in me where I could sing in front of everyone else but not them, because of that situation, so weird.

Speaker 1: 19:15

That is weird. Is that the pop star you wanted to be when you were younger, or was there somebody else that you want?

Speaker 2: 19:21

to be, I guess when I was younger and he didn't have all the controversy.

Speaker 1: 19:27

Before all of the X Y yeah. Like right before he got lit on fire with the Pepsi commercial. Before those days I wanted to be Michael. After that I felt like Michael is starting to go downhill a little bit.

Speaker 2: 19:41

Yeah, I think a lot of kids wanted to be Michael because he had the biggest branding in the world as an artist, larger than life kind of shit. I still think no one. Thankfully, because of how aware we are of mental health, I don't think anyone could ever be that again, because he had to grow up being abused and then just forced to be an incredible artist and performer and then I guess his trauma and all that drove him into just needing to be more and more successful in a bigger icon. And you look at, say I don't know, like Beaver was our next child star or whatever, or recent one, and he couldn't get to that level because people around him in the world and himself are just too aware of like that's unhealthy. Yeah, you can't be like that.

Speaker 1: 20:40

And I do feel when you are that big, you do want to have people that surround you and have your best interest at heart. But even the people closest to you could be potentially the worst people like your family or whatever. Money does weird things to people and when money is flowing and it's flowing from, like a child or a sister or whatever. It's crazy what people will allow happen to that because they don't want to get cut off.

Speaker 2: 21:12

Yeah, look at what happened to Aaron Carter with his parents. I don't know if you know about that it's crazy, even. Britney Spears in her prints. Yeah, exactly, it's crazy.

Speaker 1: 21:22

I don't know if you like Tina Turner or not, but I watched her documentary the other day. And it's a pretty hard hardcore documentary I don't know if she was like involved in it. I don't think so, but the abuse that they shared on there from Ike was like it was.

Speaker 2: 21:42

I don't know anything about her story. Oh yeah, I have to check it out.

Speaker 1: 21:46

You're going to have to check it out Like.

Speaker 2: 21:48

I watched that other. Was it the Whitney movie? That was pretty crazy. Yeah, watch that as well.

Speaker 1: 21:53

Yeah, I would check it out for sure. I just couldn't believe that they went that far with the domestic abuse. How brutal they actually showed. So they're showing it that brutal it was probably.

Speaker 2: 22:09

Was it a docker or reenacted? Oh?

Speaker 1: 22:11

it's reenacted, okay.

Speaker 2: 22:14

I mean, you never know, but they could also amp it up for the story. Speaking of Tina Turner, my good friend Bex, who was a rising pop star from Australia, her and I recently did a Tina Turner cover that we've worked on. I helped produce a bit of it. This is not it. We're going to listen to it because it's not out yet, but if you want to skip over to her song, you can.

Speaker 2: 22:41

The one that I was going to skip was for the sake of time is a J-pop group called Rashi and they are one of the biggest, or maybe the biggest like legacy J-pop group and I was fortunate enough to land like a co-production feature on their final album before they broke up and kind of reproducing one of their old hits and the album went triple platinum and was like the number one selling album in the world, Like the week it like outsold Ariana, like the week it came out. One in the West knew about it, but it was massive over there and that's why I get to say platinum producer now. So I was going to play that, but I mean you can skip over a few if you want.

Speaker 1: 23:30

Sure, let's play forever or young forever. Yeah, don't wake me up in the morning, don't send me straight out. Yeah, young forever yeah.

Speaker 2: 23:47

So we got some new disco there which I produced and co-wrote and mixed for Bex, and I would say that it's one of my passions musically, like new disco and like kind of funky stuff. I think that comes to my DJ days and I don't really have an outlet for it with my music because I've definitely, like for airports, I've gone down like the alternative route. So I kind of just dabbling a few side projects of people to kind of keep, you know, keep that I guess, just make some stuff that is fun for me, that I don't usually get to make so young forever, and also another song called devoted by Bex. Some of those kind of like funkier sides of my production.

Speaker 1: 24:31

I love it. So I know you've changed your hair color a lot so over the over the years. So what's your been your favorite hair color so far?

Speaker 2: 24:38

I only had it. I think I only had a pink, pink, blue, and then it was like purple. Well, the blue was meant to be purple, but it came out blue for like two days. So then I, yeah, then I just put it back to my natural color, which is kind of dark, brown, black.

Speaker 1: 24:56

So you don't have a favorite color, you're just like, hey, let's have some fun.

Speaker 2: 24:59

No, just my. So I actually think the pink worked, but that was I was doing like my record at the time. I kind of had like a pink thing going on, because it was very like Pop Punk before Barbie, and I'm glad I didn't do that at the same time, otherwise they're like this dude really fucking likes Barbie. I think I'm seeing it tomorrow, though, so we'll see how much I do like it.

Speaker 1: 25:22

Who are you going to see it with?

Speaker 2: 25:25

A female friend of mine, oh nice, awesome.

Speaker 1: 25:30

So what about your favorite costume that you like to wear on stage?

Speaker 2: 25:34

Costume. I usually just dress in like whatever is me, but I did once wear a Sonic outfit last year to my Halloween show, so I was dressed as Sonic the Hedgehog but it looked a bit funny. Like it definitely like the. The only way to keep the half of the mask on was like a little like keeping his nose latched onto your nose and it would just like push my nose up. And then it just looked really funny, Like it was such a. I wish I could have said I bought it off wish or like Alibaba, one of those like cheap sites, but I didn't. I paid good money for it and it sucked. I mean, gotta go first, that's right.

Speaker 1: 26:14

All right another one of your songs, mom, living proof yeah.

Speaker 2: 26:38

So my mom passed away in 2019 and I wrote that song about her, so that was just like a little memorial song for her.

Speaker 1: 26:46

Yeah, that's pretty powerful to write a song about your mom.

Speaker 2: 26:51

Yeah, I'm glad a lot of people have like connected to it and, you know, gotten stuff out of it, maybe cause they've lost a parent or someone close. And yeah, actually that's like my favorite part about doing music. It's like having other people. It's like for the creator it's our catharsis and then for the listener it's their catharsis. So I like that and yeah, I felt like this song. It felt like it was sometimes more for other people, you know.

Speaker 1: 27:24

Yeah. As well as your favorite place that you've traveled to and performed to so far.

Speaker 2: 27:32

Played some cool festivals in New Zealand and they're really, really great people and they really love like music. So great crowds. That was cool. And then I did a little showcase in London a few months ago and I'm kind of working a bit more focusing out there because it has such an amazing scene for alternative music. Yeah, and that's definitely like my bag at the moment, so I'm all about what they've got going on over there, yeah.

Speaker 1: 28:05

And what about DJing? Well, I don't really do that anymore, oh like back in the day where it was kind of like Back in the day I just played domestically really around Australia and New Zealand.

Speaker 2: 28:18

I will say again, New Zealand was really great because, yeah, they just I know there's great energy, great people.

Speaker 1: 28:25

So that was cool. Must have big festivals. It would have been.

Speaker 2: 28:30

Well, australia and New Zealand's festivals I don't think are as big compared to the US and Europe and Canada and all that. But it's because of our population down here, like we are small islands pretty much.

Speaker 1: 28:42

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:43

And I know like Australia's biggest festival it's probably like maximum 50,000 people, maybe 60. And then you know that's a mid-sized festival in the UK. So it's just that's also why I'm getting out, because there's not much of a music economy here.

Speaker 1: 29:02

Yeah, for sure, All right. Next song Another one of yours. Feel it too.

Speaker 2: 29:19

I don't have enough time to eat my almonds in there, come on.

Speaker 1: 29:21

You don't.

Speaker 2: 29:24

Okay. So man, this is our professional. I'm just eating on them. It's morning and I haven't eaten yet, so I'm like I get the almonds. So you feel it too was.

Speaker 2: 29:38

If you listen to the lyrics or even looked them up I think they're on Genius or something you feel it too. It's a song where it can be interpreted as talking about a relationship with a loved one or a relationship with depression, or like vices or anxiety or something negative. And I wrote it starting about the latter, which was about something negative. It was about like depression, right, a relationship with depression talking to it. But then, when I was writing it, I realized some of the lyrics are actually from this place of fondness towards my girlfriend at the time. So I was like this song because if you look at it one way, it sounds like it sounds lovely, and if you look at the other way the lyrics it doesn't at all. It sounds like you're almost captive or surrendering to this thing. So I was like, wow, this is like cool, because it's a dual purpose song and it depends how you interpret it, how you listen to it.

Speaker 2: 30:46

So for the video, it was like peak pandemic lockdown and I got people to send like I asked them questions and I got them to write it on paper and like hold it up and film themselves, and we made a whole music video. It's on YouTube and it's like people are talking about like they started. They start, half of the song is talking about stuff they love people. They love things that make them happy. And then the final thing is like a message to themselves. Like what would they tell themselves? That they're someone else, or the younger self or whatever, to encourage them to keep going through it?

Speaker 2: 31:24

And it got quite emotional, like I'm almost tearing up thinking about like a lot of wonderful people that submitted to the video. Like I'm not sure if it's because of the way they're talking about it, but I think it's like a lot of people are like I don't know, I don't know I'm tearing up thinking about like a lot of wonderful people that submitted to the video. Like you know, they got pretty teary and they got real way. So it's worth checking out that one.

Speaker 1: 31:50

Have you struggled with mental illness before? Like haven't we all?

Speaker 2: 31:54

I'm a creative in that, for real. That's the foundation of our art.

Speaker 1: 32:02

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:04

I think it actually comes to the place of needing outlet, probably when we're young.

Speaker 1: 32:08

Yeah, so who designed the cover of that song?

Speaker 2: 32:12

I did yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:14

So I don't know. Like for me, when I see that I'm a lot old, I'm assuming I'm a lot older than you, so growing up in the 80s. This album cover like the picture.

Speaker 2: 32:28

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:29

Do you know what it looks like? Do you know what I'm going to say?

Speaker 2: 32:31

Okay, it okay. So I used that template for a while and the red box and the writing I referenced from a horror movie like poster, I can't remember which movie and it's all 80s inspired. So you're right, because I love, I love, like film art from the 80s.

Speaker 1: 32:54

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:55

But the to me it feels like Drive by Ryan Gosling.

Speaker 1: 33:00

It's interesting because it reminds me of the movie License to Drive with Corey Haman, corey Feldman.

Speaker 2: 33:08

Oh okay, License to Drive. I'm gonna look it up. Oh yes, oh yes, I see, I see, yeah, yeah, okay. I mean they could have referenced Drive, the Ryan Gosling film. A bit from that. Yeah, or it's just like LA vibes in the A-Vibes.

Speaker 1: 33:27

Yeah, LA vibes for sure.

Speaker 2: 33:30

Yeah, but that was actually like because during that music video the B-roll was me performing and we just filmed it on an iPhone near my house and it's like over the lake and there are some palm trees, so that's kind of what I was going for.

Speaker 1: 33:44

No, I like it. What's been your favorite music video so far to put out?

Speaker 2: 33:50

Oh, um. Second, I breathed this fun just because there was a lot of friends involved. That's kind of like a Out of City Limits Nighttime, dystopian, delinquent youth kind of vibe. And then I have another song that came out last year called Oxytocin, which is like a really fun upbeat pop song. And we did I think you'll like this one we did a nostalgia trip and each part of the song goes through a different decade of like me in my room from a different decade. So it starts in the 90s, then 2000s, 2010s and then modern. So it's definitely worth checking out because it's got all these like nostalgia points, especially for anyone listening who is like a 90s or 2000s kid, because it has like we got all the props and all like the video games and all like the things from each era. But yeah, it's a really fun video. It's called Oxytocin.

Speaker 1: 34:43

Cool, that'd be fun to kind of collect all of that stuff.

Speaker 2: 34:47

Yeah, I've got friends who collected all it's. It's just too much. I've collected a little bit, but like I don't want the storage.

Speaker 1: 34:56

I would love, just for like a couple days, to get back like all of the stuff that I had kind of growing up the poster.

Speaker 2: 35:04

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:05

All the stuff from the concerts because I like kept everything. I was going through when I started Music Junkies. I was going through trying to go through photo albums to find, like all these old pictures of going to concerts and stuff.

Speaker 2: 35:21

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:21

I had like a big book of like all these old concert tickets that were like 25. Wow, so that was pretty cool to see. I mean it's good to hang on to.

Speaker 2: 35:31

Yeah, I used to have a poster company that I started with a mate and so we would do like poster runs, all the big touring festivals and artists, so I kept a lot of them, hoping that one day some of them would be worth something.

Speaker 1: 35:45

Yeah, that'd be cool yeah.

Speaker 2: 35:57

I'm going to play the next song. That is another classic one. Obviously I like a lot of pop punk, but I specifically like the 2000s pop punk from that was my, I guess, golden youthful era and it was very formative for me. So that's one of my top top three songs of all time, I'd say. And I met the frontman from Ocean Card recently at a festival I was out in the UK and I was like, hey, man, are you, you know, from Yellowcard? And you could just tell he just didn't care, he knew what was coming. And I'm like, hey, I know you hear this all the time, but Ocean Avenue is one of my favorite songs and I know you hear this all the time. But I'm saying I mean in like my top two three songs, I mean like at my funeral song, and he's just like Thanks, dude, I just didn't care. I'm like, okay, what time are you on? He's like eight o'clock. I'm like, oh, so, like so crazy. Hey, that's so funny, he'd be sick of it. Because that song is, like you know, they're hit.

Speaker 1: 37:15

Yeah, but at the end of the day you signed up for it, so suck it up.

Speaker 2: 37:19

It's also why you're on the stage, that is right, that is right.

Speaker 1: 37:24

I had a guy today that I interviewed went. I can't remember who it was, but it was a lead. Oh, it was the lead singer of Goldfinger. And he went to this restaurant and the guy was there and he was like shaking his hand with like two hands and like I love you, I you know you're awesome. He's going on and on to shaking this guy, like holding both of his hands.

Speaker 1: 37:51

And then I goes, yeah, I'm just came in here for lunch, I'm having the meat. And he was like he just kind of let go of the guy's hand and was like, oh okay. And then he went and sat down. He's like, oh my God, I just told him I was having meat in a vegan. The guy just what did I just do? Like, oh my God, I met my like idol and I'm just totally distraught, poor guy. You never know.

Speaker 2: 38:17

That's pretty funny.

Speaker 1: 38:19

All right.

Speaker 2: 38:20

Next song.

Speaker 1: 38:25

Cool yourself down. I think I'm getting stuck.

Speaker 2: 38:30

I think I'm getting hooked on you. Your cheeks are so warm and my neck low.

Speaker 1: 38:37

Great. Some of us call glue yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:40

So that's a band called Fickle Friends from the UK and crazy story. So I heard them like just say, kind of on my Spotify when I was on the way home from London in 2018. And I was like, oh my God, this sounds amazing, like I love this band. I love their sound, the production, the vocals, the songwriting. So I just kind of had them on my playlist for a while and I was like, yeah, they're sick then.

Speaker 2: 39:05

And then a few months ago I was in, I was in the UK again and I was at a music conference and I was sitting down with some new friends and and then one of my mates was like, oh, like, my band's being produced by Jack, who's the one of the members and Fickle Friends and the producer oh, actually he's on the way here now for a drink. So I'm like, oh crazy, like I love that band. So Jack rocks up and then he has a Michael Jackson Bad Taddu on his arm and I'm like one of the greatest albums of all time. So then we bonded over that and then next week we ended up getting together and writing a song. So that's just a little shout out to Jack, because he's a legend and and I love what he and his band do. So that's pretty much it, and it ties back to the smooth criminal song earlier.

Speaker 1: 39:52

I love it. That's awesome. So what you've obviously learned? You know something kind of like tequila or something like that on bass. What about guitar? Guitar? Was there like a song that you really wanted to hear?

Speaker 2: 40:09

Yeah, it would have been damn it by Blink.

Speaker 1: 40:10

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 40:12

Yeah, for sure, Classic. I think every every guitar player kid from my age knows how to play that.

Speaker 1: 40:20

And now drums. What about drums? Did you get pretty deep into them or not?

Speaker 2: 40:24

so much Not really, I mean, for a lot, a big portion of my life, I was actually in church not now, but I for a few years I was like the drummer like every week for our services. So I mean we had some fun like rock, music and stuff. So that was. It was kind of cool, like it wasn't boring, but it definitely got my chops up the old church throwing.

Speaker 1: 40:52

Yeah, what was your first concert you ever went to?

Speaker 2: 40:56

Oh, some 41 and you found glory. So again more pop punk. Yeah, I know I'm 41. Before I remember I had like a chain, like the hanging chain, from like my wallet to my pants and I was like because that at the time I was probably like 14. And that was like my statement piece. You know. That was like hey, my grandma bought this for me from the surf shop, from the skate shop, and this is awesome. And then they took it off me to confiscate it when I went in, saying it can be used as a weapon. Because it was a different era than when they really were like whatever, and now they don't care, you can wear anything, the gigs, but yeah. And then I was like can I get it back? At the end and then I can't get it. And then I went there and they're like, no, it's gone. So I'm like I'm gonna be that chain. It wasn't very punk rock of me to just hand, hand over and give into authority.

Speaker 1: 41:50

So did you like the marsh pit? Were you a marsh pit guy?

Speaker 2: 41:53

A little bit. Yeah, definitely. I think I was at the back door because I was quite small at the time, but that was a sick concert Like they were both. Both bands were in their prime with their like prime albums, so it was really cool and yeah just a good time Awesome.

Speaker 1: 42:11

Another one of your songs coming up. I think we need you here.

Speaker 2: 42:29

Yeah, so that is my latest release. As you listen on, the song goes from like a punk, emo kind of vibe into drama base. So that's one of the that's what I was saying where we we've been trying to like make those genres sit really well together and I feel like this song it worked, it was executed quite well in the end. It took a while to get there. Like it was kind of hard production wise to mix like punk and drum and bass, but it got there in the end and I'm really proud of it and yeah, it's going well that's awesome.

Speaker 1: 43:04

So tell me a little bit about what's going on in your career right now. What's coming up? What will we kind of expect to see soon from you?

Speaker 2: 43:14

Yeah, I'm kind of just in writing mode, like I have a lot of songs that I've started or co-written with people and I'm just really staying like staying in and finishing them right now. It's I know it's coming towards the maybe the middle end of your summer in the Northern hemisphere, am I right?

Speaker 1: 43:31

Yes, September would be.

Speaker 2: 43:33

Yeah, so because it's our winter here in Australia it's not even that cold. Where I live, like it's actually quite warm. But yeah, I'm just like knuckling down and then I'll. Then I'll want to spend more time in the Northern hemisphere next year and really just have all these songs ready to go for summer over there. So I'm kind of playing the long game at the moment, like hopefully we're going to put out that, that drum and bass punk project I did with Laminar this year. That would be cool if we can get that out this year. But besides that, just stacking ready for next summer, pretty much getting ahead of it, and I have like a lot, a lot of music to finish. So it's kind of what I'm doing right now.

Speaker 1: 44:15

That's awesome. What about? Where can we find you your albums? Obviously, we know it's Spotify, but do you have?

Speaker 2: 44:21

a website.

Speaker 1: 44:22

You have Instagram. Where can we stop, yeah?

Speaker 2: 44:24

I say Instagram is my prime point of contact. So airports music, so airports with the plural, and then from there I've got like a link tree that goes to Spotify, youtube, whatever. But if you search like airports music video on YouTube, those videos we talked about will come up Spotify, just airports. And yeah, it's a bit hard on Google because you know the name airport, but yeah, it's out there. So you have to come find me. But need you? Here's the latest single. I recommend checking that out. And also second to breach, which we played at the start of the show.

Speaker 1: 45:01

Yeah, so where did you come up with your name?

Speaker 2: 45:05

So I had it for a long time just like in my mind, thinking that's a cool name. I want to use that for something and I feel like it's a bit timeless and it's a bit epic because it's like part of the journey, like the airports are the segue point between your journey, your adventure or coming home. So I used to use the tag line taking you somewhere else. But airports actually started as a two piece with my drummer and we both lived in different states, so one of us would always have to fly as well to play a show.

Speaker 1: 45:40

So that's where you kind of you just said this makes total sense. This is our name. Yeah, I guess so.

Speaker 2: 45:45

Didn't make sense to Google results, but we do have artists. We do have artists like the weekend. So you know, like that's right, they thought, hey, this would be good to play on the weekend.

Speaker 1: 45:53

Just just go, as each week.

Speaker 2: 45:55

Just just go, as if you get bigger, the Google machine will catch up.

Speaker 1: 46:00

That's right. All right, we're going to play your last song. Are you ready?

Speaker 2: 46:03

Yeah, one of my favorite, probably my favorite, probably like my life song, like favorite song of all time. It has like a special place in my heart from my teen years. Yeah, I just love it.

Speaker 1: 46:14

It's called the best, which is what I know. Sorry, didn't mean to cut you off. Yeah, let's play it.

Speaker 2: 46:20

You were gone and so, alone, the worst is over. You can have the best of me. We got older, but we're still young Best of me.

Speaker 1: 46:38

So that is a story from your youth.

Speaker 2: 46:42

There's no real story. It's just some song that stuck with me and it gives me this feeling of, like, I guess, freedom and hopes and dreams. Yeah, I love it. I just listen to it when I want to feel kind of connected to myself or my inner child and feel really free and energized. So no big story, it's just a feeling.

Speaker 1: 47:07

Hey, that's how songs are, though they give you that feeling. Yeah, erin, before I let you go, I'd love to get some words of wisdom from you, maybe from any adversity you've been through. Or whatever you want to kind of just lay to some of our fans.

Speaker 2: 47:23

Oh, okay, well, one of my favorite sayings. Where did I hear it? I think I heard it from there's a rapper named Russ who is like one of the biggest independent, if not the biggest independent artists in the world, and he, I think he got it from his mom. That's like the only place like. But I think I've heard it for two. But it is what if things end up greater than you can imagine? So if, going through a struggle or an obstacle I try to remember that because it's like well, our mind usually in survival mode, we'll look for, you know, to doom and gloom like what's the worst that could happen, to prepare ourselves. But if we can focus on like what if things end up better, then you can imagine in a circumstance and they usually do Then I think that's a good thing for everybody to focus on and you can apply it to almost everything every day.

Speaker 1: 48:26

That's amazing words of wisdom. Wow, that's awesome. I love that. That is so good. Well, thank you, erin. Thank you so much for joining us on Music Junkies today. I appreciate you so much. Thanks for sharing your words of wisdom and all your stories behind the songs and, yeah, I'm looking forward to promoting you and having you back on Music Junkies. Thank you very much for that. Thanks for having me Appreciate it. You're welcome.