I still remember the first time I ever heard music using headphones. I was maybe 4 or 5 years old and we were over at a family friends house.
It was getting late and I remember being bored with my parents talking with some of their friends. All I wanted to do was leave and go home. That’s when my mom (in an attempt to keep me occupied for longer so they could finish visiting) handed me a pair of headphones and said, “here Aaron, put these on and listen.”
From that second I was hooked. The way that the sound engulfed me as if I was right there next to the artists took me away to a place I hadn't been before. It felt as if the sound was alive, moving from side to side, from in front of me and behind me, and I was amazed by the fact that with headphones on it all seemed to be going on inside of my head. From that day on, I knew that I wanted to make my own music.
I learned to play guitar around the age of twelve. I found some kids in my middle school that were also into music like I was and we started a band. We went on to play for several years and played many shows but in the end we all went our separate ways.
At that point I knew I still wanted to create music and in order to pursue a career on my own, I needed to find a way to make money so I could continue funding it.
In 2009 I decided to go into direct sales because I had heard of some friends selling alarm systems and coming back home after a few short months having earned great money. My plan was to build a direct sales business, earn some good money and in turn be able to fund my dreams of being a musician.
It took me 4 or 5 years of going through peaks and valleys to really get the hang of it. I ended up making a decent living for myself and had the ability to afford working with some really talented producers out of Atlanta whom I had met through doing the door to door gig.
The only problem was that the nature of my life was so money focused, and I was so consumed with material success and being the "best" that I never really felt like I had given my creative side a true shot. For years I went back and forth from making music for a few months, then back to knocking doors for a few months and so the story went.
Through it all I was able to build some key relationships and friendships, both in music and the world of direct sales but no matter how much money I made, it never seemed to feel like enough to truly execute my passion how I wanted. On top of that I was trading nearly all of my time to do something that didn't make me completely happy inside and before I knew it a lot of time had passed. After so many years putting money first and not loving what I was doing on the day to day, I decided to give it all up and take the leap of faith that had been calling me for over a decade.
I always thought that I needed something outside of me to make my music happen but I know now that I had everything I needed inside me all along. By following my heart and focusing on finding a way to make the music happen no matter what, I have found things falling into place and have met all the right people. I feel like I have found my sound and my debut EP Greater Than Self is set to launch August 10th.
So whether you are new here or you have been following my music from the start, I thank you for supporting me on this journey. It’s those of you whom I’ve connected with along the way that have made all the difference.
With Love,
Aaron Wolf
