AIDAN BISSETT IS NOT JUST A MUSICIAN; HE’S AN ARTIST. THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE TWO, IF SUBTLE FOR SOME, IS CLEAR FOR THE YOUNG STAR—IT'S ALL ABOUT WORLD-BUILDING. FOR HIM, TO TRANSCEND THE TEST OF TIME, A PERSON MUST CREATE A REALITY THEIR AUDIENCE CAN LIVE IN. BISSETT’S WORLD IS INTIMATE, A PERSONAL REFLECTION OF HIS INNER THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS. THE HONESTY IN HIS ART ISN’T JUST THERAPEUTIC; IT’S THE WAY HE HAS FOUND TO CREATE A LEGACY IN A SATURATED INDUSTRY. HIS MUSIC IS HOW HE CONNECTS WITH PEOPLE AND, HE HOPES, A CATALYST FOR OTHERS TO RELATE TO EACH OTHER. WHETHER THROUGH TOURING OR MAKING WHAT WILL BE HIS FULL-LENGTH ALBUM, BISSETT IS LEARNING WHAT IT TAKES TO FULFIL HIS AMBITION. BUT THERE’S NO RUSH TO GROW, IT TAKES A LOT OF TIME TO BUILD THE WORLD YOU WANT TO SEE.

Hi! How’s your day going?

It’s off to a good start! How about yours?

Mine is already ending. But it’s been great, I’ve been listening to your records all day. Your music is very intimate. How do you decide what makes it into your music and what you keep private?

I always try to find a balance between giving too much and not giving enough. I have a friend who has always told me that, when it comes to writing music, what you give is what you take out of it. So, I try to give it as much as possible. Having said that, there are some topics that I’m not ready to write about. But I’m working on having a filter, I like to be personal. People want to hear what you’re feeling, I think they can relate to it on a deeper level.

Do you find that writing about your feelings helps you process them?

100%. I think music is my form of therapy. I had a friend reach out who was telling me how, as a man, it’s hard for him to be in touch with his emotions. I got to tell him that writing is talking about your emotions almost every day. Learning how to do that – how to look inside – it’s such a beautiful process. I recommend it to everybody because even if you’re not a musician, it makes you work through shit.

What I always find interesting about the music industry is the dissonance between the emotional pace of writing music and the non-organic rhythm of label demands. Do you feel that tension?

For sure. I feel all my deadlines. Thankfully, my label is great with that. I’ve never been pushed against a wall. I’m more so hard on myself. I’ll set deadlines for my writing and that’s when that dissonance is created. With the project I’m working on now, I tried to make it as free-flowing as possible and let things when they come. I think for artists nowadays, we need to live some life. There was a period a couple of months back when I wasn’t allowing myself to be social and live. Music comes from experience. Allowing myself to be social is important for what I do.

Making art is so organic, but there is an expectation of artists nowadays to enter and explore different “eras”. How do you go about evolving your creative vision?

I think the transition from this project to my last EP felt like I was solidifying who I was as an artist and the sound I wanted to explore. I am working on that exploration, how to allow myself to do different things but still making sure everything sounds cohesive. It’s hard to pinpoint yourself when there are so many sides to us. I love listening to a lot of different shit. So, I’m working on exploring and expanding, especially on this new record.

As you said, music is so much about self-discovery. Do you consider your audience when creating?

For sure. Again, you need balance. I don’t think an artist should be 100% focused on that. If you are, you’ll be creating music for other people, and I believe the music should come from the artists. That’s why people listen to you, it’s your creation. It’s what you’re living in the world. But I do believe it’s important to keep listeners in mind, they’re the ones fuelling you. It’s always on the side of my mind, the people keep me centred on who I am. You can have fun and you can stray off, but you have to remember people fell in love with you for a reason. They can grow with you, but you have to stay true to yourself.

I was reading an interview you did recently, and you made a very important distinction between an artist and a musician. Could you elaborate on that difference?

It can be a very polarizing topic; I think some people violently agree with me and some people violently disagree with me. I’m fine with that. I don’t mind being polarizing. I truly believe that in this day and age, there are two facets of music. Now that everything is available on social media, everything is very fast, there’s so much validation that can be accessed quickly. But I do think that allows people to bypass that world-building factor that separates a musician from a generational artist. I think the greats are the ones who create an entire world around their music so that a fan can get lost. There are of course songs that transcend time, but rare are the artists that do. That’s where world-building comes in. I think of people like Charli XCX, she’s done such an incredible job building up Brat. It’s one of the best rollouts of all time. It’s not just good music, you can see she cares about it, and she’s put so much effort into building the world around it. It’s not just “It’s an album, please spend money on it,” it’s, “Here’s all the things you can be, all the friends you can make if you’re part of this.” Not to discredit musicians, but the ones that put the same amount of effort into the other side of it are different. Sorry if it's a long answer [Laughs], I feel very passionate about it.

There’s no need to apologize, your point of view is extremely interesting. How do you translate these people you’re inspired by into your world?

Building a world is no easy feat. I don’t want to ever come across like, “Oh, everyone should do it, it’s so easy.” It’s the most difficult thing for so many of us. You’re breaking out of your comfort zone. It’s not just music anymore, it’s music videos, it’s pop-ups, it’s building a community. It’s scary, there are a lot of definitive decisions that you have to make. You have to do it because you believe in it. You have to allow yourself to be that confident, to believe in yourself.

It’s interesting hearing you talk about it. I think nowadays being an artist is more so about being a creative director than an executor…

Definitely. I have a binder for each project, filled with references.

What kind of stuff is in those folders?

I have them sitting on my desk. They’re kind of like the “bible” of each project. It’s the first thing that’s getting created. It has everything down to the colours that are going to be featured. There’s graphic design, video inspiration, movie scenes… It’s truly anything that looks like it could be a piece of that world. For this new phase, I’m excited to go bigger. I wanted to build an entire world – it’s all story-driven. They’re also good because you can look back on that project, “Ok, so here’s where I started,” and see the progression from there.

Even though you’re the one making those decisions, you’re also working with other people. Building a world is a big task. Are you good at letting go of some of your creative control?

It’s so important to be able to let go of it a little bit. I’m a firm believer that there are only so many great ideas that a person can have. You need people to help you see your vision through. Whether that’s a creative director, a videographer, a photographer, whatever it may be. It’s essential to build a team around you. I’m very team-driven. Even when I have definitive ideas, I like to bring them to a room of people I can trust to see if it’s within the vision. Teamwork is key.

You mentioned social media a bit ago, it’s such a great tool to communicate directly to your audience. What is your relationship with it?

I think it ebbs and flows. It’s changed very much over the past couple of years. We had a moment a couple of months ago when all our music was taken off these platforms. It was weird, that was something I never experienced. I had always been able to post and not think about it. It was a scary time. A lot of music rides on social media, it’s a marketing tool. At the same time, it allowed me to disassociate and learn to not put so much emphasis on it, and just to focus on the music. I’m a firm believer that if music is good, people will find it naturally. Learning how to have a healthy relationship that’s not a dependency takes time. For a long time, I was dependent on it. If a song doesn’t do well on social media, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad song. There was Myspace and YouTube before, but this kind of short-form world is very different.

You’re very much a touring artist. What do you like about being on stage?

Tours are such an important and integral part of an artist’s career. Ever since COVID, we’ve all been full-speed ahead. Everyone’s touring now. But, especially for developing artists, getting on the road, paying your dues, being an opening act, that’s where you learn about being a performer. You also learn so much about the music you make. It’s paying your dues; you’re not sleeping much. As an artist, it does pose the question: “How bad do you want it?” Tour is difficult in a beautiful way. I love it though; I love it as much as I can. It can be daunting; it shows you how much work you have to put in to make it in an industry like this.

How do fan interactions register differently in person rather than online?

Well, it’s hard. Online, it can be constant validation. It’s hard to dictate what’s real and what’s not. When you post music online it can become an instant dopamine surge of gratification. In person, it doesn’t really feel real either though. I’m so grateful to anybody who comes to the shows. People coming to experience music in that way is so special. It’s a dream for me. When I had my first concert, I remember feeling like, “Oh, this is what I want to do.” Being in a room full of people who are all experiencing the same thing is great. People break their walls down in a shared space. Witnessing people allowing themselves to connect on such a deep level is so beautiful to me.