Biography
Los Angeles-based artist Damon Aaron built an uncommon path that moved between supporting roles alongside figures such as Divine Styler, Rocky Dawuni, and Breakestra and his own wide-ranging work as a soul-folk songwriter and performer. Blending jazz, hip-hop, electronic sounds, African traditions, and folk forms, he accumulated an extensive list of partnerships across the 2000s and issued his own records, among them Ballast in 2005 and Highlands in 2008. A frequent participant in Carlos Niño’s Build an Ark series, Aaron also founded the Contact Field Orchestra, an endeavor that pairs vintage field recordings with experimental methods of composition and sound design. The ensemble produced multiple well-received recordings for the Hit + Run imprint during the middle of the 2010s.
Raised in Los Angeles, Aaron received an eclectic musical upbringing within his household. Folk and bluegrass traditions reached him through his mother, while his grandfather, who played the banjo, showed him fingerpicking techniques. His stepfather, a KROQ disc jockey, exposed him to synthesizers and electronic music. Equipped with these foundations, he spent much of the 1990s cultivating skills as a vocalist, MC, guitarist, and producer while leading and performing in an assortment of groups. Entering the early 2000s, he established working ties with I-Wolf, Telefon Tel Aviv, and the influential rapper Divine Styler. Songs he recorded himself began appearing on collections, including the 2001 compilation Dublab Presents: Freeways. His initial extended solo efforts, Cymbidium in 2003 and Eaves in 2004, revealed a soulful singer and writer whose imaginative approach favored production unbound by genre conventions. The 2005 album Ballast, which combined organic warmth with electronic accents, brought him broader attention before the still more expansive Highlands arrived in 2008.
Throughout the following ten years, Aaron maintained an active collaborative schedule, contributing to projects by Ethio-Cali, Leanna Rachel, and Rocky Dawuni while shaping Contact Field Orchestra. Centered on a collection of distinctive field recordings discovered at an estate sale, the project emphasized handmade instruments, contact microphones, and layered atmospheric elements. Its debut appeared in 2012 through Hit + Run. In subsequent years the ensemble released two additional works, among them the cassette-only CFO X H+R Mixtape Nr. 2 in 2015. Aaron has also sustained his solo performances at festivals throughout Europe.
Raised in Los Angeles, Aaron received an eclectic musical upbringing within his household. Folk and bluegrass traditions reached him through his mother, while his grandfather, who played the banjo, showed him fingerpicking techniques. His stepfather, a KROQ disc jockey, exposed him to synthesizers and electronic music. Equipped with these foundations, he spent much of the 1990s cultivating skills as a vocalist, MC, guitarist, and producer while leading and performing in an assortment of groups. Entering the early 2000s, he established working ties with I-Wolf, Telefon Tel Aviv, and the influential rapper Divine Styler. Songs he recorded himself began appearing on collections, including the 2001 compilation Dublab Presents: Freeways. His initial extended solo efforts, Cymbidium in 2003 and Eaves in 2004, revealed a soulful singer and writer whose imaginative approach favored production unbound by genre conventions. The 2005 album Ballast, which combined organic warmth with electronic accents, brought him broader attention before the still more expansive Highlands arrived in 2008.
Throughout the following ten years, Aaron maintained an active collaborative schedule, contributing to projects by Ethio-Cali, Leanna Rachel, and Rocky Dawuni while shaping Contact Field Orchestra. Centered on a collection of distinctive field recordings discovered at an estate sale, the project emphasized handmade instruments, contact microphones, and layered atmospheric elements. Its debut appeared in 2012 through Hit + Run. In subsequent years the ensemble released two additional works, among them the cassette-only CFO X H+R Mixtape Nr. 2 in 2015. Aaron has also sustained his solo performances at festivals throughout Europe.
Albums
