Raised by two musicians, Aaron Carmack had beats in his blood and grooves on fleek growing up. From fifteen years old, friends of the low-toned and humble virtuoso watched Carmack handcraft gritty hip-hop-infused bass music with effortless swagger. Combining his own signature raw slickness with a charismatic appeal that most politicians can only dream about, his music productions blur the lines between trap, hip-hop, and uptempo soul. As an established master of the journey, Carmack can transport a dancefloor from tearing up to twerking in the span of around six minutes. 

Being a Bay Area transplant with a few roots in Hawaii, Carmack was accustomed to performing on the road but between the cost of Hawaiian airline tickets and the support received from beat-wielding excelsiores of the L.A. underground, it didn’t take long for the city to feel like home. 

“L.A. is a more central place and a lot of artists are here.” Carmack tells us. “It’s a proximity thing.”  

Now based in Jefferson Park with more than 15 years under his belt producing music, Carmack exemplifies a sound so definitively ‘L.A.’ that it has earned nods from fixtures like Peanut Butter Wolf (Stones Throw Records). Flying Lotus’ world-renown Brainfeeder crew were a fast family too. 

“I took inspiration from them [Stones Throw and Brainfeeder] because it was untouched and unsullied,” Carmack says through plumes of blunt smoke and nostalgia. “It was just a bunch of ma’fuckers that enjoyed making weird beats.”

On November 22nd, Carmack’s new EP ‘Viista’ transports listeners to “a point where you stop and reflect on the road you’ve been on… [much like] a rocky relationship. In other words,” Carmack says through a smile, “It’s all the songs that made me cry while I was writing them.”

Hear the new album live in the freshly announced ‘Immersion’ tour, arriving at the El Rey on December 4.

 

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