Aidan Bissett is only in his early twenties but he has it all: the looks, the voice, the style. Originally hailing from Tampa, Florida now residing in LA, Bissett taught himself how to play instruments and produce his own music in high school. Since then, the 21-year-old singer-songwriter has released his first EP Supernova. An album, which is currently in the works, is all about connection and to date he has amassed 1.3 million streams on Spotify. His music is a blend of heartbreak, yearning for someone and the ups and downs of being in your twenties.
1883 sits down with Bissett to talk about Supernova, the importance of connection, what’s next for him and more.
Hey Aidan, it’s nice to meet you! You‘re in LA, right? I’m in London right now. Have you been?
Yes, I love London!
Me too. I’m sure I’ll love LA, but I haven’t been yet, so you can give me your tips at the end of the interview. [Laughs] How are you doing today?
Pretty good. My parents are in town, so it’s been nice to be with family and see them.
It’s always nice to have family visiting. Where are you from originally?
Igrew up in Oregon, but lived in Florida, so I spent a couple of years there before I moved here.
I love your music! It‘s always cool when you get to talk to people who you genuinely enjoy the music of before interviewing them. I always tend to listen to my old playlist and I remember when “Out of Your League“ and “Bloom“ came out last summer, I put them on my playlist. When did you know that you wanted to make music and when did you pick up your first instrument?
First, I’ll say thank you. That means a lot, as you said. That’s so cool. I started when I was in high school. I’ve always played guitar since I was in second grade. I was probably nine or ten when I started, but I was not a singer. I was a horrible singer. I was not planning to do music at all. I kind of started when Covid hit and I had a lot of extra time on my hands and I was struggling socially because I had moved across the country from Oregon to Florida, so it was really hard.It was really hard to make friends in a new place in the middle of high school when friend groups were already made. The only thing that I had to turn to was music in general. Not me creating it, but just listening. I was an avid fan of the way that music made me feel. I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to somehow contribute to that feeling for other people.
I remember going to a concert and just sitting there with a collective group of people, and everybody having this shared emotional response to whatever the songs that are being played are. I remember it just being impactful and wanting that for myself and wanting it to become a prominent part of my life, just because of how impactful it could be. It felt like at that concert, like I was within a social group of my own and I didn’t feel as as alone as I had felt for a while being in a new place, in a new city.
I started a high school band with two other guys, and we weren’t good. We were really bad. It was called The Offshore and we mainly started rock music and we didn’t have a singer, but we were asked to open for another local band at a bar. And we said, “Okay, who’s gonna sing?” And I said, “I guess me.” I started taking vocal lessons for a few months before the show and at least I could hold a tune. I was not a naturally born singer at all. I had to work hard to get my voice to where it is now.
After we did that show and I got to be on stage for the first time, that was the moment that I thought, “Oh, this is it. I have to do this.” It felt like home to me. I got to slip into a bit of a character and be me in real life, but exude confidence. I wasn’t a very confident kid. And on stage, nobody knows who you are. It’s like you get to exude confidence and a character that you may want to bring into your life in some way. Once we did that show, they had sports and so the band wasn’t doing much and Covid hit. While that was going on, I decided to look up on YouTube how to write and produce music and I spent over a year just learning how to use Logic Pro, which is a music software and learning how to sing in my bedroom. Before doing anything with writing and putting music out, I just wanted to get my head around how everything works and of course, put music out. And it generated some noise on the internet which is cool, but that’s the short version of the story.
That’s a pretty cool story! Is the music published somewhere, the one that you did with your first band?
No, we never recorded anything. That was before I knew how to record. I actually was thinking about this recently. I think we used LogicPro when I first got it and we recorded something. And I really want to go back and see what that is. To see what was I doing at 16, 17 years old. What music was I making? Maybe if I really look, I could find something.
That’d be so cool! What have you been listening to lately? What are your top five songs right now?
I’ve been doing a deep dive on the Beatles because I was recently watching one of their documentaries, the Get Back documentary. It was so cool to see them in a room writing an album together as a band. I wasn’t super well versed with their sound outside their big songs.
I recently really enjoyed I Saw Her Standing There. They have so many amazing songs. Okay, what else?
I am always listening to The 1975’s song “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes).”
That’s on my sad playlist, so I get that. [Laughs]
Everybody’s been talking about the latest Mk.gee album. I really like Alesis off that one, that’s probably my favourite off that project. Let me look at my Spotify. Oh, the whole M83 album, is so good. Oh, my God, there’s so many songs from that. “Outro” is great, and “Wait” is great. Then I’m always listening to The Strokes. There’s a song from The Strokes that I hadn’t heard before, called “Gratisfaction”, which is cool. The way they made it was more like old 70s rock, and I’d never heard them over drums, not straight drums. It was a very cool swing. And the guitars were moving a little bit differently. It was cool to hear them work like that. Oh, and then Brat of course, I feel like I’ve been streaming the hell out of Brat, the Brat album from Charli XCX. “Talk” or “Symphany is a knife” is a really good one too. Just awesome.
Have you tried the apple dance?
I did the apple dance. [Laughs]
Oh, you did. Is it on your TikTok?
It’s on TikTok, yes!
I will check! [Laughs]
I crumbled to the pressure. [Laughs]
The Strokes, I think everyone loves them. I like “Call It Fame, Call It Karma“. Sometimes I also go back to the old albums and I’m like “Oh, I like that one.” Okay, perfect. We have five songs. Let’s go back to talking about your music again. Talk me through Supernova, your extended EP that came out earlier this year, which is super exciting. What inspired it and what do you want fans to take away from it? And what’s your favorite song that you wrote for it?
Supernova, for me was a really formative project. It was the first time that I really thought about something holistically, rather than just thinking, “Oh, let’s just make a bunch of songs.“ I felt like I wanted to try and get better about telling a story and solidifying myself as an artist and the world that I want to build, the visuals and the sound I want people to listen to and think: “That sounds like Aiden, that’s his sound.“ It was a very important project for me, because it was laying the foundation for what I think I needed to do prior to writing the album that I’m writing now. It’s so hard for me to pick a song that I think is the one, they all really stick out to me. “People Pleaser” is one of my favorites, just because it’s so fun to play live, and I had a really organic process when creating that with a friend in Nashville. It was just one of those things where everything, just the words flew off the page. “Bloom” as well is always gonna be one of my favorites. It’s the first time I got to play with that lower register in my voice and make it my own. That‘s one of the things that I hold on to, that tone. Because I don’t hear a lot of artists doing that. Obviously Julian Hasselblad, because that’s his thing and everything. That‘s something for me that feels very me, which is cool that I can be like: “Oh, that’s mine.“ So, those two are definitely the ones that stick out off the top of my head.
But Supernova is a project where I wanted to create something so that when I get into this album, and I started this overlap for this album, there would be basically a world starting to be built by the end of the when the deluxe version came out. When “Planet” was put out, the visuals that we did for that, and the visuals that we did for “How‘s It Gonna End?” really set up this world, this darker world shot on film. That really sets up a little bit more of a mature stage for the album, and a lot of the songs you can hear deal with connection, and struggling to find connection, and not really knowing what a real connection is. That idea has really carried over into what I’m doing now. I can’t get into it too much, but just growing up and trying to navigate what’s a real friendship and what’s a real relationship and the anxiety that comes with the future. I dealt a lot of with that anxiety around the Supernova project specifically. The song “How‘s It Gonna End?” is all about that. I‘m trying to let go and be okay with not knowing what’s going to happen, even if it may not be a good thing. That anxiety and facing anxiety was also a huge part of that project. It was a long winded answer, but covers it.
You touched on growing up, and obviously you’re still in your early 20s. I feel so old now, because I’m 26. [Laughs] I’m trying to remember how it is like to be 21. How do you deal with the anxieties that you spoke about and how do you take care of your mental health?
I‘m not gonna lie, that is a large piece of what this next project is. I’ve struggled a lot, my mental health wasn’t the greatest at the start of this year and finding ways to try and stay balanced and not hit really low lows was a really difficult thing for me. I think everybody’s different. I think for my brain connection, again I’ll go back to, that is something I hold and maybe place a little too much value in. I would love and I love having a community of people around me that I know that care about me and that I know that I can care for. I care very deeply for the people that I surround myself with, for better or for worse. I think, for me, that what’s helped is taking a step back and reflecting a little bit and looking at the people that I surround myself with and being like: “Are these people the greatest people to be around? Are these people the ones that I really should call my friends?“ Which is a hard thing to do, because a lot of the times when you have to do that, they might not be, which may make you feel more alone.
I think once I made that reflective step and started prioritizing the things in my life that really mattered, which is my music, my family and my mental health, obviously, I started to take a little bit more of an upward shift, which is really good. I think that, since I struggle the most with friendships and connection, the best way for me to to feel less anxiety is, it’s a little backwards, but it is to take a step back and try to not focus on social stuff and be more independent, because sometimes that’s where I’m lacking, and I need to stop putting such an emphasis on the relationships in my life. It’s honestly just been a lot of reflection and that’s how I’ve tried to keep my mental health good and healthy, it‘s a struggle. I still struggle. This week has been really tough for me. There‘s ups and downs. It‘s something I’m still navigating and trying to figure out.
It’s so nice to hear that from someone who’s a little bit younger. What I hear a lot from people who are Gen Z. I mean, I’m also still still Gen Z, technically. [Laughs] But that everyone struggles with connection or making meaningful connections so much, especially in an age where we’re all scrolling on Tiktok all day, and Instagram and everyone and everything is so superficial. I’ve heard a lot of younger artists that are your age talking about that they want to focus on connection in their music. I can definitely agree with everything that you said, because that’s the most important thing. Connection and being able to have people around you that support you, especially when you’re in the public eye. But it’s also not linear, mental health, because I think everyone struggles with it. Very wise words that you said! Let’s talk about your musical inspirations. Who are they?
Coldplay is up there. I kind of love, I know I shouldn’t, because Radiohead people will be so fucking mad, but I lump parts of Coldplay in with Radiohead. Obviously Radiohead pushed the boundaries a lot more, no question about that. But those kind of songs with the Radiohead and Coldplay stuff, I love them, and they’ve both inspired me in various different ways. The 1975 is a big one. Who else would be a big one? Trying to think of one that’s not super obvious. M83, weirdly enough. I was talking about their album, they don’t have a ton of crazy cinematic stuff, but just the way that they go about science and building a world around production is this really cool thing that I have a lot of respect for. Being able to convey emotion without even saying a word is something that’s really powerful.
And are those people also some people that you’d love to work with or collab with, or do you have other people in mind?
Of course also other people. I love Gracie Abrams and what she’s doing. I think she’s really cool.
She’s in London right now with Paul Mescal and I’m like, why am I not running into them?
I’m so jealous. Paul, he’s amazing. So I support. [Laughs] I honestly would love to do a female song with a girl. I think that would be really fun.
I think even Holly Humberstone would be really great with your voice. Do you know Lizzie McAlpine? She’s great too!
Oh, I love her, she’s so great. Her music’s incredible, amazing. Any of those girls, I just think they’re on there. They have their finger on something that’s so personal, and their lyricism is so specific, which I have such huge respect for. And I think I can learn a lot from writers and artists like them. That’d be really cool.
What would you do if you weren’t a musician?
Wow. That‘s a great question. I don’t know, to be honest with you. Maybe something in architecture, I love the idea of designing homes or buildings, still creative. So, I get to exercise that part of my brain. And creating something physical, and be like: “Oh, I made that.“ That’s so cool. Maybe architecture. That‘s very random but that’s cool.
I think what I learned when I talked to musicians especially always want to try different things as well. Just because you’re a musician doesn’t mean that you only have to be a musician, you can do so many things. What is your favorite lyrics that you’ve ever written?
I‘m gonna have to think. I know there’s one. I have this written down. I‘ll search it up, just to make sure. It’s from “How’s It Gonna End?” Well, there’s two lines. There‘s one that says: “Loving on a confine.“ I just love that idea. It goes back to the connection thing, where it feels like love is constrained, and then “callously smiling“, although, from that song, both of those, I think I relate to very heavily. I feel like I’m sometimes having to put on a smile a lot even when I don’t feel like I have to, and it just becomes the default. Those two, they’re nice lyrics.
I think I have to re-listen to the extended play, because, I swear I’m not lying, but I’ve been blasting your songs before our interview. I played “Out of my League“ on repeat, “Tripping over Air“ and “All That I‘m Craving“. I’ve been playing them on repeat. “Bloom“ was actually the first one that I listened to. What do you want people to take away from your music?
I want people, on a high level, just be able to feel that feeling that I felt when I went to the first concert I went to, which is a collective being able to lose yourself for three minutes and whatever feeling the emotion is, allowing yourself to separate from whatever difficult thing you’re going through and join a community of people that are maybe going through the same thing. I hope that people when listening can, especially when it comes to connection, if they’re going through problems with relationships and friendships, specifically, that the music creates a sort of space where it feels like they have a home and friends and they don’t feel like they have to, put themselves down or do things to themselves just for the sake of doing it, to find a connection. I hope that they can hear and learn from my mistakes that I’ve made, because I made many mistakes which are all throughout my music about not staying true to myself and doing things for the sake of others, which slowly wither my soul away. Hopefully people can just listen and be like: “Maybe I don’t have the things or the relationship that I want, but I have myself, and that’s enough.“
I think that’s such an important thing to learn, especially when you’re in your 20s, because I’m still learning that too. And as you said before, you have to learn how to be independent. You can obviously rely on people like your family and your good friends. But friendship breakups and romantic breakups, are a part of life as well, and you can’t get lost in them or lose yourself because of them. I think that’s also an important thing that you learn. You’re going on tour with COIN, who I love as well. That‘s so exciting. What’s your favorite thing about going on tour?
I just love seeing different cultures and the way that people and life is in other spaces. I think LA, as cool as it is, is a bubble, and people get sucked into the lifestyle of LA, and it can create a cynical mindset, or a little bit of a jaded artist mindset. Being able to tour not necessarily helps, but it allows me to separate from LA and experience life and make so many incredible memories. My best memories are on tour with all my band and the guys that we’re on tour with. We’re such a family. There‘s just so many things that I look forward to, even little things, with being on the road. And obviously the most important thing is the connection, again. That was one of the reasons why I did it. It was being able to not only put music out but obviously you get messages and you connect and that‘s amazing. But at a show, you see that in real time, and you see how much the words that you have written on a page turn to the song, mean to somebody. And sometimes, again, living in a place like LA, you can forget that, and then going on the road and seeing it, you can see somebody crying, and you see someone screaming, and it’s like, wow. It has left an impact on somebody, which is so beautiful.
I can imagine, there’s nothing better. Also as a fan to go to concerts. Have you played in London before?
Yes, I have!
And do you remember the venue?
Yeah, it was Camden Assembly.
Oh, that’s so cool. Well, I hope that you’ll come back to London. What’s the best thing a fan has ever said to you?
I’ve gotten a few handwritten notes from shows that I feel like always stick with me, which are usually along the lines of that they were struggling really hard with their mental health, and maybe that led to some really dark things like suicide or attempts. Just hearing that the experience of the show or the music itself can bring back life to a person is the most insane thing ever, because that’s what music did for me. I was in a really depressive state during high school and covid and music truly was the only thing to keep me from not probably going off the deep end a little bit. So, just hearing that my music has the same and can have the same response to people, it‘s the best, the most insane thing ever.
I can imagine that that‘s an incredible feeling. I feel like when you’re struggling with mental health, being needed or creating something that’s needed makes you feel like you matter. Everyone struggles with mental health and when you help people or create something that’s meaningful and you leave an impression on people and you think: “Oh, actually, I deserve to be here and what I make and what I’m creating, matters to people“. You can be really proud of yourself for creating something that stays with people. What‘s the best advice you’ve ever been given relating to your career and your life in general?
There‘s a really great one from Chase Lawrence from COIN. I was struggling with something. I think I was struggling with a little bit of an identity crisis, and trying to figure things out. And I called him, and I was talking to him about it, and I remember him. We were talking about music. I said, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.“ And he said, “First of all, don’t worry. You’re fine. You’re doing fine. Second of all, just make the things that make you happy, make the things that you want to make. Because at the end of the day, if you fail, you should always fail being yourself.“ And I thought, “Wow, that’s so true.“ Because at least when it’s all said and done, if you fail being yourself, it’s like, I gave it everything, that was me, and that’s okay, and I can live with that. But if you do something and you’re not yourself, and you fail for whatever reason, there’s always going to be a part of you thinking, “Why didn’t I just be me, or why didn’t I just do that?“ I think it’s really cool, it was a cool way of looking at a situation for me, just be you and things will work out. If it doesn’t work out, that’s how it was meant to be.
It‘s so simple, but it’s so true. I also highly believe in the universe, so I think if you’re just being yourself, you will attract the right people and the wrong people, they will leave your life eventually, if they’re not meant for you. We talked about music a lot, but let’s talk about fashion. What does fashion mean to you?
Fashion is a huge part of my artist project, and just who I am as a person. I just love style. It‘s another way of expression and there’s so many different ways that you can express yourself through different styles. That has become a huge emphasis in the past year and a half of writing music. I think it goes back to world building. I have huge respect for artists who can do things outside of the music, in the sense of building a world around their project.
I’ll use brat as a perfect example of that. Charli [XCX] is obviously incredibly talented. There’s no question about that. But you listen to her interviews where she says, “There‘s been years where people neglected me and wouldn’t even look at me.“ And then brat comes around, and she is one of the greatest artists to do it, but this album really proved that to people. It really proved everyone wrong. She did these pop ups, and she did fashion things. Every video was hyper stylized. All the girls who were wearing certain things were all fitting in this world that she was building, which I think style obviously plays a huge role in.
Whether you’re wearing suits or whether you’re wearing no clothes, there’s very specific ways to use style for building a world around your project. I just love that it’s another way of expression without the music and it’s just fun. It’s a way to feel good. Anytime I’m wearing something that I’m proud of, whenever I feel good, I want to walk out and I want to people to see what I’m wearing, because I feel like I put this together and I feel really sick about it. That‘s always a really great thing. Something that can instill more confidence in you. I’m always in support of it. When it comes to brands I love Loewe and YSL, Ferragamo and Gucci. There‘s countless brands that I love seeing on people and working with. It’s the best thing ever.
We talked about your upcoming album and going on tour. What else is next for you?
The album is the main thing, finishing that up, getting real close. Obviously, I touched on it, it‘s a lot about connection and the the addiction that I’ve had to searching for a connection and realizing that it was an addiction I needed to step back from and become more independent and okay with myself. Other than that, fashion. Doing a lot of fashion actually, a lot of cool shoots, and working with some cool brands. I was just at Fashion Week in New York, which was the first time I’ve done that. And then tour in the fall with COIN. So those are the three things!
Supernova is out now.
Interview Maja Bebber
Photography Max Montgomery
Styling Edwin Ortega
Talent Aidan Bissett
Grooming Faye Celeste
