Listening to Oklahoma City rock band Aranda is something like hearing an explosive hybrid of the atom bomb and all of Woodstock combined. They are an experience. Brothers Dameon and Gabe Aranda have been writing, playing, and singing music together since they were kids, and even at a young age, they knew that music was going to be a major part of their lives.
“We had a steady diet of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles, Elvis, bands of the 70’s etc etc but not a ton of R&B/soul in our world growing up so I think as we got older we both really explored a lot of Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, and the likes. I think it’s important to be open to all kinds of music and styles for the simple fact that it just broadens your creative pallet as an artist when you go to write a song. Pulling from all of those styles has always made writing fun,” Gabe Aranada.
Dameon grew up to work with such artists as Jessica Simpson and the Backstreet Boys, as well as Grammy-nominated producers Sam Watters, Louis Biancaniello, and Mark Ronson.
“I think we just found what we were passionate about early on in life,” Gabe said in a recent interview. “Music affected us both from a really early age and we tended to want to perform it from pretty early on as well. All I can really equate it to looking back is that I think God wired us to do this. It doesn’t feel like i ever made a choice to do it. It’s just part of who we are. Not that we don’t have other sides but being an artist is a big part of what completes us as people.”
2009 saw Aranda’s first single, “Still in the Dark,” climb into the Top 30 in rock radio across the country, and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson decided to cover two of the band’s songs on her, All I Ever Wanted release. One of the songs she covered, “Whyyawannabringmedown,” is Aranda’s follow-up single to “Still in the Dark.” The high-energy song is an in-your-face rebellion, and was selected by the WWE as the official theme song of their event The Bash.
How would Gabe define the difference between being an artist and a musician? “Simply put I think it’s just the ability to write a song that people can connect with that you can convey as a band or by yourself. There’s a lot of good players and singers out there but the ability to have a vision for a song and be able to breathe life into that idea with lyrics and great melodies is to me the difference between the two.”
Aranda released a deluxe edition of their 2008 self-titled debut album, which includes live tracks and a radio mix of “Whyyawannabringmedown.” Next up was a DVD/CD of their wall-shaking album release show called Aranda: Live From OKC.
Childhood dreams soon became a reality for the brothers, especially for Gabe. “Our first audience was our family. Our first instruments were tennis rackets and our first songs were basically melodies of current songs at the time with our own lyrics. Really bad lyrics but somehow we felt like they were our songs as long as we changed the lyrics. Thanks Weird Al. Our first “real” stage experience was in middle school playing at the talent show. I remember the place going crazy after we were done. We’ve had the bug ever since.”
Dameon and Gabe are no strangers to sharing the stage with big names in rock: during the past year, they have performed with hit bands such as the All American Rejects, Saliva, Shinedown, Puddle of Mudd, Theory of a Deadman, and Black Stone Cherry. With the brothers’ flawless harmonies and passionate onstage performances, Aranda is a live show you’ll never forget.
How would the band describe their live show? “Truthfully it’s hard to do that from your own perspective but I get asked that a lot. I just tell people you are going to get everything we have. Our energy, our love, passion will all be on display. We don’t know how to half ass anything. Our music is high energy and we love for people to have a good time while watching us. We take you for a ride I think that’s for sure.”
“We want to create high energy, keep rocking, keep everybody entertained. We want to involve the audience and make it fun for them,” guitarist Dameon says. “Our hope is that you’ll keep coming back for more.”
“Not The Same” will be released June 29, 2015. Pre order your copy today! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/not-the-same/id994217381
Catch the band during Northern Invasion!
Get your tickets before the two day festival sells out. Tickets are going fast!
http://northerninvasion.com/tickets.html
