Band to bring breath of fresh Aer to Columbus

Madeline Poedtke
Mon, 14 Apr 2014 04:40:27 +0000
Campus, A&R bar, aer, Columbus, promowest productions

Rap, reggae and indie rock band Aer is set to perform at A&R Music Bar April 15 with doors set to open at 7:30 p.m.
Credit: Courtesy of Samara Shwidcok

At just 20 years old, musicians Carter Schultz and David von Mering have been busy touring nationwide in hopes of growing its “Fresh Aer Movement.”

The duo is set to bring a blend of rap, reggae and indie rock to Columbus’ A&R Music Bar Tuesday evening. Doors are set to open at 7:30 p.m.

While attending high school together in Wayland, Mass., Schultz said he and von Mering united as members of a freestyle rap league.

“That’s where we honed our skills and tried to be the next best emcee(s), but then David and I took a turn,” Schultz said. “We joined a rock band and after that rock band dispersed, David and I reunited our rap skills and threw down.”

Dubbing themselves Aer, Schultz and von Mering said they officially began making music together in 2010 and released a mixtape on social media.

“We were screwing around, making (music) in a basement. We put it on Facebook, threw it up, we made a Twitter account and just started tweeting and, slowly but surely, it became something,” Schultz said.

The duo released another mixtape and the debut EP “What You Need” over the course of 2011. Aer’s first full-length album “The Bright Side” earned the No. 1 on iTunes’ top albums chart upon its July 2012 release, according to Aer’s Facebook biography.

The creative process is different for each of them, von Mering said, but most of the final decision-making is completed together.

“I make the instrumentals and the lyrics and the vocals are each our own. A line here and there will be a group effort but the words we sing ourselves, on the album, usually we write separately,” von Mering said. “But the picking and choosing of the songs that we do is a complete group effort.”

Aer is currently touring in support of its sophomore self-titled album, which was released in January. Schultz said the album is different from previous projects.

“You don’t ever want to be pigeonholed by one thing (genre) to provide because if you’re always bringing happy reggae songs every time, you get predictable and that’s not what we’re going for,” Schultz said.

Since Aer is not signed to a record label, von Mering said he attributes the success to fans who share Aer’s music with their friends.

“Word of mouth is basically what got us here because we’re still independent,” von Mering said.

Nathan Smith, a third-year in mechanical engineering, said he has not seen Aer live before but he is excited to attend Tuesday’s concert with his friends.

“A lot of their music is laid back, but I’ve heard that the live shows are pretty crazy, so I’m ready to see what they’re all about,” Smith said.

Tickets for Tuesday’s show cost $15 in advance and $17 day of the show. A&R Music Bar in located at 391 Neil Ave.