There Are People Down Here Like Me
A conversation with musician Aubrey Key.
If you’ve been on TikTok in the last few months, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard the above song, Flies by Aubrey Key, whether as the background music to someone else’s video, or Aubrey’s own, in which he proclaims while the music plays: day 6 of waiting for my songs to blow up so I don’t have to work at Circle K anymore. It’s safe to say that his songs blew up; Flies has nearly 7,000 videos using the sound on TikTok and over 800,000 listens on Spotify, and Aubrey’s artist page has 63,589 monthly listeners. I first heard the song, like most, on TikTok, which led me to look up Aubrey, which led me to Sad Cowboy Emoji, my personal favorite of his songs, with which I immediately fell in love with and played on loop for the next week. All this is to say that I was already a huge fan of Aubrey’s, so when I found out we were from the same state, I knew I had to get in touch with him.
Aubrey grew up— and still lives in— Jonesville, South Carolina, population 911. His music seamlessly blends sounds of indie, folk, lo-fi, and country to create something that resonates deeply with many— myself included. Aubrey writes and produces all of his songs, and you can listen to his most recent album, Cow, here. The following is a conversation between myself and Aubrey about art, the South, and building creative community, and I can’t wait to continue to follow Aubrey’s work.
Spencer George: So, I came across your work on TikTok like most people, and I just immediately fell in love because it was like, finally, yes. I grew up in a folk music tradition, and when I listened to your music it felt like coming across a musician who I could relate to and who was writing and singing about situations that felt similar to my own experiences. I want to thank you first for that because I think it’s awesome. But I would love to start with just hearing a bit more about you, and how you got into music, and the journey to where you are now, as best as you can sum that up.
Aubrey Key: My dad makes music, but we don’t have the best relationship. He wasn’t really there until I was in like fifth grade. We’re cool now, but when I was a kid I kind of had a love-hate relationship with him. I looked up to him to a degree, because before that I was a quote-on-quote “regular boy”, you know, I wanted to be a football player. But then I saw my dad doing music and I thought that was really cool, and I wanted to do that. But when I actually started playing music— I learned piano in middle school— I went through a big emo phase, and I was listening to a lot of bands like Never Shout Never and stuff. In school I got to learn piano and guitar and it definitely kind of came from there. My dad is actually the first one who gave me my recording equipment. He used to work at Guitar Center.
SG: So for most of your stuff, are you recording it yourself? Because it sounds incredibly high quality and well produced.
AK: I’m recording it myself. I’ve been recording since I was in, like, tenth grade. Probably about five or six years.
SG: Do you feel like anything has changed with your music since then, and with having all these new people who follow what you do? Has it changed your style at all?
AK: Oh yeah, I’m definitely writing different stuff than I was back then. In high school I was doing the emo stuff, going through my Nirvana phase…
SG: I feel like everyone went through a Nirvana phase in high school. And randomly, it’s especially a lot of Southern musicians I talk to, going from punk and emo and grunge back into this embrace of folk.
AK: Nirvana was like the one cool band that older people in the South would listen to. But then from there I got into a lot of bedroom pop and indie music. I really like Alex G, you can kind of hear it in my music. That was probably one of the first artists I really fell in love with. But since the TikTok thing, I wouldn’t say it’s changed my music too much. My production quality has definitely gotten better, I upgraded my software. Actually before I dropped Cow, before the TikTok stuff even happened, I had gotten my first stimulus check and I used it to upgrade all my recording software. But I didn’t feel like re-recording, so I went ahead and dropped Cow, and then it blew up on TikTok, and then I’ve been using all the new software for everything since. So it just kind of worked out for me.
SG: I’ve loved how many artists I’ve talked to that were able to use their stimulus checks to fund creative projects. It’s amazing to me how much we could do as artists if the government actually cared to fund creativity.
AK: Yeah. And even from my old stuff, like my old Bandcamp album, there is a shift— I don’t know if you know of the Pablo generation at Clemson? It’s a venue that’s closed down now, but it was in Clemson and it was just a lot of like-minded indie fans that were making music and I started hanging out with them and that influenced me. Everyone in my band is from that team. They also made me realize— you know, at this time I’m living in Jonesville, population like 500 or something, and everyone around me seemed kind of lame to me, you know, they weren’t listening to the same stuff as me and I just didn’t feel like I had much in common with them— but then I go to Clemson with all these people and it makes me feel good and like, oh yeah, there are people down here like me.
SG: I feel like I relate so deeply to that. Growing up in South Carolina too, I used to always think, oh, I have to get out of here if I want to make art and be serious about it, like, there’s no cool people here. And it’s been a strange and fun experience getting older and realizing oh yeah, there definitely are cool people here. Like, even if they aren’t directly in your town, you don’t have to leave the whole state. That was a realization that hit me really hard, I don’t know if it’s something you feel like you can relate to.
AK: Yeah, definitely. And that’s also when I started kind of incorporating the more Southern sounds into my music, you know, adding the banjos, putting my accent in there. I don’t have much of one when I talk, but I put one in the singing. And I wasn’t raised on country music, my mom hates country music. So it was a thing that I started listening to on my own after high school.
SG: It’s one of those things, you’re either raised on it or you discover it as an adult. Or you’re raised on it and turn against it and rediscover it as an adult. Even the perception of country music, you know, it’s very white and very stereotypically Southern, but there’s also so many diverse folk and country musicians down here that just don’t get nearly the same amount of recognition. I’ve been researching a lot lately into the history of folk, and how it’s been used as a vehicle for storytelling, especially across the rural South. Would you say in terms of influences on your music, as you got more into recording this stuff that did bring in that Southern sound, who were your inspirations for that?
AK: My favorite country artist is Willie Nelson. But at the beginning, I was listening to a lot of Tammy Wynette and stuff like that. I don’t know if you know who the Louvin Brothers are, they have this song called Satan is Real, I’ve been listening to that one a lot. Someone sent me this playlist and it was called Hellbilly Country and it was all these country songs, most of them anti-Satan songs, but just the concept, it was still fire.
SG: It reminds me of those Hell Is Real signs you see on all the highways here. I also love Willie Nelson. I was pretty much raised on Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, and I definitely feel like I can see that influence in your music. One thing I love is that your songs tell such a story and give such a sense of place. Even if you don’t name where you are, you can see these images of the places you call home in a way that’s really beautiful. Do you feel like your work intentionally focuses on place, or that’s just something where the more songs you’ve written, the more it kind of leans that way?
AK: Well, the inspiration behind Cow, I’ve been kind of living at my girlfriend’s house, going back and forth, and she lives out in the country and there’s cow pastures and stuff around, and that was the inspiration behind the name and the overall theme of the album.
SG: There’s something really striking about the image of a bunch of cows just standing around in a pasture. I drive by it every day on the way to work, and it’s become something oddly soothing for me at least. Not to get away from cows, but I want to go back to the creative community you talked about up in Clemson. Are those people you’re still in contact with?
AK: Oh, yeah. My live band is people from that group. Tayler from Paper Daisies is my guitarist and Jonah from J.S. Terry is my bassist. I’m kind of a recluse though. We’re still in contact over social media and everything, but a lot of the people, especially with Covid, have slowed down with music and gotten “real” jobs and stuff.
SG: Covid has been so hard for musicians. It’s also weird to watch so many musicians have to cancel their tours and shows, but then on the flip side you have things like TikTok, and so many musicians going viral now that people are online so much more. You just kind of lose that element of physical community with that. Have you gotten to play any live shows since everything blew up for you?
AK: Yeah, I actually just had my first live show like a week ago, at Radio Room.
SG: Oh man, I would have loved to be there. It feels like we’re all so desperate right now for creative resurgence, and that element of joy and community that comes with art. Do you feel like without that element of creative community that group gave you, you would have become the musician you are now?
AK: I would say that the Pablo community has influenced me more than any band I’ve listened to. I definitely think that if I hadn’t started hanging out with them I would not sound like I do.
SG: And is that group all musicians, or are there other art forms too?
AK: I believe it’s all musicians. I was there for the tail end of the Pablo generation. I listened to a lot of bands like Wallpaper, Paper Daisies, J.S. Terry, and I had already been doing a lot of the lo-fi thing, but they really sound lo-fi, like they’re recording on a tape player. They use the chorus heavy guitar leads and stuff. Like Neutral Milk Hotel, but with a Southern twist. And that’s what I’m doing also.
SG: I feel a bit ashamed that I don’t know a lot about them. I’m going to go look them up right after this for sure. And you said the group is no longer around?
AK: It was all in a college housing complex and I think they had new people move in that didn’t want to hold shows there anymore.
SG: What do you feel like is the impact of losing something like that? It’s already hard to find creative community, but the loss and disruption of it is a whole different challenge. Like, what’s next? Where do people go from here?
AK: Yeah, I think everyone’s trying to figure that out. That also happened right at the beginning of Covid, so there haven’t been shows. But there’s also another house venue called Rock Bottom in Clemson that also just recently, the people who lived there moved out and they closed down also.
SG: Maybe we need to befriend some college students and relaunch all these venues… It’s really cool that it’s kind of happening underground though, it’s like a new movement of Southern music. And so much of what’s happening in the arts down here is happening at a really grassroots, underground level. On that note, have you ever thought about trying to sign with a big label, or is your work something you prefer to keep production control over? I think a lot about Southern musicians who do “make it big” and end up kind of changing their sound, their look— like they aren’t allowed to hold on to that Southern part of themselves. Have you felt that pressure to leave the South to make music, is that something you grapple with at all?
AK: I’m definitely staying independent right now. I’ve always said that I would stay in the South. Probably not my current town, but I would love to move to Asheville or maybe somewhere in Tennessee. The only place that’s not in the South that would be the dream place for me is Seattle, I just think it would be awesome. Other than that big cities scare me. New York City is horrifying to me.
SG: Tell me about it. I moved there and thought I knew what I was getting into and just immediately was like, I miss the pine trees and the marsh and I can’t do this.
AK: Yeah, I would probably stay in the South for sure.
SG: Do you feel like the South has a big influence on your work?
AK: Oh yeah, definitely. Definitely. The South absolutely has an influence on what I make. Even if I wasn’t raised on country music, you know, it was all around me. I heard it everywhere. You can’t escape country music if you live in the South.
SG: Do you feel like it would have been easier to be an artist if you didn’t grow up in the South? That’s a hard question, I know.
AK: I haven’t had anyone judge me yet for being Southern. I have felt like it’s gonna happen at some point. Just, the politics around here, and that kind of stuff. I do think it would have been easier to get off the ground if I had been in a bigger city. I do think a lot of people that listen to me, if I came from LA or Chicago or New York City, I don’t think my music would seem as genuine to them. I think a lot of people like the fact that I came from a small Southern town, to a degree. But it definitely would have been easier to get shows, and I probably would have found a community of people a lot quicker than I did here.
SG: I love your point on the idea of being genuine. It feels like we see a lot of people in these big cities who are interested in the South and will claim inspiration from it, but don’t have the credibility to really speak about it. Like researchers and journalists who want to come and study these places but aren’t actually from these places, and don’t have that level of genuineness that you’re talking about. People always want to claim, yeah, this is what’s happening in these places, but they didn’t grow up in them and they don’t actually know. Which is what’s so cool about seeing this new generation of artists and writers and musicians who are from these places come onto the scene and say, actually, you don’t really know what it’s like, but I can tell you, I’m from here and this is my experience.
AK: Yeah, for sure. And I have some friends who are from here that talk about how it irritates them when they see people from other places who are acting like they’re from the South and writing Southern sounding music. It doesn’t bother me because I know I’d be a hypocrite to say it since Alex G writes like that and Alex G is one of my biggest influences. But it’s definitely a lot nicer to hear someone from the South sing about being from here than someone doing it out in LA or something.
SG: When you’re thinking of these kinds of artists in the South who are already doing this, is there anyone who comes to mind specifically?
AK: I listen to a lot of Nick Shoulders, I think he’s from Louisiana. He’s friends with a guy named Chis Acker, who I love. He’s in Louisiana. Nick Shoulders might be from Arkansas, or Alabama. I don’t remember. But he’s from the South. And he does some super backwoods country. He’s almost in bluegrass honestly. Chris Acker is more of the era I’m influenced by, he’s doing straight up country. I kind of mix the indie and the country. But he’s very good.
SG: One thing I feel like you get when you’re working independently without a big label is the ability to cross genres and really combine things that inspire you in a lot of innovative ways. Especially in the world of TikTok and Instagram and musicians coming up online, there’s that opportunity to really make the music you want rather than what an audience wants.
AK: Yeah, I tell everyone that I am like a combination of everything that I listen to. I’ve gotten so many comparisons, like Alex G, Moldy Peaches, and I listen to all of them. And I think it’s all just seeped into my music.
SG: I think that’s how it should be as an artist though. Not following one specific person but saying, I like this from you, and this from you, and I’m going to take that and make my own style. And I think it’s such a great point, because in my mind, what I love about your music is that I can’t think of anything that’s exactly like it, it is kind of its own thing. Which is one of the reasons so many people resonate with it.
AK: Yeah, I get a ton of comments and messages from people saying they love my stuff, they’ll be buying CDs and stuff. And I’ll be honest, sometimes I get a little insecure and I think that people like my country-sounding stuff less than my other music. I get in my own head sometimes. But I don’t think it has anything to do with people not wanting to listen to Southern music. Flies is my most popular song, I call it my Alex G ripoff song. I’m trying to move past that, and get people on the new stuff too.
SG: Do you have a favorite song of yours?
AK: I’m obviously going to say my new stuff, haha. But my favorite on Cow is Frames, which was originally the one blowing up on TikTok, and then Flies came out of nowhere. It blew up with my video first, with Frames, and then one that I made with Flies kind of did okay. But then people started using Flies, and now it has like 6,000 videos under the sound, and Frames only has like 800. My favorite right now out of what I’ve released is my most recent single Hot Dogs. It’s kind of about wanting to get out of here, you know. It’s mostly freestyle.
SG: That’s incredibly impressive.
AK: I mean, I touched it up a bit, but… Yeah, the album I’m working on is kind of about being a kid again and wanting to get out of where I am and there’s some family drama songs going on. It’s not as tight of a concept as Cow, but there are themes, and when I was writing Hot Dogs I was thinking about how I wanted to go back to being a kid again and playing with the Oscar Meyer Weiner Truck hot wheels.
SG: Which again, is kind of a distinctly Southern image.
AK: Yeah, it is. I’ve also been rerecording my old songs.
SG: When are we getting this album?
AK: I’ve got one more single dropping, sometime in mid-September. And then early October, I should have the album out. This is the longest I’ve gone without releasing an album. It’s been a year. I usually try to drop two a year, but…
SG: Two a year is a lot. I definitely could not do that.
AK: My friends say I’m a madman. That I’m just pumping out songs.
SG: I don’t disagree. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the new album. I just have one last question to you. Thinking about yourself as a young kid growing up in South Carolina or any other young kid growing up maybe somewhere in the South or the Midwest who wants to be a musician and have a creative career, is there any advice that you would give?
AK: I will say that when I was younger I was a big worrier. And I was worried about if I would ever find anyone to make music with, or if I would ever get big. And I would tell myself to not worry about that and just make my music. I also think that a lot of times being alternative in the South it kind of makes you ashamed of your Southerness in a way, and I would definitely tell myself that I don’t have to be ashamed of it.
SG: That’s a beautiful point. I know at least for me, I’ve felt more love and joy and creative community working back in the South. And I think I always felt that just because I didn’t fit with the mainstream Southern image I couldn’t embrace my roots here. And what I’m learning is that there’s not just one way to be Southern. So I want to say thank you for pioneering that with your music, and for taking the time to chat with me today. And I’m really excited about the new album.
AK: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.