A musician’s unique handle popped up in a Discord group, and I’ve rarely clicked on a profile so fast. “Psychotronic Squirt Gun.” What an intriguing name, implying mentally-controlled technologies in which one’s consciousness manipulates electromagnetic fields, but playfully. I knew in an instant that this artist was “aiming” to connect his “tech” with listeners, and that he’d likely be addressing absorbing, fringe topics like parapsychology, mentalism, the bio-plasmic energy devices of radionics, mind disciplines such as meditation… all presumably with a lighthearted science fiction flair. The squirt gun of his title seemed to promise, “Let’s play together; you might get ‘touched’ by what I’m sending out; you might feel something; but it’ll be harmless; nobody will get hurt, and it’s a sort of game in which we’ll share an experience and maybe even hone some skills.” Yeah, I got all that (and more) before I even clicked the profile. I was already thinking, “This artist is very smart.”
Turns out this artist, whose name is Aaron, has over many years been crafting a giant science fiction epic in which nearly a dozen characters’ perspectives interweave. At least one of the ways Aaron has chosen to share his characters and stories is via hundreds of songs in a range of genres (indie rock, psychedelic, punk, darkwave, progressive, and chill, to name but half a dozen styles). As a fellow very prolific artist, I relate to and applaud this approach, but what truly impresses is Aaron’s very smart songwriting technique. Following is how I’ve reverse-engineered what he’s doing.
To introduce a new character to his listenership, Aaron presumably opens his heavy sheaf of story notes or completed novel to a pertinent chapter and then looks for just one or two sentences that constitute a crucial turning point, a moment after which nothing will ever be the same in that character’s life. He then further distills those thoughts into highly concise, poetic lyrics and sets them to music. It’s the disciplined editorial work that shines and gives Aaron’s songwriting its signature. He doesn’t dump an overly complicated narrative or character backstory into a single song. Aaron is playing the long game and can afford to take his time, to choose his information carefully, and to walk with his listeners at a comfortable pace. He hones in on motivations and tactics. For example, in one song, a character named Daisy experiences a psychic intrusion apparently with the objective of stopping her from helping others, and Aaron elegantly addresses how she calmly grounds herself so as to regain her equilibrium. A simple event is identified and the character’s strategic goal, like “resilience” in this case, is explored.
Aaron has discovered and fine-tuned a very smart way to tell a story, and he takes tremendous pains to ensure that what he’s expressing is accessible, via live videos addressing each song, formal music video presentations, and detailed summaries everywhere a song appears that identify the character in question and the chapter or part of the story arc being told. Aaron’s clear intention is that no single listener will ever feel lost or confused, so he does what must be done to accomplish that with zero tolerance for failure. He has chosen as a sort of slogan, “Music first; meaning underneath,” another example of his knack for poetic refinement.
The heart, brains, friendliness and generosity of the Psychotronic Squirt Gun universe spans over a dozen platforms, linked here: https://linktr.ee/aaron_is_psychotronic
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