Artist Profile: The Aries Project
003 | Conor Francis | 1-20-23
Back in October I sat down with artists Collin Suttles and Moe.BPM to talk about The Aries Project, a musical partnership producing House music with Hip-Hop, R&B, Jazz, and Gospel influences. The following interview touches on their musical upbringings, how their partnership functions, a brief history of their work together, and a vision of The Aries Project for the future. We also cover their recent releases “U Need a Rock” and “Keep Me”.
Tell me about yourselves. Where are you from and how long have you been involved in music?
Moe: I’m Moe and DJ under the name Moe.BPM. I’m from New York. I was born in White Plains and raised in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester but would call myself a New Yorker even though the city was always at an arm's length.
I don’t play any instruments and I was never trained, but I’ve had a lifelong connection to music as a listener. I remember being 3 or 4 years old listening to records with my older brother. He was into Hip-Hop at this time around ‘87 or ‘88. My first experience was being a fan you know, just enjoying the vibe. I didn’t become active in music production until the 2000s when my cousin showed me how to make beats in Reason. At the same time I started scribbling in my notepad in class, writing rhymes and making beats. It was something to vent frustration through, a creative and emotional outlet which gave me another alley to express myself. I’ve gone through periods of time feeling repressed or unable to express myself, just not being able to tap into it. There is a great freedom that comes with the music and it is a big part of what kept me sane through growing pains.
I started going out to parties and clubs in 2008 and this was my first time witnessing DJs on vinyl and CDJs. I was hearing sounds I never heard before, stuff that would make me go, “oh shit”, new sounds which led me to fall down the rabbit hole. There was a real mystery to it. I got my first decks in 2010 and started collecting records then, and have been ever since.
I started going out to parties and clubs in 2008 and this was my first time witnessing DJs on vinyl and CDJs. I was hearing sounds I never heard before, stuff that would make me go, “oh shit”, new sounds which led me to fall down the rabbit hole. There was a real mystery to it. I got my first decks in 2010 and started collecting records then, and have been ever since.
Jeff: I’m Jeff and I go by Collin Suttles. I was born in New York but my family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, because my dad got a job up there. I did my school years in Massachusetts and then moved back to New York.
My parents put me in guitar lessons around the time I was five or six. Throughout this time I went to Boston and did well in a couple of competitions up there. I got more into the keys as I got into my teens, and I’ve been studying the keys on and off through the years. I always played in church because my dad was a preacher, so I had to go every Sunday and I just played instruments while I was there, getting better at my craft.
I got into a group with my brother, my cousin, and a good friend of mine from highschool, called Mass Appeal. We did a lot of things together through the 90s, we opened up for Biggie once and even dealt with some of the major record labels. We never had a major record though. We did make a lot of demos and many connections in the business however. I look at that stage of my life as my elementary period, the time when I got my feet wet and began to understand the music business and all that comes with navigating that business as a young creative.
I got into a group with my brother, my cousin, and a good friend of mine from highschool, called Mass Appeal. We did a lot of things together through the 90s, we opened up for Biggie once and even dealt with some of the major record labels. We never had a major record though. We did make a lot of demos and many connections in the business however. I look at that stage of my life as my elementary period, the time when I got my feet wet and began to understand the music business and all that comes with navigating that business as a young creative.
As for what’s happening now, I’m the musical arm of the Aries project, being a keyboard player for many years and having studied music. I'm also trying to work as a businessman building an independent record label, Little Genius Records, and this new record we’re here to talk about is something we are putting through that label. Right now we’re just trying to feel the vibe, understand what the people are trying to hear, and put our spin both on what we feel music is and what we feel is lacking in the music business as it comes to energy and vibes.
What is the vision behind the Aries Project, and when did this collaboration begin?
Moe: So the Aries Project is an on-going creative collaboration between us two as we’re both Aries, Jeff born in late March and myself in mid April, so it's like two different spectrums of Aries, but we still come together and combine that like some Voltron shit. We’ve been working together since 2017. We started by doing a remix of a particular song.
Jeff: Yeah it was with Clarence Blakely. He passed away, may he rest in peace. He had a record that we wanted to get a House remix on, and I called Moe up to work with me on it. That was the first thing we did as a duo, and we received a lot of good feedback on it, so we’ve been working together ever since.
Moe: Yeah, our recent songs we’re talking about tonight aren’t our first, they’re just our most recent jams. Again it's an ongoing thing. We are about to come up on a new season of creation. This was us saying let's be more intent on a follow through, let’s set a goal and meet that goal, create music and share it.
Jeff: We wanted to get something out there because we are both working in different dimensions. I do a little DJing but lean more towards playing music live, whereas Moe does more DJing, so our aim was to get some product out that represents our musical aspects and what is going on in our lives and around us. We had different vibes, and we have unreleased material that may be better than what we’re putting out currently, but what’s most important is that we’re taking our initial step putting the music out and gauging the response to it.
Jeff: We wanted to get something out there because we are both working in different dimensions. I do a little DJing but lean more towards playing music live, whereas Moe does more DJing, so our aim was to get some product out that represents our musical aspects and what is going on in our lives and around us. We had different vibes, and we have unreleased material that may be better than what we’re putting out currently, but what’s most important is that we’re taking our initial step putting the music out and gauging the response to it.
Moe: As for inspiration I think more than actual artists it would be more genres of music as well as places that serve as inspirations for our project. When I try to create, I try to not come from any of those places, but I still acknowledge that saying, “nothing is new under the sun”, giving respect to these genres and locations which inspire me. Regardless I still want to bring forth my individuality in the most pure way possible. We make House music you know, dance music inspired by New York, Chicago, Detroit - and when you trace the influences that birthed those genres, you get taken back to Gospel, Jazz, Motown. So when you distill it, you can hear those influences in our music.
Jeff: Growing up I was influenced by many different artists and producers and still am to this day. If you look at my playlist it's going to be Gospel, Jazz, Hip Hop, Pop. It's all types of genres, and on different days I feel like soaking it in and listening to different styles. But when it comes to creating music as The Aries Project, we sit down, turn off the music, and allow ourselves to work unobstructed in the studio. It's not something we talk about or plan, we just sit down at the drum machine and the keyboard and let out what comes out. We work on what moves us and what we think is dope. There is no denying that we are influenced by the variety of music we listen to, though. One day you’ll catch me listening to the Beach Boys, Pet Sounds, Miles Davis Bitches Brew, or Timothy Wright Gospel Music. I love that I’ve built my ear and my ability to create around that type of approach so that we don’t get into a position of trying to imitate other people point by point. It’s taken years to develop this approach to music.
Describe your most recent EP. Where can people listen to it?
Moe: For this current installment of the Aries Project we have two songs titled, “U Need a Rock” and “Keep Me”. We also have instrumental versions of the tracks for a total of four tracks. You can find and purchase those songs on bandcamp at The Aries Project, or by searching for Collin Suttles or Moe.BPM. As of now the Aries Project is also available on streaming platforms such Spotify, Tidal, and Apple. A friend of ours, Jules, has got a label and is looking to put out a compilation with various artists on vinyl. One of our tracks, “U Need a Rock” is featured on the compilation. We did a special mix for that cut which should be released with the compilation by the new year.
What is planned for The Aries Project in the short term?
Jeff: We’re looking to remix other records, work with other musicians, artists, painters, promoters, we’re looking to do anything we can to spread what we can and promote our music in different spaces. I’m thinking we want to release something new by Valentine’s Day of 2024.
Moe: Yeah, we want to up the output, maybe by two or three times. Just trying to catch a wave and build on our momentum into the New Year.