Aaron Reynolds, more commonly known as Ayron COE, is Indiana’s rising hip hop MC. Hailing from the City of Elkhart (hence his stage name), Reynolds has already made the rounds in the hip hop scene, doing shows and winning awards. In a 2014 feature piece, Faygoluvers hailed Reynolds’ energetic stage presence, describing him as “definitely having the entertainment portion of being a rapper down.” He has appeared on the MTV-sponsored Video TV and his hit single “Cold World” won a spot on the Coast to Coast Nationwide Mixtape Distribution alongside numerous radio stations and T.V. Stations. He has already finished many national tours , including touring with DJ Clay and Zug Izland and has worked with numerous artists including Plies, Twista, Shawnna, Bonecrusher, DJ Drama, Lil Wyte, and Do or Die.
Reynolds has his roots in rock music: when he was younger, he looked up to Kid Rock and Linkin Park while spending his time skateboarding. However, artists such as Tech 9 and Eminem opened up a new world for him. Captivated by the flow of words, he began rapping freestyle at the age of fifteen at local parties and garages. He moved on to rap battles in his town, and a few years later he was already opening for big names and recording music. He has had his tracks featured on several radio stations, and his recordings have come a long way since he first plugged in a Rock Band mic to record on his computer. He has performed in the majority of the US, including New York, California, Michigan, Washington, and Florida, and his name only continues to become more well-known.
Yet Reynolds describes himself as a simple guy. After several rough years of addiction, he now lives by the motto “love shown is love got.” Not only does he try to apply this motto to his life, but the phrase and his struggles also influence his music with such songs as “Here Comes the Sun.” He says that originality is key, and this originality is a fusion of his style and the artists he admires. As his own agent, manager, and songwriter, Reynolds is growing up with his music and looks forward to where his love of hip hop will take him.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Ayron: Elkhart Indiana. Little old city in the middle of the mid-west. Rv capitol of the USA. City really took a downturn for the worst around the 2008 economic crash and trailer factories went under. As far as inspiration, my inspiration derived from rock music actually. I used to listen to Rock N Roll growing up and used to picture myself being them on stage and rocking the crowd. Then, as I grew up I started listening to Hip Hop and loved the way these rappers were putting together rhyme schemes. So as I listened I also practiced doing it myself and soon got the itch to want to keep doing it and keep doing it. Since about 14-15 its been a passion that hasn’t left.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Ayron: Well to be honest Ayron wasn’t my first “rapper” name. I went through multiple names such as AK, A-game, AR, and some off the wall ones as well. Ayron actually came from taking Aaron and just replacing an A with a Y and spelling Ayron. Creative? Eh But original yes. Nobody had LLC behind the name and I couldn’t find anybody using it (besides a rock n roller) so i decided to roll with it. Funny thing is I used to spell it Aron but we had a show one day and a girl showed up with it spelled Ayron on her shirt. I said OK OK Ill stick with it. 5 years later here I am.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Ayron: In all honesty it seems to be running the biggest portion of musics marketing. You HAVE to have some form of online presence in order to further yourself nowadays. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying its not possible to shy away from the internet and still make it huge all I’m saying is nowadays the internet is an automatic mass media sharing frenzy. So why not as an artists utilize a tool that’s there for use. And of course I’ve given and still sometimes give music away because your fans are your bread and butter to who you are as a musician. So we drop free music for the fans to be able to listen to without feeling like they always have to fork over money. Its a way to give back to the fans for helping give to us.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Ayron: Stay at it. Never give up because you never know how close you truly ever are to reaching your dream. . .You could literally quit days, minutes or even seconds before your whole life could of changed. My only fear is dying with regret so I give it all I have every day that I’m still here.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
Ayron: All the time. There’s no such thing as a perfect performance. I even hopped on a banister once busted my eye open on a pipe, fell on my ass, and then got back up and kept performing like nothing even happened. Blood everywhere but in the end the crowd loved it because its seemed so natural. They key is adapting to the situation and making the best with what you have.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
Ayron: A lot but not enough. I looooooove being on the road. Well there’s things I love about it but sometimes touring sucks. Long drives, No sleep, city to city with what seems such a short 24 hour span. I’ll tell ya this though, there nothing like it. Touring is an essential must for any up and coming artist or successful artist. Touring is what gives your fans an actual chance to see you live instead of behind a stereo, cellphone, or T.v. Also gives you the opportunity to meet a lot of cool and key people that could actually turn out to benefit your career later down the road. You never know who’ll you’ll meet on the road.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Ayron: Inspiration comes from anything. A pencil, a glass, a lighter, a thought. Anything and any emotion can be inspiration. My inspiration usually drives from my feeling and my emotion at any given time. If I’m sad I’ll write a sad song as if I’m mad I’ll write something angry. I also like to flex my writing abilities and go outside of the box and allow outside people to actually give me ideas to write off of. Instead of grasping my own inspiration I can now feed off the thoughts and intentions of those around me. Also my daughter is now a HUGE inspiration in my life to succeed that its wild. All I want to do is show her how to be the best person she can be, period. I just want her to be happy. Cause if she is, then I am.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Ayron: ITunes – Ayroncoe.com – Reverbnation.com – Facebook.com/Ayroncoeent – Youtube.com/Ayron574
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
Ayron: Don’t have an MP3 or an IPOD or even barely listen to the radio. We’re always so wrapped up in our next project nowadays we usually don’t find the time. But an old song Id have to say some might find funny that I love listening to is Uncle Kracker’s “Follow Me” Don’t know why but I used to bump that till the brakes fell off as a kid.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Ayron: INVEST INVEST INVEST. I would put together the most profound album featuring the hottest and my favorite artists. I would shoot the top of the line Music Videos with directors that would make my videos outrageous. I would tour NON-STOP unless I’m home spending time with my daughter or working on my next song. I would probably invest in other smaller business opportunities as well because I never like to put all my eggs in one basket.,
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
Ayron: Were wanting to upgrade to the Neumann T-103 which is about a 1000$ mic but that’s future investments. We actually like to outsource to record our music nowadays because what it does is puts it into other people hands that may be able to do something with it that you may not of been able to. But currently we have the KRK 5s for our speakers, a Scarlett Focusrite (which is next upgrade) Mogami cables and a Blue Spark and a Rode NT1-A. Running mostly Logic on a Mac But still do use our Pro Tools on our PC.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Ayron: Kind of ties back into the Social Media question above. Internet Marketing is a must nowadays and with Facebook being a huge lead in music promotion nowadays I try to capitalize where I can. Now don’t get me wrong I’ve never limited myself to just that. We try to hit all and every aspect we can when it comes to promotion or advertising. Shoot I’ll even walk up to you and just start rapping to prove that its who I am and honestly past the proof I just do it because its what I love to do.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
Ayron: If I could pick any artists to perform anywhere I want I’d choose to perform with my hometown people. Ill meet the stars along the way but to be on a stage in front of 100,000 people or more with the ones you struggled with to get there. There’s nothing better to me. The feelings we all would have would be amazing. The thing is it gets lonely at the top and when you got your buddy to succeed with you. Id say that’s a hell of a way to go out.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Ayron: Well were actually leaving to head to Memphis next weekend to shoot a music video with Lil Wyte which I think is pretty cool being that I grew up bumping his “Doubt Me Now” album. We just finished recording the song together called “Burning Bridges” which will be available on iTunes by the end of March.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Ayron: Good question. Most likely I’d fall back into motorcycle mechanics. I was one of them for almost 10 years. I also enjoy shooting guns. I have a range in my backyard. We do quite a bit of drills and exercises out there. But I can’t see myself anywhere else but music. Even if I don’t succeed completely as an artist Ill never give it up. Money doesn’t make what I love. I make what I love. Don’t get me wrong who wouldn’t want to live lavishly off of your own hard work.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
Ayron:My first album I ever officially bought myself was Eminem’s “Curtain Call” I was about 15 roughly and i just remember hearing about him through a buddy and when he show me some of his music I hated him at first. As time went on though I listened to more through other buddy and actually free to like listening to his music. Very up and down emotions. Seemed to be everywhere but still on track.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Ayron: I’ll be honest its hard. Very hard. Between having my daughter and being in rocky relationships it’s a very stressful lifestyle that’s for sure. Most people see the fame and glam but don’t see what happens behind closed doors. Behind the walls of the “castle” some are portrayed to be in. Its hard to maintain a happy streak because it seems you’re always one step behind in every direction. Back to the answer given before. Never give up, never give in, But ALWAYS, and I mean ALWAYS, give it your all.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Ayron: A lot. Were dropping multiple projects as well as a lot of scheduled music video drops. We have a big 2016 tour were working on as we speak as well as multiple avenues with investors we’ve been discussing with. Truthfully I don’t want to give to much away before it drops so all I can officially say is its about to be a big year.
http://www.ayroncoe.com/home.html
https://www.facebook.com/ayron.coe?fref=photo
https://www.facebook.com/ayroncoeent
https://www.youtube.com/user/Ayron574
https://www.reverbnation.com/ayron
https://www.instagram.com/ayroncoe/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/ayron-coe/id891944803
