Aei Facts
From Patricka
Interesting Facts About Patrick Aei
- Patrick was in a few bands in highschool that led to him recording solo material: The Destructive Symphony and Midnight Rose.
- Several album covers feature animals: Project John EP, Chester, and Aerial Coil feature Chester, a boxer; Best Of features a baby lamb; Ambient Guitar Solos features Courage, who died in mid 2010; Benji and Mei and Key of Aei feature Benji, Patrick's present dog.
- Although Aei is a prolific musician, he spent a long period between 2008 and 2009 not working on any material. Project John was the record that provided the fire for his next twenty albums.
- While being known for exploring Ambient music, Aei had not recorded in the genre since Ambient Guitar Solos. He said himself, "Ambient was good for me, but I feel I'll dig myself into a hole if I keep going on with it. I'm dissatisfied with many other current musicians in the genre, because they don't really get it. It's not just soothing sounds with reverb and chorus."
- No other musician has collaborated with Aei on his recordings.
- Aei began Respect Denied Records, now defunct, in 2007. Several bands were on the label, but later broke up. Patrick gave up on the free label when he closed his MySpace accounts.
- Patrick cannot play piano, but keyboards are featured on Urinal, Sherman's Dead, and Benji and Mei, while synth is on Guitar Noise.
- Bass guitar is prominent on Aei's early work, but is rarely heard on anything after Obscurity Is Bliss.
- Before For The Frats, Patrick did not write lyrics for his solo records. Many early songs words were improvised, though "Conscious" on Project John showed Aei making a better attempt at his solo vocal work.
- Lyrics on For the Frats are socially and politically charged, but The Real World's words were centered around similar aspects. Most of Aei's lyrics are centered around real situations, both personal and universal.
- Most of Aei's album covers were made in Virginia. Obscurity Is Bliss, Illustration Through Sound, Where You Are Tonight, Disarming, Before Twelve, I Laughed, I Lied, and Benji and Mei were taken in GA.
- Aei's favorite guitarists are Peter Buck, Richard Thompson, and Robert Fripp. He considers every guitarist he enjoys to be influential to his style, but also counts Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Dean Deleo, and Adrian Belew as top influences.
- Patrick's favorite songs of his own are: "What I've Wanted," "Bruno," "Stumble to the 12," "Inanimate," "Care Cannot Care," "Anaeno," "A Rave Raided," "Nighttime on Cold Pavement," "Basement Cure," and "Seclusion."
- Several Fender Strats have gone through Patrick's guitar collection. His original black 2004 was used on several early tracks, and later dismantled; the white Strat used on Mt. Zion was also dismantled. His Sunburst partscaster was a body made in '05 with the '04 neck put on. His current, and permanent, Strat is a Goldshore 50's model.
