Aloes is the latest solo project engineered by the zealous, yet inscrutable musical mind of Reid Weigner. This act has allowed him to actualize his DIY approach to composing, recording, mixing and mastering his work and continue to vividly communicate with his audience through his instruments alone. While Weigner is Atlanta-bred and has recently found his way back to his Georgia roots, he has spent the majority of his career-formative years in Asheville, N.C.
It was here in 2013 that he earned his B.A. in Music (percussion, composition) from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and where he began playing percussion for effervescent dance-rockers Reptar and instrumental math rockers Hello Hugo. In recent years, he has lent his percussive hand to Asheville acts Axxa/Abraxas, Aunt Sis, and Curt Castle. It was also here that he began composing and performing under the name Giant Giants (now Organs of Sight), a heavily percussed, experimental ensemble, which, in its most recent incarnation, features drums, synths, hand-built tubaphone, and other percussion. These compositions with their effortlessly balanced juxtaposition of visceral, sonorous elements and light, delicate ones allow listeners to groove to catchy, percussive beats like they never thought possible. These inexplicably ancient, yet futuristic tunes like “Desert Covenant” and “Sitting at my Table” seem to synthetically simulate sonic meteorological phenomena and evoke feelings of exciting, dance-y doom. One listener (listenasheville.com) described a live performance as akin to “tumbling down a mountain of drums while shamans sing you into the next life.”
Aloes is now delivering unearthly, cybernetic vibes to us on the debut album I (Ingrown Records-March 2019) entirely via electronic media comprised of analog synths, semi-modular synths, analog drum machines, and found sound. This title is a testament to the novelty and difficulty in defining this style for Weigner. Tracks like “SciTrek” and “Percentage Points” evoke tantalizing emotions of imminent peril we didn’t know could be so damn fun. Others like “Hot Springs” maintain those eerie feelings of the impending apocalypse, but beautifully remind us that everything is going to be okay.
So close your eyes, unleash your inner robotic tendencies, and allow yourself to be transported to the extraterrestrial discotheque of your dreams. And don’t be surprised if you hear one of these ambient jams fade in during the wondrous opening or bittersweet closing scenes of your favorite new SciFi series. Sometimes there’s a fine line between utter bliss and total despair and Aloes is here to make sure those emotions remain blurred in the most enchanting way imaginable.