INTERVIEW: Aidan Valentine and HaydenThePoser

By: Elizabeth Lintonen

Alt-rock drummer and Sheboygan-native Aidan Valentine is bringing a new sound to the Milwaukee music scene. He started in the scene as the drummer for ‘Superglue,’ a Milwaukee DIY band, but has since done more than just drums. Valentine is a vocalist, bassist, and guitarist. His first album, ‘Violence and Valentines’ is a passion project, a cross-musical collaboration between some of Milwaukee’s finest. A well-produced, nostalgic punk rock scene setter bringing something ultimately refreshing to the world of indie and alternative DIY. 

There are two singles out from the album, “For You” and “Only Dreaming,” an exciting beginning that alludes to the setup of the album. The tracks weave through the phases of a relationship: beginnings, middles, and ends. Because of the many different hands pulling this album from the ground and through lo-fi production studios out into the world, the resulting lyrics are relatable, understandable, representing a myriad of relationship statuses and a community of heartbreak. This album is a reminder that the cool thing about pain is relating it and creating art because of it. 

“For You” is a taste of the final product. It’s a driving, pop-punk feeling track with an aggressive guitar feel, a driving drum line. It’s raw, it’s honest, and it has the musicality to back it up. There’s something in the bridge that, despite the angry lyrics, feels hopeful. It isn’t a minor-key filled pity fest, it’s a balanced blend of breakup feelings, and it’s catchy. 

Valentine’s new album features other Milwaukee-based musician HaydenThePoser. Hayden is a guitarist who is heavily featured on the new album and whose creative influence helped make it happen. 

EL: Tell me about how you got into making music in the first place, and what you’ve done up until this point. Catch me up!

HaydenThePoser: My dad was in a lot of punk rock bands growing up. There was always music playing around my house. And I learned guitar in 6th grade. I started off just playing Blink-182 songs. I started a band, of course, we just did Blink-182 covers for the first three years. I did that band until senior year of college, and then I started the solo project, which I’ve been doing for about two years now. I’m working in the studio as we speak to get the next era rolling. 

AV: I started playing drums when I was in middle school. Instead of playing fun pop punk musc, I initially started playing strictly Stokes covers with my little high school band. That advanced into playing drums for ‘Superglue.’ Through that, I started my own thing to do more pop punk stuff. Now I play drums for Hayden, it’s a little bit of everything. 

EL: How did you two meet?

HaydenThePoser: How did we meet? I think we met at the show. HaydenThePoser played with ‘Superglue.’ I originally had a drummer who was like a 30-year-old medical salesman with two kids who couldn’t always play shows, so Aidan filled in at the show. He’s been playing with us ever since. 

EL: Tell me about your individual styles. Obviously, when working together, you have to collaborate. But what kind of music do you make? 

AV: My music is probably more pop punk. Less bright and upbeat sometimes. It’s more monotone. My voice is very monotone. Definitely inspired bands like Four Year Strong. Also, Jeff Rosenstock, very awesome inspiration. But also Blink-182, I think every pop-punk band just looks up to Blink-182. 

HaydenThePoser: I’m heavily influenced by Blink-182, Simple Plan, All Time Low. The nine songs I currently have out are very in that vein. Over the past year, I’ve made the very intentional choice to kind of brand out a little bit. Whether it’s songs driving more pop, radio sounding or heavier sounding, and how can I combine those things? So I just call it rock n’ roll now. I’m just trying to bring a fresh take into the pop punk sphere. 

EL: You have that first new song out, ‘Only Dreaming.’ How did you write it? What was the process of putting it together? I figure you’ve gotta have a really good production process. 

AV: It’s kind of weird. So the entire album coming out has a large amount of people working on the project. For ‘Only Dreaming’ specifically, it was my buddy Noah. Rayven from Lake Drive, and me. It was sometime in winter, and we were hanging at my apartment, and we just started laying down ideas and we recorded the vocals. We just did them in my apartment when I was living in Milwaukee. Even the screaming stuff, so the neighbors were getting pissed. And then I recorded the drums at a studio in Sheboygan, and we sent all the vocal stems and drums to Snow who plays in the band Football Head out of Chicago. He did the mix. Sam from Honey Creek in Milwaukee helped too, he also plays with Hayden. 

EL: It sounds really collaborative. How do you balance all these different influences and artists on a single track?

AV: We have a general idea of the song, and we sit down and write it out. And then we just had other people add their own flare to the parts. Sam could play the guitar better than I could. I’m the one singing. 

EL: What’s it about? How’d you write the lyrics?

It’s a kind of post-breakup song, in pop-punk fashion. You pissed off that person, you don’t want to see them, and you’re wondering what they’re up to, and you never want to see them again. But you’re kind of curious what they’re doing. Kind of that stafe and it’s in the beginning part of the album. The album goes through the stages of getting into a relationship and then the breakup and then the aftermath. 

EL: What is your favorite part about all of this? Obviously, it’s a big undertaking to produce music, especially locally. What motivates you to keep at it and keep doing it? What do you love about it?

HaydenThePoser: Music has always made me want to be great within music. I remember the first time I ever saw Blink-182 was when I was a freshman in high school. I just remember feeling so vividly like ‘these are rockstars.’ I just looked up to them It gave me such an ethereal feeling. If I can create something that gives people that feeling one day, it would be amazing to me. I am trying to prove to myself that I can be great at this and keep on improving my songwriting and keep following the dream. 

AV: For me, it’s more of a representation of who I am at this point in time. I can keep it as a timestamp. It’s a way to have something tangible that I can look back on and see where I was at when I was 20. It tracks my progress in a way that’s different than just writing out a couple of words or recording a video. It;s a way to capture the experience of my teens to right now. 

“Violence and Valentines” will be available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and SoundCloud

Aidan and Hayden’s next show is at X-Ray Arcade on August 19.