What happens when you create a fictional character as an inspiration for your song that ends up named after your mother? You might want to ask The Ariston, as that’s what has happened with their latest track ‘Simona’. Simona is a fictional character, “more so an idea of what a person can be”, the title itself was inspired by no other than the mother of frontman Luca Slade, he tells us during our interview.
At first, the London-based four piece didn’t have a name for the song and since Luca came up with the chorus, “it became known as ‘Luca’s Song’ – then we decided that wasn’t either edgy or cool.” That’s when bassist Will Parsonson came up with the idea to call it ‘Simone’s Song’ after Luca’s mum Simona. After, they just rolled with it, Will added some lyrics and changed the hook to the catchy “Simona, Simona” on the record. However, Luca would like to emphasise “that the song is not, in any way, written about my mum”. Over here at Melomaniacs we’re sure she still feels honoured to have a song named after her.
If they’re not busy writing songs named after one of the band members’ mothers, Luca Slade (guitar/vocals), Will Parsonson (bass), Finn Bunce (drums) and Nathan ‘Nate’ Melhuish (guitar) spend their time playing their songs to audiences and fans across the UK. Recently they supported The Lottery Winners at O2 Academy Bristol but don’t worry if you’ve missed out on their set: The Ariston will play in London supporting Spangled on April 3rd and they’re playing a show in Manchester at Off The Square on May 16th with more shows to come soon. The band will also be playing at Deva Fest in August.
Just in time for festival summer – The Ariston are playing Guilfest on July 6th – the indie alternative band is “currently working on lots of new music”, drawing inspiration from bands such as Arctic Monkeys and The Kooks. Whilst their sound is influenced by iconic rock bands, Luca would also love to see The Ariston collaborate with somebody else: “I think it would be cool to work with Matty [Healy] and George [Daniel] from The 1975.” Though, he also feels as if “working with Freddie Mercury would have been a bit of an experience, or like Kurt Cobain? Two very different sides of the spectrum I know. But like, they had such a special, iconic sound.”
Someone who has helped The Ariston to find their sound is producer Jamie Brown. Not only has he worked with artists such as The 1975 and Sabrina Carpenter, he also produced The Aristons’ ‘Simona’. An experience that the band is grateful for. “Jamie seems to believe in the band, which is always nice and I think he appreciates the graft and hard work we put in”, Luca tells us. “He definitely knows a few tricks of the trade and has such a good ear for our music. He could really see the vision and understood the sound we were after.” Brown’s experience has helped the four of them immensely: “I remember before we went to him with ‘Simona’, Finn was struggling with the drums. Then in the space of a few minutes Jamie completely transformed them.”
Together they managed to transform ‘Simona’ into a catchy indie rock tune with a lot of potential to immerse the audience in its sound if you’re lucky enough to experience it live. If not, Luca reckons “we would do well on the likes of Radio X with John Kennedy and Alyx Holcombe’s BBC Introducing Rock show, who I think have heard the record”. Any favours to spare, Alex and John? Until then, you can check out The Aristons’ newest track ‘Simona’ below.
Written by: Svenja Nowak
Edited by: Ilse Muis
