INTERVIEW: AEREA

Through their endless textures and harmonies, Spanish duo AEREA stands out as one of the most promising acts in the emerging techno scene. Their broad style stands out for combining unique melodies with live vocals, both in Spanish and English. The project was born in 2021 and experiences a constant sonic evolution, immersing itself in a sharp sound that approaches the global clubbing scene but adding its own perspective, emotional depth and incorporating more and more genres with faster rhythms.

We have had the pleasure of interviewing them and this has been the result.

Can you tell us about your musical career to date?

We released our first single at the end of 2021 after some years of working in the studio. From the very beginning, we wanted to create a visual world around our music, as we felt that this made the experience complete. After releasing a couple more singles, we decided to shoot videos in nature while playing our music live, with each new release. At that point we had our first performances, which were the most unfamiliar part for us, but they gave us a clearer vision of what we wanted from our music: something that felt alive, allowing us to experiment with as many genres and elements as possible. That’s when we started falling in love with faster, more percussive rhythms, without abandoning our sensitive roots and passion for melodies. We like to call our sound ‘Emotional Techno’ since everything revolves around emotions.

Based in Madrid, can you tell us how you started AEREA and your ethos as artists?

Our project, AEREA, kind of came together naturally because we had already been making music together, and although we were far from techno at the time, we were always very connected to electronic music. This genre sparked our curiosity more and more, and we began incorporating some of its elements until we realized that this was our place. We believe that the context around techno holds great power — it’s not just music, it’s a whole social movement where freedom and the safety of others really matter. We find amazing that even in places where human rights are ignored, there are small techno oasis where people can truly be themselves. It’s an honor for us to be connected to these values and contribute to creating a scene of respect and diversity.

What does your name mean, or how did you come up with AEREA?

AEREA is the Spanish word for aerial, which could be described as ‘something related to the air, atmospheric and ethereal’, and this perfectly matches the sound landscape we create. The word is also connected to the spiritual, symbolizing transcendence and freedom — concepts that we deeply resonate with. So, we’re really happy to represent all of these ideas through our name.

Your first collaboration is with Regal. How did this relationship begin?

A little over a year ago, we received a message from Regal on Instagram saying that he had discovered us and really liked our project. He proposed making something together, so, what can we say, we thought it sounded great! We believed that blending both of our worlds could be really interesting. We were in shock because we were still very small artists at the time, so it was a huge compliment to receive a message like this from someone who has been in the international circuit for so long. We met up in Madrid to get to know each other and chat a bit about life and music, and then we got to work.

The track "Ruido" — can you tell us about working together and how the track was developed as a team?

Regal suggested that we come up with some ideas, both musical and vocal, so we did just that. We didn’t get the chance to work together in the studio so we’d send the project back and forth every few weeks. Each of us added our own touch, slowly shaping it, and a few months later, the track was ready. The three of us were really happy with the result, we believe you can really hear everyone’s essence in this collaboration.

Tell us more about your live vocals in your tracks. Do you think this adds a special element to your music that sets it apart?

For us, it’s a natural part of the process to include vocals because we’ve always done it that way. But it’s true that in techno it’s less common than in other genres. Maybe that’s why it’s intriguing, since it’s not something you see all the time. For us, the key in what we do lies in the synergy between music and vocals, like a conversation where one complements the other and they make sense together. It’s like we’re able to express the connection we have, it can be “heard” through our music.

What do you think of Regal’s album and his ACIDBOY productions?

We think the ACIDBOY concept perfectly represents Regal’s more acid-driven essence, which is something he’s always been linked with. It’s a great idea to create an alter ego to dive deep into certain sounds. We were both surprised and really happy when he suggested including our track together in his first project under that new alias, it’s not typical to see collaborations on debut albums, which are usually solo. But after hearing the album, we understood that it made perfect sense for our track to be part of his ACIDBOY project.

Finally, what’s next for you both in terms of musical progression and gigs?

As we said at the beginning, we like to give ourselves the freedom to experiment and try new things, so it’s hard to predict where our musical journey will take us. All we know is that making music is the most fulfilling thing we can do as it connects us with the world and with ourselves, so we’ll keep on it, possibly in ways we can’t even imagine right now. For the moment, our goal is to keep exploring and take our music to as many places as we can.

IG