Artist Spotlight: Aidan Bissett Encapsulates Relationship Troubles in “Communication”

On April 15, singer-songwriter Aidan Bissett released a new single titled “Communication.” This marks the singer’s first time collaborating with someone else, as all his previous songs were made and released on his own.

“Communication” illustrates relationship troubles and feelings of frustration. It reflects the challenges that couples experience and tells the story of a person who doesn’t know why their significant other is upset, and they won’t open up about it. This track speaks to Bissett’s ability to create music people relate to, and allow others to see themselves in his work.

According to Bissett, the official music video for “Communication” was not the original video. The plan almost fell through a few times, a lot of the equipment stopped working during filming, and a hair got in between the regular and protective lenses on the camera, so it was in every single shot. For this video, the crew rented a house and utilized a fish eye lens to create the dynamic shots you see in the music video.

Musical Background and Influences

Bissett started playing guitar as a child, which provides the basis for his style of music. His inspiration for his music comes from guitar-based bands, such as COIN, boy pablo and Wallows—he credits the latter as the mentor for figuring out his style. Bissett takes inspiration from different artists and tries to switch up his sound, in order to create diversity in his music catalog. A prominent feature in his music is delay reverb or reverse, which creates a dreamy effect.

Bissett says the “just a little bit” lyric from “Communication” is his favorite lyric sonically, but the entirety of “Worst Girls of All Time” are his favorite lyrics. According to the singer, he was screwed over by a girl the day before and repeating the line “fuck you, you’re a liar and a cheater.” He says it was very impactful for him, as it was one of the first times he heard a lyric in his head and could write a whole song around it.

Though “Communication” is his first collaboration, Bissett hopes to do more in the future. Nothing is set in stone, but he names Motel 7, COIN, Tame Impala and Wallows as artists he would like to work with. When asked about what a potential collaboration with Wallows would look like, Bissett said, “They would create low guitar melodies and the lyrics would follow those melodies, like “Remember” or “Sun Tan,” but any of those songs that had those low melodies I love. I’d love to create something new with them because they were one of the bands that got me into this.”

Artist and Career Development on TikTok

Bissett’s music was inspired by the changes he was experiencing in his personal life. “I moved back to Florida and had to do the second semester of school online, and you have no social life,” said Bissett. “I got to a point where I was feeling a lot of things and didn’t know how to control or mask the feelings, and I didn’t want to mask them so that pushed me into music.”

Bissett credits social media and video creation platform TikTok for his rising popularity and career opportunities. When bassist Blu DeTiger was going viral on the platform, she saw Bissett’s page, where he would post song covers, and reached out. She then introduced him to some producers, who helped him with his music and promoting his art.

According to Bissett, social media plays an important role in music. “If you get a song to go viral, it hits the billboard the next week,” said Bissett. “It’s great for small artists without a large marketing push, and it helped expose me to a ton of other artists. The music side of social media is a positive place, but you have to be able to take criticism.”

As an artist with a successful social media platform, there is pressure to continue generating views and retain your audience. “If you start generating a fast following, there is a level of pressure,” said Bissett. “There was a point early on where I would get stressed out about it, but I’d sit down with myself and say, ‘there’s no real pressure because the people who like you will come back.’ I used to pay more attention to virality, but now I’d rather focus on the musicality and hopefully, it goes viral.”

Growth, Work-Life Balance and Future Plans

As Bissett’s platform grew, he gained more opportunities and got thrown into the music business world. He quickly learned about how to work in a business space, so when he got exposed to new artists and created with them, things went smoothly. Bissett says the collaboration opportunities he has been exposed to are unprecedented and amazing.

Bissett is finishing up high school. The 18 year-old has juggled regular teenage life with his music career for the past few months, as his TikTok page rapidly gained followers. “The high school I go to is amazing, but very academically rigorous, so I had to find a balance between keeping my grades up and promoting my music,” said Bissett. “I told myself during the weeks I would focus on school and I’d write on the weekends, which helped a little bit, but I’m glad it’s over. When I got the call from A&R at Capitol, that’s when it felt real. I didn’t tell anyone until “Communication” was released because I wanted to keep it to myself. I was afraid to tell the school, but they ended up being very nice and helpful.”

As for future plans, Bissett’s biggest dream is to be able to have live performances. “Wallows was the first time I remember connecting with what they were performing,” said Bissett. “Ever since then, I wanted to create that for my own shows. Whenever I make TikToks, I try to seem as personable as possible because I like that connection. It’s a real thing and it’s really powerful.”

Liked this article? Check out another amazing artist, BM, about his latest release “Broken Me” here!

Thumbnail Courtesy of Capital Music Group