Tea Tunes: AJ Jaramaz accents intimate songs with intricate, complicated lyrics
Fourth-year English student AJ Jaramaz grew up as a shy kid playing piano, but now he’s playing guitar and working on his own music like the song “Church” about values in a relationship. (Kristie-Valerie Hoang/Daily Bruin)
By Kaitlyn Peterson
May 4, 2017 6:54 p.m.
Music inspires the soul and allows listeners to feel joyful and free, and behind every piece of inspirational music lies a songwriter and a story. Throughout spring quarter, columnist Kaitlyn Peterson will sit down over tea with UCLA singer-songwriters to explore their musical goals, personal inspirations and what makes their songs so special.
AJ Jaramaz remembers his mom playing Simon & Garfunkel and Bob Dylan on their living room stereo during the holidays. The 1960s rock and folk that he heard inspired the genres of his own songs.
Laughing, Jaramaz said he hated classical piano lessons as a shy 4-year-old in Pittsburgh, because it felt like a chore. But when his mom and dad left the house to go grocery shopping, he tried to make up his own songs and chord progressions.
Even though he was too nervous to perform in front of his parents, Jaramaz always wrote songs, even as a kid. He doesn’t remember any specific lyrics, but he told me that a few years ago he found a journal full of random gibberish that popped into his head at that time.
In middle school, Jaramaz heard his brother play his Yamaha steel-string guitar around the house so much that he picked it up and taught himself how to play. He loved the raw sound of the guitar and the fact that a few chords could be rearranged to play so many different songs.
Jaramaz expanded his musical knowledge in high school when he took music theory classes, which served as the foundation for his songwriting. Although he was learning more and continuing his piano lessons, he was still too nervous to perform publicly.
He broke free of his shyness when he came to UCLA in 2013, the same year he bought his own guitar. Now the fourth-year English student hopes to release his own music this summer.
Jaramaz took the course “Music and Industry 105: Songwriters on Songwriting” during fall quarter of his second year at UCLA as part of his music industry minor. In the class, he had to submit original songs and perform them for his professor and classmates.
“Parking Lot” was the first song he wrote for the course and performed publicly. He laughed and rolled his eyes at himself when talking about it, saying that it was a poorly produced song with an unbalanced rhythm.
Lyrics included: “I fell in love in a parking lot looking at the way you drive / I felt the weight of my words crumble as they left my mind.”
Jaramaz smiled and told me how much he loved the storytelling aspect of music. Similar to a book, a song can tell a meaningful narrative with abundant metaphors and imagery. We both laughed when I told him that the analytical English student in him came out with music.
Such symbolism is evident in Jaramaz’s folky song “Church,” which he originally wrote two years ago as just a chorus. When looking for inspiration in his unfinished voice memos, Jaramaz found the song and wrote the rest of it.
At the time of his rediscovery of the song last winter, Jaramaz had just gotten out of a relationship, yet continued to stay friends with his ex. He used “Church” to admit that mistakes were made on both sides while simultaneously encouraging listeners to stay true to their core values and beliefs.
Jaramaz’s raspy voice sings, “You’ve got a plan to lift me up / Take me to church when your friends come around / Pretend when I’m bruised, just a little bit blue / And hide me away when your friends come around.”
He looked at his fingers strumming his guitar and then looked out into the distance while singing the song. If it was on Spotify, it would be on several of my playlists.
I had to listen to “Church” multiple times to fully understand that the church represented how their values differed, and I’m sure that’s what Jaramaz wanted. He grinned and said how much he loved songs that confuse him and force him to listen repeatedly in order to grasp the artist’s message.
Jaramaz had to reread the songs on Frank Ocean’s album “Blonde” several times because it had so much lyrical content. Other artists that intellectually challenge him are Bob Dylan and Kanye West. He said with each listen through their songs, he finds more depth within the lyrics.
I believe that if you figure out a song’s meaning right away, then the artist didn’t do the job right. Music is supposed to be complicated, intriguing and perplexing.
Listen to some of Jaramaz’s favorite songs:
