“I flew into LAX with my dreams and my cardigan,” Aaron Fraser says with a laugh.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Fraser has been based in Los Angeles for the past year, settling in the heart of the city after a decade spent in New York City. Though Fraser still travels in and out of the city for writing sessions and shows with his group, Durand Jones and the Indications, his West Coast involvement marks an entirely new era.
“Home is a funny word,” Fraser says of the move. “It was kind of a confluence of destabilizing events. A five-year relationship had ended, we’d been living together for years, we thought we’d move to LA together, but I ended up heading west on my own. I ended up in a new city, with people I’d met through music, of course, but no one I knew.”
Out of this contradictory, sometimes confusing vortex of excitement, sadness, loneliness and cautious optimism, Fraser created Into the Blue. Out on Friday, Fraser’s second solo LP, co-produced by Grammy winner Alex Goose, is the kind of introspective, true-to-life work that can only be made at rock bottom after a major life change.
“[I was] “As I was heading into this big, sad unknown, this blue image came to mind, this endless, lonely horizon where the desert and the ocean meet, and it reminded me of cowboys,” Fraser says. “It’s a vast, natural nexus of solitude and possibility.”
“Into the Blue” features Fraser’s signature sweet soul vibes and falsetto, but also tackles his diverse influences head-on, including ’90s R&B on “Far Away,” the Black Keys-esque dance floor smash “Payback,” disco on “Easy to Love,” and the spaghetti western music of “Into the Blue.” Fraser’s love of hip hop runs throughout the album, and is further enhanced by the influence of Goose.
Fraser recently spoke to The Times about how moving across the country allowed him to find his true artistic expression, and the Los Angeles hangout spots where he found community along the way.
“[I was] “I was heading out into this big, sad unknown and I had this image of blue in my mind,” Fraser says, “a mix of desert and ocean, with this endless, lonely horizon, and it reminded me of cowboys.”
(Rosie Cohe photo)
Jeremy Sohl’s Loft, Boyle Heights
For the last two months of my time in LA in 2022, I lived in that loft, shared a room with my partner, and Jeremy was my roommate. It was a crazy loft. It was a fish market in the 1930s, and now it’s home to artists who do big installations. In the middle of the warehouse, there was a giant chrome submarine, about 40 feet long, and inside it lived a three-legged cat named Arlene.
When I came back [March] In 2023, I asked to rent it out again. They were in the process of turning it into just a warehouse. Jeremy was no longer there, the artists were often away doing different gigs, so I was there alone, making memories with my partner, and now I’m in this cold, bare warehouse. [my new life in L.A.] I picked up where I left off. Basically, my life had fallen apart.
Average pizza
“Comfortable” food in New York is of course bagels, chicken and lamb with rice delivered in a halal truck, and pizza, and I actually think that’s okay in New York.
I think people are too hung up on “good pizza”. Don’t judge a city by its best pizza. Judge it by its average pizza. Every city has one best artisanal pizza place, or one where some old Italian guy makes each pizza with his shaky hands and you have to stand in line for an hour. I don’t care. The standard for pizza in a city is the pizza you get for $2.50 late at night. LA Quarter Sheet is good, but more artisanal. Prince Street is solid, kind of like a cheap drunk pizza place. [food].
Fraser’s second solo LP, out Friday, is the kind of introspective, true-to-life work that could only be made at rock bottom after a major life change.
(Rosie Cohe photo)
Little Tokyo
I collect vintage clothing and Space City Vintage in Little Tokyo is my favorite place. You can find relatively inexpensive pieces there, and if you’re looking for something authentic from the 1950s, the owner, Zach Vargas, can help introduce you to his products.
For plants, there’s Latinx With Plants, owned by Andi Xoch, who is an amazing small business owner, artist, and community organizer. She’s in Boyle Heights and she just opened up shop on the second floor of Space City Vintage.
Cafe Dulce, a coffee shop in Little Tokyo (there’s one on The Row) has a great blueberry matcha. I love matcha because coffee is bad for my stomach.
I’ve been to Tokyo and the sushi there is good. Admittedly, I’ve only eaten there twice. It was a very short trip due to COVID-19 restrictions and I wasn’t going for the best sushi. But I think the sushi in LA is just as good. I recommend Hama Sushi in Little Tokyo.
Sonido del Valle
I love going to Sonido del Valle in Boyle Heights. It’s a great place to look for records. It specializes in Mexican music and music sung in Spanish, and I always learn something new when I go there. It’s like [records from] Your grandparents in Boyle Heights are getting rid of their record collections.
Studio 5, Atwater Village
Most of the record was made in Alex’s home studio, Studio 5. It feels like it could be featured in Architectural Digest or something. It’s so beautiful. Alex has a great sense for interior design and stuff. He went to school to be a graphic designer. [The apartment is] It’s open and airy. He’s an avid record collector, and Arthur Verocai’s original recordings are among his prized possessions.
We were there for days. I’ve been stuck there all year. [Studio 5]We were able to really engage without feeling rushed.
It’s great to live in a place where there are a lot of people that you love and respect and you get to spend time with. I wasn’t living in between tours. I wasn’t in the system that Dan was. [Auerbach’s, who produced Frazer’s debut LP]So we’d write the songs in a week and then record them super fast. For me it was like a big open space where I could take my time with different collaborations. Moving to LA definitely allowed me to make the record on my own terms.
Troubadour
Just thinking about it makes me shiver [my sold-out show there in February 2023]It was hard not to get emotional performing on that stage, I literally cried. Writing these songs requires all this emotional processing, but the next step is to express these songs externally and actually perform them in front of people.
To be able to perform on the same stage where “Donny Hathaway Live” was recorded [and] Knowing that you can be part of that history in some way, it kind of evokes ghosts and magic and sorcery. That’s what it feels like to play on the Troubadour stage.
It’s a small stage but a great atmosphere. I love the two-tiered venue because it feels like the audience is on top of you. It feels like the waves are crashing on you. I also want to thank the Paramount in Boyle Heights. It’s a great venue.