Rising jazz artist Aron! brings 'vintage pop' sound to Beijing

Rising jazz artist Aron! performed tracks from his debut EP "Cozy You (and Other Nice Songs)" for an afternoon crowd in Beijing on July 22, pausing between guitar-led numbers to explain his creative process.

Aron! performs in Beijing, July 22, 2025. [Photo courtesy of Universal Music Greater China]

The 22-year-old singer-songwriter, guitarist and pianist from Charlotte, North Carolina, comes across as quiet, humble and introverted. "I was on a subway in New York much later than I should have been," Aron! recalled, describing how he came up with the title for his album. "I just had the words 'cozy you' stuck in my head, so I wrote the song around that."

The musician describes his sound as "vintage pop" and says he prefers working in that genre over creating more commercial, high-energy pop songs. "I just like it. I think people just follow what they love," he said.

His earliest musical memories, however, are of rock bands such as Pearl Jam and Led Zeppelin, which his parents introduced him to. It was the game "Guitar Hero" that first made him pick up a real guitar at 8 years old and enroll in lessons at a local music school. 

Aron! eventually met an 80-year-old jazz guitar teacher who taught him how to read music and deepened his passion for jazz. His shift from rock to jazz may have been a form of pre-teen rebellion. In high school, he regularly performed Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra songs for dementia patients at retirement homes.

Studying classical composition at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Aron! developed an appreciation for composers including Chopin, Ravel and Bach. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he taught himself piano. He subsequently received a full scholarship to the University of Miami to study jazz voice and film scoring while performing with his indie pop band, Sunny Side Up!.

In 2023, he embraced what he calls a "vintage pop sound," racking up millions of streams and gaining a loyal online following. After labels came calling, he signed with Verve Records to develop his brand of mellow pop on a new EP.

The EP, released on June 6, is an intimate six-track introduction to Aron!'s laid-back musical style, which often involves sharing his personal emotions and stories with listeners. "There are certain things that I won't share, but for the most part, that's kind of the point: it has to be real," he said before performing several songs that reflected the influence of John Mayer and Bruno Major, two of his greatest inspirations.

In his song "Eggs in the Morning," Aron! writes about his girlfriend making him breakfast and other simple, everyday moments. "I like making it realistic," he said, citing a lyric about a "mattress with speckles of dirt." He added: "That's something I experience. You got some dirt on your mattress — it's okay, it's real."

The young musician recalled a recent moment that captured the essence of his music: sitting on the couch with his parents in North Carolina after returning from Europe, watching "SpongeBob SquarePants" together for the first time in months. "It was very cozy," he said.

Aron! said he uses an unusual technique to find inspiration: taking two-minute naps. "So I'll set an alarm on my phone for two minutes, and then if I can remember any song ideas from those two minutes, I'll write them down and sleep for two more. It sounds like a joke, but I've actually done it — and one of the songs I created probably came from that."

Aron! playfully poses with an event poster at "Aron! 's Musical Tea Time" in Beijing, July 22, 2025. [Photo courtesy of Universal Music Greater China]

During his China visit, he toured the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, describing them as "awesome" and "cool." He said the experience might inspire future songs.

He explained his stage name's exclamation mark reflects his enthusiasm for music.

"I think it's just that I'm very excited every time I get to do music — very excited to be here in China playing music, which I never imagined. So, I think the exclamation mark tries to bottle up that excitement and put it into a name," he said.

Looking ahead, the musician said he hopes to collaborate with pop star Ariana Grande.