Aaron Switzer

Switzer started experimenting with electronic music in the mid-nineties in his home town of Orillia, Ontario, cutting, chopping and distorting sounds in simple wav editors as a hobby. After an unsuccessful and unsatisfying stint with a band appropriately named Feces, Switzer moved on to such bands as Oblivion and then CO2, before leaving the band scene entirely, preferring to work on his own. He started to experiment with drums and keyboards, using multiple tape decks and a computer to record and dub his own sounds, eventually integrating programs like Making Waves and Cool Edit into his music creation. By the late 1990s, Switzer began to move away from techno/jungle beats and became more fascinated with the digital hardcore scene, ultimately releasing his first album, as 8 Bit, entitled Lo Fi Entertainment, where he gained some notoriety from his hit single “Gravol”. Although he was unable to sell his music, due to the nature of the samples he used, Aaron left them with local record stores, accepting small donations instead.

Following Lo Fi, Switzer became fascinated with noise, and artists like Merzbow and Nic Endo, Ec8tor, and Venetian Snares. 8 Bit’s subsequent two releases, Power Without The Price, and Blackout, reflected his interest in the music genre, combining a cacophony of sickening beats, weird samples, and rough distortion.

In 2001, Switzer moved away to Peterborough, Ontario, and found little time for artistic endeavor. It was in this period between 2001 and 2003 that he experienced one of the most profound episodes of his life; he began to experience extreme levels of emotional and psychological distress, and shortly thereafter, was diagnosed with Chronic Schizophrenia. He spent a year, in and out of various institutions, on and off his couch, unable to cope with simple day to day responsibilities. By the spring of 2004, Switzer was finally recovering from the worst of it, and shifting interests into decidedly calmer tastes; becoming influenced by Nine Inch Nails’ The Fragile, Iron and Wine, and Okkervil River. While institutionalized, he managed to compose and record a number of sad, disjointed and desolate tracks; and it was with this experience; with this sound, that he began to develop a subtle, yet exotic blend of old interests versus new. As things improved, Switzer moved back home and began in earnest to throw his talents and experience into another musical project. By November, Switzer had compiled enough songs for a new album, and, under the auspices of this new sound, borne out of a new life, Switzer shed his raw 8 Bit persona, and became Waveform Canvas. The Brink, released November 23, 2004, combined a lifetime of anger, pain, and rejoice into a well rounded 11 track album, and although a very limited number of copies were released, The Brink was received very well by Switzer’s local fan base, and became the catalyst that has propelled him down more serious artistic avenues.

After his experience with The Brink, Switzer began to delve more deeply into this niche he had created for himself. In the spring of 2005, in need of some new scenery, and a fresh start, Switzer packed up his guitar, keyboard and laptop, and moved to Montreal, Quebec. He has spent the better part of 2005 discovering how far he can take himself musically, emotionally and artistically; he has challenged his lyricism and vocal capabilities farther than Switzer ever realized or dreamed that he could. Waveform Canvas’s album, 594 km, was hailed a great accomplishment both in Switzer’s musical ability as well as his ability to over his own personal difficulties.

The exposure to the club scene and the urban life of a big city rekindled Switzer’s love of aggressive industrial music and spent the majority of 2006 writing and producing 8 bit’s last album IDDQD. The album was received well and 8 bit played shows in southern Ontario and Quebec and drafted Bailey Davis (Ivy Bled Asia, The Scroll) to assist in 8 bit’s live performances. IDDQD is an extremely aggressive carnation of both 8 Bit and Switzer himself with live shows consisting of spitting, breaking equipment, attacking security guards, and rolling around in broken glass. IDDQD received some club play as well, notably 8 Bit’s Cover of Peaches’ “Fuck the Pain Away”. This year Switzer is slated to release a new 8 Bit album, “FuckerFace”, and is said to be a continuation of IDDQD, all the aggression and attitude with “…Blood on the dance floor.” in mind.

Switzer is also working on a 2009 release for Waveform Canvas that is expected to be some of his best artistic work ever released, although, one can’t expect to put a bottle cap on an ocean tide.

Aaron Switzer is a multifaceted musical mastermind that promises not to disappoint regardless of genre.

- JBG

Current Tracks Available on Last Fm

As Waveform Canvas:

594Km

Not Something

Until...

Coil and Blind

We All Know

56 Days - PRHC Mix

Never Again

Es Kommt

Today is Mine

The Back Burner

Vice

I Hate Mullet Rock

Chems

Grinder

The Ladder in the Chasm

From Sadness Comes Hope

(Currently Untitled) - Tracks appear as they currently are in all different stages of production. (2009)

(Unbreakable) 頑丈

The Wieght of the World

Ideas

Die at Sea

Day 1

Picx

User

As 8 Bit:

FuckerFace (2009)

Your Ass Is Mine

Carrion

Hardthrob

Fuckstar

Classless

IDDQD (2006)

Let Me Sleep

To Kill And Why

Lines

Slit

I Don't Love You

I Told My Label To Fuck Off

Kziall

Staple Gun