Aidan Laprete

Aidan James Laprete Powell (born September 6, 2001) is an American singer, musician, record producer and actor.[1]

Aidan Laprete
Laprete in 2017
Background information
Birth nameAidan James Laprete Powell
Also known asLaprete, Aidan James
Born (2001-09-06) September 6, 2001
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
  • record producer
  • actor
Instruments
Years active2010–present
Websitelapretemusic.com

Early life

Laprete was born on September 6, 2001, in Honolulu, Hawaii. Laprete's first time acting was at the age of 18 months in a TV pilot, "The Break". He continued to do commercials as a child. Laprete started playing the ukulele at age four,[2] and started to sing at age eight. He started performing at age six in children's groups at local ukulele festivals.[3]

Musical style

The ukulele, played as a pop instrument rather than in traditional Hawaiian style, is his trademark.[2] He has said, "I want to be able to show the ukulele to everybody and be able to show that you can do anything with it."[4] After rebranding to Laprete from Aidan James in 2020, he changed his sound completely, now being labeled as alternative pop music with electronic, hip hop, ambient, and UK garage influences. His influences include Jon Bellion,[5] The 1975, Bon Iver, Jai Paul, and Sevdaliza. In live performances, James uses a Boss RC-300 to create loops live on the spot, Roland SPD-SX to trigger samples, Ableton Live, and TC Helicon's Voicelive 3 for ukulele and singing effects.

Music career

2010–2012

At age eight, James performed the song "Hey Soul Sister" by Train at the 2010 Ukulele Festival. On July 19, 2010, a video of this performance was uploaded by "elrollo79" onto YouTube.[6] The video quickly went viral and has received over twenty million views.[7] The video got the attention of a number of popular artists,[8] among them Jack Johnson and Mick Fleetwood as well as Train's Pat Monahan who is reported to have called it his favorite cover version of the song.[9] Jack Johnson asked James to be a part of the 2010 Kokua Festival. James played at the keiki stage at the festival.

In 2010, James was approached by producer and creator of the 2010 remake of Hawaii Five-0, Peter Lenkov, and was asked to be on an episode of the program. James was featured in episode 5, Season 1 singing "Hey Soul Sister".[9]

2012–2014: "One of the Ones" and Live Again EP

James can be seen in Train's music video for their song "Mermaid", which was filmed in Honolulu. The video premiered on February 27, 2013.

On February 24, 2014, James released his first single, "One of the Ones", with Nashville composer Jeff Dayton. The single was recorded at Island Sound Studios in Honolulu and was produced by Gaylord Holomalia.

In mid 2014, James went on a solo tour independently to the east and west coast promoting his single. In Washington, he performed on the steps of the Capitol Hill and did a private performance at the Google Headquarters. In Los Angeles, he performed at the House of Blues Voodoo Lounge. In New York, he joined HAPA at the Subculture NY. He traveled to Japan, playing at the Hard Rock Cafe, Shibuya Kokaido, and several music festivals.

On December 25, 2014, James's debut EP, Live Again was released. The EP consists of 4 tracks. It was reviewed in local magazine MidWeek, with Bill Mossman saying: "The four-song album represents James's maiden voyage into unchartered waters as a fast-maturing artist. His voice is deeper and more refined, while his playing chops are rhythmically and tastefully on fleek (as teenagers his age might say). And although the cuteness factor is still present on the album, thanks to his pop rock-friendly melodies, James's growth as a musician can be heard in his burgeoning songwriting abilities".[3]

A Hawaiian magazine, MidWeek, did a cover story on James titled "How Aidan James Became One of Earth's Mightiest Heroes". The story was about him being featured in HBO's documentary, Saving My Tomorrow.[9]

James has opened for Lisa Loeb, Jake Shimabukuro, Michael Bolton[10] and Jack Johnson.

2015–2016

James's debut album Echoes was released on December 1, 2015, with eleven tracks produced by Imua Garza, Brandon Apeles, and Gaylord Holomalia.[7]

James joined the lineup for Train's 2016 Sail Across the Sun cruise which included Phillip Phillips, Michael Franti, Andy Grammer, and Shaggy.[11]

James was interviewed by ABC News and 3 music videos of James were featured at Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series in Central Park on July 22, 2016.[5]

2017–present

On March 29, 2017, James was featured on an episode of HBO's Saving My Tomorrow.[12]

James released the single, "What My Friends Talk About" on December 8, 2017, with distribution from Create Music Group.[13]

On May 18, 2018, the single "Casanova", a collaboration between James and Chosen Jacobs, was released. It was written and produced by James and Jacobs.

In 2019, he produced and co-wrote the album, "Head To Head" by singer Grayson. The EP was released on May 10, 2019, on One Half Records. The project features production and writing from Laprete.[14] "Head To Head" received support from outlets including Billboard, calling the single a "synth pop jam".[15] Songs from the album were placed on multiple Spotify editorial playlists including "Out Now" and "Transcend".

Aidan changed his artist name to Laprete in August 2019.[16] On August 23, 2019, the single "Ina" was released. The EP, "Sanguine", was released on July 31, 2020.

Recent production credits from Laprete includes "Lottery" by actress/singer Breana Raquel, the self-titled EP from alt-pop band Peøria, and "Better Man" by singer-songwriter Grayson.

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2011 The Short List Christian Short film series
2011 Shave Ice Is Nice Little Brother Short film
2014 Under The Blood Red Sun Rico

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2010 Hawaii Five-0 Self Episode: "Ko'olauloa"
2015 Saving My Tomorrow Self Episode: "Part 4"; also composer of song "Back To Where We Came From"
2016 Adam DeVine's House Party Aidan Episode: "Sidekicks"
2018 Alexa & Katie Boy Episode: "Basketball"
2021 Chad Kevin Episode: "K-POP"
2021 Everything's Gonna Be Okay Warren Episode: "Banded Argiope Spider"
2022 The Wilds Henry Tanaka Main role

References
  1. "Aidan Laprete". IMDb.
  2. "Teen sensation Aidan James makes Kona debut at book signing". West Hawaii Today. March 6, 2015. Archived from the original on November 6, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  3. "More Than Cute". MidWeek. 14 January 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  4. Berger, John (December 6, 2015). "Teenage ukulele player is a talented songwriter". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  5. "Using His Ukulele, Hawaiian Rising Star Aidan James Aims for 'Unique Kind of Pop'". ABC News. July 22, 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  6. "Aidan James - 8 year old covers Train, Hey Soul Sister!". YouTube, LLC. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  7. "Fourteen-Year-Old Local Singer-Songwriter Aidan James Releases First Full-Length Album 'Echoes'". Hawaii News Now. November 27, 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  8. "Bio". Aiden James. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  9. "How Aidan James Became One Of Earth's Mightiest (And Cutest) Heroes". MidWeek. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  10. https://www.namm.org/thenammshow/2018/events/aidan-james?ref_=nv_sr_1
  11. "Aidan James - Sail Across The Sun".
  12. "Aidan James on Facebook". Facebook.
  13. "Aidan James on Spotify". Spotify.
  14. "Grayson: HEAD TO HEAD". therepubliq. 11 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  15. "Queering Up Your Playlist: 11 LGBTQ Artists to Listen to for Pride Month 2019". Billboard. June 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  16. "Laprete (@aidanlaprete) Instagram photos and videos".


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.