Focus: Aaron Dinning

Who are you and where are you from?
My name is Aaron Dinning, I’m 19 and a singer-songwriter from County Durham.

What is it you do?
I sing and write emotional sad songs.

How long have you been doing it?
I started taking singing lessons when I was in sixth form at 16, from there I released my first single, I Hope That Things Get Better, at 18 and I currently study Popular Music at Leeds Conservatoire. So I’d say I’ve been singing for about 3 years but I certainly don’t feel I’ve had any sort of self-confidence in my singing until last year.

What inspires you?
I think I find inspiration out of my life experiences, people I know and some people I wish I didn’t know. I write all of my own music and for me lyrics are what connect me to my favourite songs. If I’ve gone through something and have written about it, I’ll always love and connect with it more rather than writing about something fictional. I really love sad songs and I enjoy writing them too. I think inspiration can hit at any moment and it definitely has a shelf-life. You can think of a cool idea for something and if you don’t express it when you feel it, the idea is gone. So I find I write best late at night, it’s just something about the day being finished with and I can be alone and unbothered with my thoughts reflecting on life. It just makes my brain run wild with ideas.

Tell us about your music.
My music definitely lives somewhere in the folk/pop genre. It’s been described as music to “fall in-love with and fall apart with” . I really want listeners to connect with my songs and for them to be able to relate to my lyrics in their own special way perhaps differently to the way I relate to them. I’m so inspired by the likes of Lizzy McAlpine, Taylor Swift and Harry Styles. They’re so unapologetically themselves so I hope fans of their music will also come to love my music too!

What have you got coming up in the future?
My new single Defying The Odds’ is being released 2nd September. I wrote it after years of dealing with unrequited love and as a gay man I didn’t feel there was a song that truly spoke to how I’m feeling about this. So I wrote the song to comfort myself and just get out my emotions. I also have a gig in Leeds on the 28th September supporting Luna Wood at Northern Guitars. Besides this, I’m always writing new music and you’ll be hearing more tracks from me soon.

Where can people find out more about you?
You can find me on Instagram @aarondinning . Give me a follow & have a listen to my new single!