AaronKaplanMusic.com© 2009 Shadowcast Entertainment
Once upon a time (a really really long time ago)...
Aaron was 6 years old and living in a little apartment overlooking Monterey Bay and his parents brought him a three-quarter model Conservarte guitar that they picked up on Alvarado Street. He played that little guitar incessantly and even joined in during his father’s weekend jam sessions. He got pretty good. In fact, he got really good. In 1990 he began studying classical guitar in Munich, Germany, and was fronting for a hard rock band called Red Scare that played in just about every smoky bar in southern Germany. The Bavarians probably still remember Red Scare’s version of Black Magic Woman that blasted out into the street. When he was 16, he released his first album, a collection of original instrumental recordings called "War of Nerves."
A little later (a bit before yesterday)...
Aaron completed his formal musical education at Berklee College of Music, where he studied Audio Production and Engineering. After graduation, he worked in studios in New York City, learning how to make records from some of the industry’s best and brightest. As a general assistant at Right Track Recording in NYC, he had the opportunity to work around artists like James Taylor, Metallica, Stevie Wonder, and David Bowie. In 1996, his work with Elias Associates took him to the Olympics in Atlanta, where he directed music for the games.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1997, Aaron hired on as a freelance engineer for several studios, working with such well known personalities as Britney Spears, David Lee Roth, George Duke, and for film composer Randy Edelman. In a later gig with HUM music and sound design in Santa Monica as second engineer and junior composer, Aaron worked on sessions with Dave Koz, and for many national commercials, including spots for Coke, Nike, Mrs. Fields, Ford, Powerade, Geico, and many, many others.
In 2002 Aaron became the operational head of Icon Recording Group in Hollywood, and also began to establish himself as a session musician. This provided opportunities for instrumental and other work with many well known singer/songwriters, including Rod Stewart, Lyndsey Buckingham, The Bloody Lovelies, BT, Linus of Hollywood, Matchbox 20, Weird Al Yankovic, Tim Burgess (Charlatans UK), and the late jazz bassist Al McKibbon (Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk), to name just a few.
And currently...
A long-time musical collaboration with composer James S. Levine has led to Aaron’s instrumental work on hit television shows, including "Nip/Tuck,” “Raising the Bar” and also, "The Closer.” His composition and guitar work also is heard on "Top Chef," "Project Runway," "Real Housewives of Orange County,” “Royals Pains” and “NCSI LA.” His recent film work includes guitars on the scores of the hit films Ironman, Monsters Vs. Aliens and Open Season 2 . For a complete listing of current projects, please visit the discography section of this website.
As a live performer, Aaron has toured with Hanson (for whom he was hired as an auxiliary keyboardist and guitarist), Linus of Hollywood, the Bloody Lovelies, and most recently for Roger Joseph Manning Jr. (Jellyfish, Beck, Air). These tours have taken him to venues throughout the United States and around the world, including Japan, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, and throughout Europe. His television appearances include live performances on Late Night with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Today Show, and Good Morning America..
Finally, Aaron recently finished work with his band "Raw Sugar" on their debut album and has also completed a solo album, "Salvaged," which is available through this site.
Aaron continues to provide creative, unique music and insightful production for a variety of projects including many television shows, films, and independent artists. We invite you to enjoy his music on this site, and encourage you to contact him with any questions or requests for assistance.