Sing like nobody's streaming: Aron!'s Vintage Pop
22-year-old singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Aron!'s music sounds like it slipped through a time warp. His new EP began as a student project and ended up on Verve Records.
The question of what makes something contemporary has been on my mind for quite a while. I can’t say exactly why—maybe because I’ve sometimes felt like I was born in the wrong generation. Like I missed my moment. There’s something so seductive about the idea of being in the right place at the right time. But personally, I’ve always felt like I missed the memo. Like I got here late and I’ve been catching up ever since.
When I spoke to Daniel Lanois in 2022, he suggested that contemporary work is less about the tools we use or the technology we employ and more about the mindset we bring. In that framing, anyone who is alive right now and committed to creating in the present moment is, by definition, a contemporary artist. Their work is contemporary.
“I think the future belongs to vision along with technology. It’s easy to assume that you need the latest equipment to do great contemporary work. But I think contemporary work has to do with vision as much as anything else.” - Daniel Lanois on The Third Story in 2022
Sometimes mindset and method align—and you get a perfect storm: something that feels both of the moment and about the moment. But the deeper point is that the old idea of innovation as a linear response to what came before—that’s gone. That’s a modernist way of thinking. And we live in a postmodern world. In a postmodern world, there’s really no such thing as new. There’s only you.
Which is kind of beautiful. Because it means that to make a meaningful contribution, you don’t have to invent a new sound—you just have to tell the truth in your own voice. In today’s multidimensional pop culture landscape, we’re finally allowed—maybe even expected—to simply be ourselves, no matter what the trends say. Because the trends don’t last long anyway so their nearly impossible to chase.
And in the middle of this chaotic, borderless musical ecosystem, a kid from North Carolina can come along, channel the American songbook, get Instagram-famous, and get signed to one of the most iconic jazz labels in the world—all within the space of a year. A perfect storm.
It can happen. Just ask Aron!.
Born and raised in North Carolina, Aron Stornaiuolo began his musical life playing guitar, eventually discovering jazz and the American songbook through an 80 year old teacher he met at a music store. He studied classical guitar at the North Carolina School of the Arts and went on to major in jazz guitar and film scoring at the University of Miami. Along the way, he played indie rock, fell in love with Nat King Cole, and even performed in retirement homes.
In early 2023, before heading abroad for a semester in England, he booked time in his college’s recording studio to document a handful of jazz-inspired original songs he had written. The recordings—made quickly and with fellow student musicians—ultimately became cozy you (and other nice songs), his new EP.
The music is disarmingly sophisticated: understated, elegant, and evocative of another era. But it doesn’t feel retro. It feels remarkably assured—rooted in tradition, yet fully at ease in the present moment.
That ease extends to Aron!’s online presence, where he began casually posting videos of himself singing standards and originals on piano or guitar. The response was immediate and enthusiastic. Among those who took notice was Ryan Lerman (Scary Pockets), who helped introduce him to a broader circle of musicians and music industry allies. Before long, Aron! was signed to Verve Records, one of the most storied labels in American music history.
“The issue of how you make this modern, I don’t really think about it too much.. ‘Cause I’m 22. It’s 2025. There’s an aspect that just a young person doing anything is modern.” - Aron!
cozy you is made up of six songs that announce a clear aesthetic: playful, precise songwriting delivered with soft vocal clarity and subtle arrangements. It draws as much from the American songbook as it does from contemporary influences. He calls it vintage pop. And while Aron! is not the first to navigate this space—artists like Rachel & Vilray, Madeleine Peyroux, Kat Edmonson and Andrew Bird (all previous Third Story podcast guests) have walked similar paths—he arrives with a fresh, almost effortless charm.
“I think I just like the air with which people do things [...] the confidence of saying ‘this is what I want to make and this is it’. I think that’s what people are drawn to rather than the actual music,” he muses.
We spoke recently in the offices of Verve Records in New York. Aron! was freshly signed, fresh-faced, and slightly stunned. We talked about music, songwriting, identity, social media, and how he’s trying to keep his head on straight in a moment of sudden momentum. He speaks with the humility of someone still trying to catch up to the moment he finds himself in, and with the curiosity of an artist who’s only just getting started.
There’s no telling why this kind of music connects when it does, or how a new artist like Aron! can reach millions of people playing songs that sound a hundred years old. But here we are. And ain’t it grand.