Artist, Producer Spotlight: Pajean

Meet Pajean

Pajean is Huntsville’s own bedroom producer. In his hometown of Lockport, IL, Pajean began his journey collaborating with fellow up-and-coming Lockport-ians like Jon Breaux and Benji Blue. Now an aerospace engineer by day, at night he is at work in his studio, artfully crafting beats about everything from existential angst to love for Costco.

Q&A

North Alabama Arts: Your music has a lot of different vibes to it. How would you describe your style?

Pajean: I would say generally an indie RnB vibe, and recently I’ve been trying to include a lot more hip hop. Trying to show some influence there, even if I’m not necessarily rapping. But I kind of go into the software and don’t really follow a specific process. If there’s a specific song or style I want to pursue, even if it’s outside what I’ve typically done, I try to learn a bit about it and incorporate it.

NAA: How have your influences changed with time?

Pajean: When I very first started, Mac DeMarco was singlehandedly the biggest influence. [That] evolved into Tyler the Creator; he became a staple of what I was trying to do because each album he released would be a completely different vibe. Now it's a lot of hip hop. I listen to this hip hop collective based out of New York. They inspire the songwriting part of it, being able to relay experiences, connections, articulate things in a poetic way. For example, Navy Blue is one of my favorite artists. He is a beautiful lyricist. Earl Sweatshirt is another one.

NAA: You mention they inspire songwriting. What do you typically sing about?

Pajean: It varies. The first song I have on Spotify, “Primavera,” was when spring was coming up, I was outside, thinking about the vibe, that’s what inspired that. More recently, it’s been venting or reflecting. Whatever I feel in the moment, trying to put it out there. But I want to move towards the more fun stuff because I can make songs without overthinking it…the one I was thinking about dropping is about Costco. It’s called “Chicken Bake.”

NAA: That’s a beautiful name. What initially inspired you to start creating?

Pajean: I got really into Mac DeMarco in high school, so I bought a guitar and started learning. I couldn’t play Mac DeMarco, because he’s really good, but I just decided one day that I wanted to actually make songs. I downloaded Garage Band on my phone, made a song on there and posted it. With the random Garage Band synths and instruments. It was shitty. And I said, I like this, I’m going to keep doing that. 

NAA: Did you ever take music lessons?

Pajean: No, I just started messing with it and over time picked it up. Pretty much everything that I’ve learned today has been learned from doing covers and memorizing chords or occasional YouTube tutorials for the production side of it. But a lot of it is me going into the software and just trying out random stuff. Sometimes it clicks, most of the time it doesn’t. I do love listening to other artists' interviews and getting to hear their creative style, their thought processes, their experiences, and how those tie into their music. 

NAA: Do you have interest in getting anything professionally recorded?

Pajean: Honestly, no. I love the bedroom vibe. I love just being able to have full control over the process and having it be in my own space. I would like to get my own apartment--I have a roommate--so I’m singing, I don’t like the fact that he can hear me doing that. In my own apartment, I’ll have a full studio and be able to build it out.

NAA: I feel like that could be kind of isolating. 

Pajean: Yeah, at times. It gets kind of boring because I end up doing the same thing over and over. I try to add new things, but I feel like I’m kind of stuck with the tools and the methods that I’ve learned. It would be cool collabing with someone and seeing their process and what I can learn and vice versa…It’s a little hard for me, because it’s always been my own personal thing. I feel like I start to overthink it if too many other factors get involved.

NAA: If you were to collaborate with anyone, what would that look like to you? 

Pajean: We don’t have a beat, we don’t have anything, just build it all up from scratch. The way I’ve previously collabed with people is someone will put down an idea, someone will be driving, and then we’ll switch, a different person will drive, add a bunch of stuff on top of it. So it’s like building it up, layer by layer. Ultimately trying to make a song. 

NAA: Do you ever get writer’s block, creating by yourself?

Pajean: All the time. Most of the beats are actually--I don’t like them. Like I made 5 or 6 beats this past weekend, and I wouldn't sing over any of them. It's just learning, having fun. That’s why I only have like 8 songs on Spotify in 5 years of doing it. It's hard for me to force myself to write something. It just happens.

NAA: Would you ever want to make an album?

PAjean: I like the idea of it, but I think if I made an album it would happen organically. If I happen to have a series of songs that are related to a specific moment or tied together somehow, I would release that. 

NAA: Kind of related, where does the cover art of the tracks you have released come from?

Pajean: I take all the pictures on my phone, and then I edit them in this app called Pixart. I’ve been using it since 8th grade. One of my covers, the song is called “Fone,” I took on a Fisher Price camera that I got when I was like 5. 

NAA: Those photos are pretty cool. You sound like you’re a visual artist as well!

Pajean: I really want to get into drawing. Being able to draw my own album covers or even make clothing or expand on a brand would be so cool. 

NAA: What do you think of the Huntsville music scene? Is there anything you would like to see more of in town?

Pajean: I love going to Voodoo and Green Bus. I think it would be really cool if there was more of a jam scene: people pulling up, freestyling, and opportunities with or without music for artists to meet up and talk. People who are passionate about it, do it for fun, and looking for people to casually collaborate with.

NAA: And finally, what is your goal with music?

Pajean: I want it to be a lifelong pursuit, and I hope I can continually improve and continually strive for maximizing my ability to use it as an expressive outlet…I don’t want there to be a ceiling. I want to keep getting better. I feel like if there was some kind of overlap or if music became my job, I would lose the passion for it…I started to make music when I was 18, and I’m 23 now. I feel like the sound of the music is changing as I’m changing too. And I hope that continues to happen. I don’t know what I’m going to be making years down the line.

This interview was recorded on 07/06/25.

Listen

Apple Music/Spotify/Everywhere Else: Pajean
Instagram: @aidanpajeau
Pajean’s Plugs: Henry Verus (@henryverus), JON BREAUX (jonbreaux.wav), AidanCal (@aidancal), benji blue (@__benjiblue__), andy amore (@andyamore.official)