Aer was an indie US band consisting of David von Mering and Carter Schultz. The duo hail from
Wayland, Massachusetts, a small town in the suburbs west of
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. They first gained popularity with their debut studio album, ''The Bright Side'' in 2012, which reached #85 on the US
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...
. Their self-titled second album, ''Aer'' (2014), reached #26 a year and a half later.
The album ''One Of A Kind'' was released on August 14, 2015.
Early years
Mixtapes and ''What You Need'' EP (2010–2011)
Von Mering, who was born in
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
and first grew up in
Davis, California
Davis is the most populous city in Yolo County, California, United States. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 66,850 in 2020, not including the on-campus population of the University of ...
met Schultz in elementary school in their hometown of
Wayland, Massachusetts. After their first band broke up in their junior year of high school, they created their own brand of music. Their first mixtape, ''Water On The Moon'' came out in 2010, followed by their second mixtape, ''The Reach'' in May 2011. The duo recorded their first EP, ''What You Need'', later that year.
''The Bright Side'' (2012)
After graduating from
Wayland High School
Wayland High School is the public high school for the town of Wayland, Massachusetts, United States. During the 2022-2023 school year, there were 824 students enrolled at the high school. Wayland High School is consistently ranked as one of the b ...
, the two moved to Boston and began to work full-time on their first full-length studio album, ''The Bright Side'', which they released in the summer of 2012. The album reached #85 on the Billboard 200.
and went
Certified Gold. It was followed by their second EP, ''Strangers'' in 2013.
History
Self-Titled Album (2014)
The duo released their self-titled second album on January 21, 2014. The album reached #26 on the Billboard Chart.
''One of a Kind'' (2015)
Their third full-length album, ''One of a Kind'' was released on August 15, 2015, and the quickly went on tour. Among the first stops on the ''One Of A Kind Tour'' were the
State Theater in Portland, Maine,
Best Buy Theater
Palladium Times Square (formerly PlayStation Theater, Best Buy Theater and Nokia Theatre Times Square) is an indoor live events venue in New York City, located in One Astor Plaza, at the corner of Broadway and 44th Street. It was designed by arch ...
in New York City, and the
House of Blues
House of Blues is an American chain of live music concert halls and restaurants. It was founded by Isaac Tigrett, the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe, and Dan Aykroyd, co-star of the 1980 film ''The Blues Brothers (film), The Blues Brothers''. The ...
in Boston. The Dutch band
Chef'Special
Chef'Special is a Dutch indie pop band from Haarlem, North Holland. The band's lineup consists of lead vocalist Joshua Nolet, guitarist Guido Joseph, bass player Jan Derks, keyboard player Wouter Heeren and drummer Wouter Jerry Prudon. They have r ...
and Australian singer
Cody Simpson
Cody Robert Simpson (born 11 January 1997) is an Australian singer, actor, and a former competitive swimmer. Since his debut as a recording artist, he has released four solo studio albums: ''Paradise'' (2012), ''Surfers Paradise'' (2013), '' ...
were the openers. They also performed with
Slightly Stoopid
Slightly Stoopid is an American Rock music, rock band based in the Ocean Beach, San Diego, Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, m ...
whose song "Wiseman" they covered. Their song "Floats My Boat" reached over 7 million views on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
.
The End of Aer (2016)
Schultz and Von Mering announced on social media that Aer would no longer be creating new music or performing together, adding that it was a mutual decision with no hard feelings between the two. Both have since started different lives with Schultz and von Mering still working on music but separately. Meanwhile, von Mering also has been seen creating art pieces from his
Twitter
Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
/X. Schultz moved to Los Angeles as he was living in southern Maine during the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
at the time in a journey of self-discovery to pursue a solo career as "Carter Reeves" to find his own voice. During this time, he wrote his first solo
EP and shopped it to Ineffable Records.
New project
As of 2020, Carter Reeves (Schultz) has started his own project/band called
Surfer Girl. Reeves transitioned from his hip-hop days with Aer to form a laid-back, California-coastal style sound with surf guitar and good vibes. He combines his music with
indie-pop,
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...
, and
surf-rock
Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...
, as well as hip-hop elements.
[https://www.surfergirlmusic.com/music] Surfer Girl has been on tour ever since (Reeves on guitar with a touring drummer and bassist), opening for reggae rock bands throughout the U.S. Surfer Girl's debut full-length studio album, "Sunrise", released on June 10, 2022.
David has produced and written records for numerous other artists. Including the certified gold single “Always Been You” by singer Quinn XCII. Co-writing the 2020 single “West Coast” by DVBBS. In 2021 von Mering had production and writing credits on “Let It Ride” “Timezones” and “On Time” on Surfaces album “Pacifico”.
Discography
Albums
References
{{Authority control
American hip-hop groups
Musical groups from Massachusetts