Saxophone Quartet.
Performed by: Chris Miley, Nick Joven, Timo Vollbrecht, and Shelley Washington.
Words and music by Aaron Garcia

The trajectory is clouded by self consciousness 
becoming
maps torn are becoming 
a transient embodiment of doubt 
I'm becoming a map torn in half
I am becoming

The trajectory is clouded, a transient embodiment of doubt
the trajectory is clouded

The sound in an infinite space decays 
The decay of sound in an infinite space

The trajectory is clouded, a transient embodiment
the trajectory is clouded

Unsure, unsure, unsure, unsure, unsure, I'm sure...

Becoming.

Maps, Legends

String Quartet.
Words and Music by Aaron Garcia
Performed by the JACK Quartet 4/24/2016. 

Pull the trigger
the hammer drops 
igniting the casing
pressure builds
there's no turning back
all at once everything is still

One ear to the pavement 
the sound of sirens in the distance
the faint smell of matches hangs in the air
the streetlight flickers in an orange glow
time moves forward but I am still

Litter in the streets shifts in the breeze
I can't feel it
I lie hear and think about my family 
I wish I could tell them I'm not coming back
I am still

My vision blurs
oblique shapes 
a pulse of light 
the orange glow dims into nothingness
there is no turning back
all at once, everything is...

A community grieves 
A community dying
Our community grieves 
Our community dying
On the south side
Another shooting
On the west side
The city goes about it's business
Our unity dying

Recoil

This is a collection of live performances from the spring/summer 2017. 

Thank you to all my amazing friends that performed on these pieces! <3

17 years ago . . . 
Ford Fourqurean, clarinet | Barry O'Halpin, electric guitar | Vicki Ray, piano | Wick Simmons, cello | Ross Wightman, electric bass 
Dedicated to my Mother, Sister, and all survivors of domestic abuse. 

Silent Town 
Adam Holmes, drum set 

Floral Patterns: Poem 
Aaron Garcia 

Floral Patterns 
Bearthoven: Matt Evans, drum set | Karl Larson, piano | Pat Swoboda, electric bass + Aaron Garcia, vocals 

A0001 
NYU Contemporary Ensemble: Deshaun Gordon-King, flute | Alice Lee, clarinet | Peter Scuderi, bass clarinet | Christian Melhado, drum set | Tyler Mashek, vibraphone | Georgia Mills, piano | Camille Enderlin, violin | Tyler James, cello | Jonathan Haas, conductor 

Music and words by Aaron Garcia 
Aaron Garcia Music (ASCAP)

A0001

Floral Patterns

Floral Patterns: Poem

Silent Town

17 years ago . . .

Aeryn Santillan (formerly Aaron Garcia) is a composer, guitarist, bassist, and label manager whose work is heavily influenced by the DIY punk scene and actively aims to blur the lines between band/ensemble and song/composition. 

 Aeryn performs bass in the New Jersey based, internationally touring screamo quartet, Massa Nera. Along with composer/guitarist Andrew Noseworthy, they co-founded this place is actually the worst, an experimental mathcore duo, and post-genre DIY label, people | places | records. 

 Aeryn holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Columbia College Chicago and a Master of Music in Theory and Composition degree from New York University. Previous mentors include Gabriela Lena Frank, Michael Gordon, Julia Wolfe, Marcos Balter, David Reminick, Drew Baker, and Ilya Levinson. Aeryn has been a fellow at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Toronto Creative Music Lab, and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music. 

 Aeryn enjoys biking, RPGs, and vegan tacos. They live in Jersey City, NJ with their partner and two cats.