Ask a Hills & Heighter
Second in my ongoing series of with a simple mission, find out more about my neighbors and neighborhood. I plan to ask the same questions to artists, craftspeople, musicians and local business owners. This week we ask questions of Pedro Aida, musician, producer, engineer, and songwriter. Pedro also has the dubious distinction of being one of the first people I met when I moved to Richmond. He was working as a part-time waiter at Legend and started up a conversation because he noticed my mug proudly inscribed with DCU – Meurte O Gloria. Turned out he was a D.C. United fan and a friendship was founded over beer and football.
Where did you grow up and how did you end up in Swansboro West?
I was born in Lima, Peru and moved to Los Angeles, CA with my family in 1986. After a short stint there we moved to Fairfax, VA where I grew up after my mom took up a job in D.C. After a bunch of my friends started attending VCU in the late 90′s I started visiting the city regularly and eventually moved here on my own in 02′ to take an internship at Sound of Music Recording. I’ve lived in many different parts of the city but eventually bought my current home in 06′. I needed a space that I could comfortably live in and also record music. We looked at 13 houses in 1 day and there was a 14th one that wasn’t on the list because the agent hadn’t returned a call to our agent. We decided to drive by anyways and it was exactly what I needed for my budget. The owner was home and she gave us a tour, we made an offer 2 hours later, it was that instant.
How would you describe your music?
pop rock with punk and indie influences spanning several decades.
What other ventures/projects do you have going on?
I’ve been running a small project studio called Detached Sound Recording part time since 2006. I recently dropped out of school to focus on the studio and now I’m pretty much full time. It’s a good alternative for bands and artists with smaller budgets. It’s allowed me to bring projects back and forth between Sound of Music and Detached Sound. On another note my band ‘Roslyn’ has recently split up to pursue other projects. But I’ve been playing guitar for Billy The Kid from Vancouver, B.C. She flew down here to do her album with me and I ended up playing guitar on the record and also at a show she did while she was here. We had a great time and she’s asked us to be her “American” band for regional and local shows. Since all our members live in the neighborhood I came up with the name Billy The Kid & The Southside Boys, i guess it stuck.
Favorite part of living on the Southbank?
- Crossroads (especially now that they have beer)
- Close proximity to different parts of the city with equal distance; Shockoe Bottom, Carytown, Fan etc..
- The close community vibe and those who constantly strive to make this area better
What would you change about Southbank?
Too many borded up houses on my side of the tracks, but I am seeing improvement in that, slowly.
Advice to someone moving into the Southbank?
Crossroads for lunch, coffee & beer, Paradise Diner for a cheap fast breakfast and Legend Brewing Company for a micro-brew with a terrace view of the Richmond skyline.
5 words to describe your neighborhood.
quiet, friendly, multi-race, low-income, sketchy
Previous Ask a Hills and Heighter
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what a jerk
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Hills and Heights, Pedro Aida. Pedro Aida said: I did a little interview for my neighborhood blog Hills and Heights, check it out! http://fb.me/SHDYRH0c [...]
And humble. Glad to be in the neighborhood with you Pedro.
Since when do we live in “Southbank”?
I refer to the H&H area as Southbank to differentiate it from Southside and the news site Southside RVA http://www.southsiderva.com/
Rive sud?
Southbank has a great ring to it. Plus whenever I mention I live in Southside, they immediately assume Chesterfield or further south. I have to explain “the neighborhood right across the river”.
When I moved here many years ago from another part of the country, the reaction of old lady West Enders when I told them where I lived was very amusing to me. This was the era of the “West End – by invitation only” bumper stickers. When I would say Forest Hill/ Westover Hills area, they would scrunch up their faces, look down their noses and respond “oooooh, you live in Sooooooothsaaaahd”.
Southbank is a pretty accurate descriptor.
There are plenty of folks who think ‘Southside’ means ‘Southside Virginia’ rather than ‘Southside Richmond’.
When people ask where I live, I usually say “near Forest Hill Park”.
There are still Richmonders who think they need an Indian guide to cross the river…
[...] a 7 date tour of the Southeast with her RVA based band The Southside Boys (including our pal Pedro Aida). Billy The Kid from Vancouver B.C. will be gracing the floor at Crossroads for a special intimate [...]
[...] by H&H resident Pedro. From Legend Facebook we get word of when the circus arrives and the elephant march across [...]