Gene Ween (born March 17, 1970) is the stage name of Aaron Freeman, American musician and a founding member of the experimental alternative rock group Ween. He is also known mononymously as Freeman. Freeman, along with childhood friend Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo), started the group in the mid-1980s. Freeman announced his departure from Ween in 2012, shortly after releasing Marvelous Clouds, his first solo album. After leaving Ween, he stopped using the name Gene Ween and performed under his birth name Aaron Freeman. He later announced that he would be performing under the name Freeman.
Leah Ben-Ari (m. 2005), Sarah Podin (m. 1999–2003), Ocean Man, Push Th' Little Daisies, Piss Up a Rope
Music Groups
Ween, Freeman, Ocean Man, Push Th' Little Daisies, Piss Up a Rope
Star Sign
Pisces
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Quote
1
I'm definitely an alcoholic and a drug addict, and I have been for a long time. It's something I've embraced, and fortunately I think I'm old enough now where I can get out of it. Everybody has their time. Five years ago, 10 years ago, I don't think I could have, but at this point of my life I'm ready, and I have taken the time to work on myself in that way. And I hope to give it back, you know. I hope to give it back in the future.
2
I love that from any musician, or any artist-people who can keep it seemingly simple and light and appealing to a lot of people, but as you listen more you realize they're trying to convey a deeper emotion-or pain, really, because that's life.
3
I've never worried about being cool - that's why Ween's always worn T-shirts and jeans. I've never tried to dress up. I mean, there's a lot of cool kids out there making cool music, and I think as you get older, you just change. It's the process of life. You're just not as hip as you were, and it's always bothered me when I see aging rock stars who don't embrace that fully and try to be young and hip. You see some wrinkled-up old rocker with tattoos all over him; he's not fooling anybody, you know, he's like an old fart. When I'm an old fart, I want to really embrace it...I've always been an old Jewish man in a young person's body, but now I'm getting to be middle-aged so I'm going to embrace it.
4
I would say turning 40-well, it's 42 now. It gets to a point where you realize that you've been in this rock 'n' roll world for so many years, and it's time to just take responsibility. Addiction is a very serious matter, and it can kill you. Over the years I've developed quite a problem, and I've been trying to treat it on and off for years now, and it just has not been working out. So, statistically, these days they say you fare much better when you put some serious time into your recovery, which is what I've done. So now is the time. You know, it's a very common thing with a lot of people, and I just happen to be one of them. It's a very scary and insidious disease, so I've got no shame about it, and I'm very happy that I'm still around to even be in recovery.
5
The musicianship is more advanced, because we're older. And as we continue to progress, I'm certainly going to take the adult contemporary approach. I want to sound like Christopher Cross in another ten years, and be totally proud of it. I want to play really lame guitars that were custom-designed for me, and be bald and gray and write really bad fucking adult music that sucks. And I'll embrace that, because that's punk rock.
6
[on Ween briefly being thought of a "jam band"] People who think that need to see the light-any kind of light. What happened was that Phish started playing our songs, which was cool. Then we played the Bonnaroo thing, which was totally hippied out. Then our booking agent kind of took that flag and started running with it. Now in a way, money is money, and if it's going to increase our audience, that's fine. But the last hippie-fest we did, which was the Adirondack Festival-that was it. Never, ever doing another one of those again. I had to listen to this fucking jam band for three hours in the rain, waiting to go on. I was like, 'Just kill me.' I can't take any more white boys noodling around on their guitars.
7
There is a lot of psychological terror going on in Ween, and there always has been. Mickey (aka Dean Ween) is totally evil. He's fucking Satan. He's not wearing a hemp bead around his fucking neck. I think people who are really into Ween understand that.
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Fact
1
Has had several problems with drug and alcohol use. Aaron/Gene has said that he has been clean and sober for over a year since an intensive treatment in Arizona.
2
Announced in 2012, while promoting his first solo album that Ween was broken up. This came as a surprise to his sole bandmate, Dean Ween, who was never contact directly on this.
3
Asked to provide a song for Muppets From Space. It was to be for the scene in which Gonzo was sitting on the roof dreaming of where he might have come from. After the song was recorded, it was decided that all of the music in the movie should be funk/soul and they asked Ween to record a remake of "Brick House". They declined.
4
Ween dedicated their 1994 album, "Chocolate and Cheese" to the late John Candy.
5
Honda optioned Ween's "Ocean Man" for a new ad campaign, unbeknownst to the band.
$3 Million
