“The world is a cold and scary place but when I have my headphones on mid-set, the world makes perfect sense to me.”
When Erik Zero discovered electronic music as a freshman back in high school, it almost instantaneously became an obsession of his. Something took over and he simply felt the need to dissect and learn how to play it.
“I was lucky enough that I was able to buy two Numark belt drives and a basic mixer off someone getting rid of them. I had two records - a minimal drum record and Télépopmusik’s ‘Breathe’. I played those two records back and forth as many times as I could, trying to find interesting ways to mix them, alter the sound and create interesting ways to go from one to the next... From that point forward, I was grabbing records wherever I could and played music for what seemed like every waking hour.”
As Erik dived deeper into the music scene, his circle of like-minded friends grew and conversations about records, finding the best stores, hidden gems, and all of the beautiful decompression mixes at the end of every day fuelled his obsession further. “I found such a peace and clarity within the records and sets. It was something I felt immediately and it created a deep emotional connection from the very first attempt that continues to this very day. I knew I had discovered something incredible.”
His music has evolved just as much as he has and looking back, he recalls the most influential day of his life was when he was handed a few burned CDs. They were none other than M83’s ‘Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts’, James Holden’s ‘Balance 005’ and Sasha & John Digweed’s ‘Northern Exposure II’.
“Balance 005 hit my soul in a way I didn’t even know was possible. It was like reading a new language and understanding it completely. That deep drive, the descent into a story within each song, the harmony, the screaming electronic sounds... I had found where my heart wanted to be.” From that day forth, Erik knew the sounds that he connected to the most. “I always try to play my story within the music. What has been speaking to me at that point in my life. How I can express what I am going through. How I can communicate without words. My sets grow just as much as I do as a person.”
Erik’s evident passion for music is further cemented by his intentions of playing music for no other reason than the need to play music. He doesn’t believe in sacrificing the music he loves just to be a “better fit” for spaces or venues. He believes in making his shows much more meaningful and this eventually led to a collision of music with another passion of his – art. Erik started playing art shows around his city, granting him the freedom to creatively express what he needed to say and having a receptive audience.
“Art is a huge part of my life. Most of my life in the earlier years was spent either writing or drawing as often as I could. Live paintings, art exhibits… these were things that I always loved to do around my city. When the lockdown happened, I started to reach out and show people how to do "co-streams" and I’d play music and share stream of them creating whatever art they were making. Many of the flyers I made featured the art of the artists I was showcasing in that particular stream. Art and music have always belonged together and Twitch was a beautiful way to showcase that. I've also been making flyers for shows around my city for a decade or so. I really enjoy making them, so whenever I have something online, I enjoy creating a nice flyer for it. If an event is special, I feel like the art should also be something special.”
His biggest motivation to keep doing what he does? Music itself. In very trying times for Erik when it felt like the weight of the world were on his shoulders, music was his salvation. “Music always opened its arms to me and lifted me up. Sometimes it feels like a hug, sometimes if feels like screaming into a pillow… whatever capacity my music holds space for me, is always just how it's needed. At one of my lowest points in my life, the thought of playing another set was what kept me from going fully dark.”
And similarly, during moments of Erik’s highest joy, there was music again loyally standing by his side providing tender guidance to walk him through it. “I could take the joy and try to channel it into a new project to create new and interesting ways not only to play music but speak with it, or help others find peace. For someone who tends to over complicate everything, the motivation was always simple - play as much as I can, as honestly as I can.”
“Music is how I heal and make sense of the world and when others share that they feel a sense of peace as well, it's like we are healing together. That's something that is truly priceless.” Erik has always advocated for mental health and being able to host a space that can help in any way, is something that he says he’ll never take for granted.
This is one of the reasons Erik holds Birdcage Radio close to his heart as well. “Rochelle and Balu mean a great deal to my life and the world is a much better because of those two!” His first encounter of the Birdcage-kind though, happened on one fateful sleepless night when, as most Twitch-addicted insomniacs would know, the first thing you’d do is log onto Twitch. As he browsed the ‘Recommended channels’ for some reason (which he usually doesn’t), he came across Rochelle’s stream and clicked on it.
“I head to her stream and immediately I am sitting upright and so eloquently wrote in her chat, “OMG TRIPPING JAGUAR!!!!!!!! WHAT??” or something of the sort. That sound at the time was practically unheard of. We immediately started chatting about our love of the artist and how nice it was to find someone who also played that sound.” For some context, Erik played a lot of music in his city that practically no one else touched. Downtempo, deep house sounds such as this for instance. He then graciously sent a really nice-sized raid her way and things grew from there.
“There was also a period of time where I moved to Europe and I was able to visit Rochelle, Balu and the Birdcage studio many times and I am very grateful to have had so many moments with those beautiful people. I was able to see quite a few of their events, help set up a couple and explore the areas together. it was one of the most special times of my life!” Erik fondly recalls.
So, what’s next for Erik? His goal, if not already evident, is to continue playing honestly and openly, and tell stories that mean something to him – regardless of form and how that may look. Naturally, he wants whatever shows he can get but the idea is to find a world where Erik gets to express his music exactly how he does. “I
want to travel the world, meet like-minded souls and to connect and speak through music. I don't know how it will look, but I always strive to let the music guide me. Travel the world and express the experiences through the sounds I play as I do.”
Comments