We’re living in times where nothing can be taken for granted and the artists are one of the most affected segments of this world wide economy. I remember that I was excited about the new single Rain on Me by Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga, a couple of hours of listening to the track on repeat I asked myself “Can there be a couple of remixes already out on YouTube?”. I know that there are tons of talented DJs and musicians working hard on their art so I thought it’d be easy to find a good remix on that platform since it’s open to any kind of creator. I listened to a couple and didn’t get that bolt of energy running through my body as I listened to this amazing track being remixed. To be honest, I almost gave up and thought “The next one is the last one, if I don’t like it I’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to find a good one”. Then, I found Eric Spike’s Rain on me Remix. I felt way beyond of what I was expecting from a remix, then started looking for his personal work and DAMN… He was impressively talented! I had to get in touch with this guy… but until the next day, for me it was already like 2am and had to work in the morning.
I got in touch with Eric the next morning via Twitter and sent him an art I had created form since I noticed that there was no art included in the video nor soundcloud that could project the amazingness of this piece. He loved it! I felt humbled that this talented person took the time to send me a DM asking for permission to use the art. Seeing that he was a nice and humble guy, I had to interview him.
Eric Spike Stevenson comes from a family involved in the arts of music, his father and older brother are both recognized artists in their own genres (country and electro accordingly). He found interesting how music was created, how each sound moves our body, makes us shiver and helps us evoque different memories.
He got everything ready to study music production at the university, but unfortunately, he noticed that he was way more advanced than his classmates because of seeing how his brother produced, how his father composed, etc. It’s not that he was over prepared and he acknowledges it, it’s just that the uni wasn’t presenting any sort of challenge for him and couldn’t get ahead in the courses or semesters. He decided then that he’d try on his own taking other sort of courses without enrolling to get a title. This was when he was 17yo.
He feels blessed on how he was raised with a talented family and he doesn’t encourage teens to drop out of school just for a quirk, this decision was easy to take at the end but it took him time to make his mind on how decisive this could be.
We got talking again about his professional career as a musician and independent music producer and said “I’ve been doing this professionally for a little over 2 years now”… I had to ask Eric: “How old are you?”… 20 years old! I know there are tons of young talented people in the world, but knowing that someone from that short age is making music like this… I felt ancient and remembered that at that age I was happily studying in my university getting drunk every weekend with my so called friends and when I was 17… my biggest passion was drinking coffee! (And I own it, gladly)
The “Rain On Me Remix” has been played by Gaydio and Kiss FM and, in just one week, has over 24k plays in both digital platforms (YouTube & Soundcloud). I also noticed that there are other remixes he’s put out for anyone to listen for free that have reached over 400k plays and his music is available on Spotify and Apple Music as well.
“The Boy” is his first single, released in 2018, and that was his que to take his music career seriously. Afterwards, he put out his EP Summer18 and he’s been playing on different LGBT+ events all over UK since then.
This year he had everything set to make things even bigger, to broader his horizons and share his music personal a little more over Europe but a full stop happened: COVID-19. That virus came eating our lives completely and we’ve all been coping with it all differently, in Eric’s case it was both a curse and a blessing because, even though he didn’t start on those plans, he got to work in his next projects, he’s been learning more on how to play around with his musical aesthetic and also spending quality time with his family, specially his brother who’s been helping him out with some details he’s more experienced with.
No matter what your dream is, never let go of it. Try your best to make your own path so you can see it come true. There are tons of factors that are not in your hands and that’s fine, just remember that you can control what’s in yours.
Erick Spike, 2020
Finding talents online is one of our most beloved activities now during quarantine, we still don’t know how long this will keep us all in our homes, but this is letting us all find different activities, talented people that inspire us to have better attitude on what we’re going through, to find happiness in our own talents. By the end of the interview, he told me something good is coming soon to the streaming platforms so don’t forget to follow Eric Spike on his different profiles!
