Music’s symbiosis is peculiar. How can a musician and a listener, each strangers, be tethered so profoundly via an association of sounds?
Elderbrook has touched the lives of thousands and thousands of listeners over 10 years. He isn’t a paint-by-numbers artist—he writes music significant to him. For those who really feel a kinship with him, his music should imply one thing to you, too.
The last decade has been good to Elderbrook. “Cola” is a permanent generational hit. His collective catalog has been streamed over a billion occasions. He’s launched three albums, collaborated with legends, carried out at iconic music festivals and has a Grammy nomination below his belt.
Wanting forward, there’s at all times one other mountain to overcome. However possibly there shouldn’t be.
“I ought to have some objectives, proper?” Elderbrook requested EDM.com whereas reflecting on 10 years of his undertaking and his ongoing “One other Contact” North American tour. “I don’t know if I’ve thought in depth about what it’s I need to obtain via music. It’s cathartic and therapeutic for me to make music. I like making music.”
“One vital factor I’ve considered is that I shouldn’t chase sounds I’ve heard elsewhere. I ought to make stuff for myself that sounds cool. As a result of that’s what finally ends up being the most effective music.”
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This enlightenment didn’t come naturally. It’s an ethos he workout routines day by day. In truth, he has set objectives, however they had been typically the fallacious ones. Cliches exist as a result of they usually wield some reality, and after 10 years of trial and error, Elderbrook confirms the journey’s splendor is much richer than the vacation spot.
“I’m engaged on not chasing the following factor,” he mentioned. “The explanation I spoke so passionately about it’s that it’s one thing I struggled with: ‘I’ll be so completely satisfied as soon as I get 100 million views.’ You then get 100 million views and also you assume, ‘1 billion can be good although.'”
“I don’t have something with 1 billion views, however as soon as I do, I’ll assume, ‘It’d be good to have two songs with a billion views.’ You’ll by no means attain it. It’s not about not setting objectives, however setting objectives to make a tune that you simply love. Nothing quantifiable by different individuals. That shouldn’t matter.”
Roman thinker Seneca famously mentioned, “Luck is what occurs when preparation meets alternative.” However it’s straightforward to misread alternative as luck. Ardour and concern are typically indistinguishable in a enterprise fueled by goals and unlikely success.
The music trade’s hamster wheel runs artists into the bottom if allowed. The demand to construct momentum is so fierce that artists can’t acknowledge burnout till their final enthusiastic ember is stamped out.
Elderbrook’s “One thing About You” collaborators, Rudimental, as soon as taught him an vital lesson about saying “no.” It’s a instructing he continues to follow within the pursuit of music made for him, not for metrics.
“It’s not sensible if you see all these individuals on-line headlining festivals,” Elderbrook says. “You form of examine your self with them and really feel like you must say sure to the whole lot, in any other case you’re by no means going to make it. You assume you must do that each single day. However actually, lots of it’s that you must take care of your self.”
“For those who can take care of your self, the following tune you make can be 10 occasions higher than in the event you’re stressed attempting to jot down an incredible No. 1 tune smash hit single. Take your time, say no. Simply say no as a result of it’s very straightforward to say sure to the whole lot. It’s overwhelming. It creeps up on you, and it might probably finish badly.”
Now a father of two, Elderbrook has come a good distance from the faculty scholar promoting hip-hop beats for 200 to 250 kilos sterling. Happily for his household, his fiscal maturity has stored tempo together with his musical and private evolutions.
“I all of a sudden had $1,000 in my account for the primary time in my life,” Elderbrook recalled of his faculty days. “I assumed, ‘Pfft, yeah. Mr. Large Shot.’ I’m strolling down the road. I walked previous a thrift retailer and noticed a trombone within the mirror–not the mirror, I’m not a trombone. I noticed it within the window and mentioned, ‘Yeah, I’m going to purchase that trombone!’ No, it was a trumpet! ‘Yeah, I’m going to purchase that trumpet. I wager I’m actually good at it.’ It was $500.”
“When my cash ran out the following week, I had this trumpet. I used to be simply taking a look at it. I nonetheless have it now. It serves as a reminder to not waste your cash on silly s–t.”
Elderbrook retains the trumpet as an vital image of modesty. Sadly, that’s all it’s good for.
“I nonetheless can’t play it,” Eldebrook laughed. “One evening, I picked up this trumpet and I may play it immaculately at 5 within the morning. However each different time I’ve tried, it hasn’t labored for me. It simply clicked for me as soon as. That was one time and I don’t assume I’ll ever recreate it. However the individuals who had been there can vouch. I nailed it at 5am this one time.”
Who may have witnessed him enjoying a trumpet at 5M?
“Hear, man,” Elderbrook replies coyly. “I’ve lived a life.”
Elderbrook is at present making his means via North America on tour. He in all probability received’t play the trumpet, but when his final tour is an indicator, you may count on a sprawling, one-of-a-kind performance with DJing, singing, dancing and dwell instrumentation.
You will discover Elderbrook’s upcoming tour dates here.
Comply with Elderbrook:
X: x.com/_elderbrook
TikTok: tiktok.com/@elderbrook
Instagram: instagram.com/_elderbrook
Fb: facebook.com/elderbrookmusic
Spotify: spoti.fi/34UfzTd
