I’ve come to accept that traveling to Austin for South By Southwest is typically a very productive experience for me that it takes tremendous effort to enjoy. Performing on substandard sound systems, not finding out my time slot until the very last minute, playing in empty rooms, and show cancellations are par for the course. Major shout to the homie Cabrini Green for putting me up at his casa, without which I could never have afforded to make the trip. Also massive shout to Xandali for plugging me into gigs.

Going to South By, as everyone calls it, makes one hyper-aware of one’s “status” as an artist in relation to other artists. I was left this year with the feeling that I won’t really enjoy SXSW until I’m in a majorly upper echelon of artists. As the event has become increasingly corporate (giant Dorito’s stage in the middle of Austin anyone?) the only performers who seem to get paid are those with massive social media presences due to their value to brands. This deserves its own blog entry, which I will find time to pen soon. Long story short: I hate that this has become more important than music itself, but feel forced to play the game because I want a career as a musician more than anything in the world. While it turns my stomach to have to do it, I am more determined than ever to get “bigger” so that I can achieve the goals that matter to me. Maybe next year I’ll get booked for the Halliburton / Lockheed Martin showcase and they can pay me to make political comments that incite a war against Australia.

DAY 1:

I decided to arrive this year at the end of Tech Week to make some new connections outside the music industry. While this was a great idea, I didn’t think through the fact that in Tech World my endeavors are meaningless, and thus I had very little access to get into any of the parties. Arriving Sunday in time for my first of 5 confirmed gigs, I made my way downtown in the evening and got to briefly link up with Sam Salisbury aka Baldman Sam, one of my favorite peeps in the world. In typical Sam style he was in the middle of a meeting with some massive innovators, so I moved along fairly quickly. I headed out on the town and couldn’t get into the Path event. I was happy however to run into the Everest crew, who had sponsored the spectacular mansion party that I performed at during Sundance. It was great to reconnect with those guys, as I believe in what they are doing very much – effectuating people’s focus on making their dreams a reality. I got a text message 30 minutes before my dj set was scheduled that the venue was dead and I wouldn’t be needed that night. Hey at least I got my name on a chalkboard. South By 1, Sharp 0.

DAY 2:

Concluded that it wasn’t worth bothering with standing outside of events that I didn’t have access to, so spent most of the day on my laptop hammering out some work. I then headed to Empire for what turned out to be the most productive gig of the week: the Huffington Post Gets Weird / NASA party.

I got there before 10 in time for the headliners, French Horn Rebellion. I’ve dug their music since I got the promo of one of their first releases, and it was rad to see them live.

A great set was played, and I had the pleasure of meeting their guest singer Effie aka Bebe Panthere: talent & great style all in one.

I was thrilled to learn that 2 of my best friends from SF were in the house: All Of It Now was doing visuals and my vegan homegirl Selena Scola from Streetwise Social / Vegan Kitchen TV was documenting. Here I am with Selena and Xander aka Xandali.

FHR was followed by DJ Axis Powers, who played a DJ set with a live drummer. I felt this was a weird progression to move from funky indie dance tunes to mainstream hip hop. Some of the crowd stuck around and grooved, but when Rioux went on next with his psychedelic electronic tunes everybody bounced – shame, because his tunes were sophisticated and well-composed. By the time my set started at 1 AM the only people left at the venue were the staff and sponsors, whom I thankfully managed to get dancing. I did my best but felt like I played like shit, owing to the lack of energy in the room. You can imagine my surprise 2 days later when a Huffington Post article about the gig gave me a great mention. South By 1, Sharp 1.

At the end of the gig Sean Glass rolled up to grab DJ equipment for an after-party he was spinning at. (Sean is to my right in this pic.)

I’d been introduced to Sean via email before so it was nice to finally put a face to the name. Decided to tag along to the after-party and caught a really fun, eclectic set from Mr. Glass that took us til 5 AM. Went back to Chez Cabrini and crashed.

Stay tuned, further reports & video stuff to come.

There is a ton written on the web and in print about rejection. I’m writing this blog entry in an attempt to reconcile a rejection I’ve just received. Lately I’ve been breaking my long term goals down into shorter term goals, which then funnel into daily and weekly tasks to further my career as a DJ, Producer, and label boss. One of these big goals is to get my music into media (TV, film, commercials, video games, etc.) I’ve had some success with this in the past via the distributor who handles our label, but I’d definitely like to be doing more.

Since I don’t personally know very many music supervisors, probably the best bet for me to get my music considered is to have what’s known as a music placement house represent me. These are folks who have relationships with a lot of media producers and link them with music that is right for their projects. Since I have a contact at one of such companies, I followed up with him and was asked to submit my 10 best tracks. I did so and got the following response:

“Hey Eric, I had a chance to review your music and though it was close I am not sure that the quality is ample or that the content itself is a fit for our catalog at this time.”

This is never easy to hear, but I realize that this dude probably gets sent massive amounts of music. So even though I was disappointed, I still thanked him for his time in listening and for being frank. He responded by letting me know that my tunes are “not far off, and mostly just need better source sounds.” I’m not quite sure how I feel about this, as I am definitely using pro quality drums and synths. My guess is that what’s actually missing is a greater sophistication in my sound design, layering, and mixing. These are all things I’m actively working on.

In any case, I’ve lived the bulk of my life with a neurotic fear of not being good enough. I can root that back to my childhood and work on my internal issues, which I do, but in the present moment what does this rejection mean and how can I deal with it in a constructive way? Here are some things that come to mind:

1. Accept the fact that rejection is part of the path to success. I worked in sales for quite some time and was very successful at it. On an exceptionally good day, 60 % of the pitches I made were rejected. Sometimes it’s a matter of just weeding through a bunch of no’s until you get to the yes.

2. Realize this is just one person’s opinion. Just because this music placement house isn’t interested in these particular tracks does not mean that every music placement house and media producer would not be interested in them. The song that DJ Fame and I had placed in CSI: Miami (thank you Jeff Straw!) surprised the daylights out of both of us as we didn’t think it was our best work.

3. Take a few minutes to feel awful. Sometimes it’s helpful to just indulge myself for a limited period of time. Rather than try and fight off the tide of negative thoughts, I just allow them to wash over me for 5 or 10 minutes. After a few moments the ideas that “I’m not good enough, I’m never going to amount to anything, I’m a fraud who everyone is now going to find out about, I should just give up now etc etc etc” start to sound just as ridiculous as they are.

4. Take a break. Do something awesome, like make a kickass snack, call someone who is rad, read an inspiring book.

5. Write about it. Hurr durr, here I am.

By this point in writing this I’m feeling a lot better. I’m realizing that I’ve had prior success at the very thing I was just rejected for. The “no” is in better context, and I’ve realized that I haven’t lost anything. Without risk, there is no reward. As an independent artist, it is my job to tastefully pitch myself and my work to people until the point when other people are doing so for me. Rejection builds character, and it makes me appreciate it that much more when I do get a “yes.” It is also a sign that I am putting myself and my work out there, which is very important. I hope to be bold and take a lot more risks as time goes on! How do you deal with rejection?

Sometimes the music business seems like it’s not a very friendly place. It can be difficult to know whom to trust, and this can feel isolating. I can’t possibly underscore enough the importance of finding people who can serve as mentors in some way, shape, or form. Had I not done so I would have probably given up several times over by now. Fortunately I have several artists in my life who paved the way – long before I’d opened up a music production program on my laptop – who have been kind enough to show me love, knowledge, respect, and guidance. Sunshine Jones is one whom I admire deeply.

I can’t remember when I first met Sunshine. I know that I first saw him play live on New Years’ Eve from 2003 into 2004 during Dubtribe Sound System’s farewell (for the time) tour at Polo’s Blue Cube in San Francisco. Somehow as a raver growing up in the Northeast I’d missed out on the Dubtribe phenomena, as my ear and dancing shoes were geared towards the more pumping sounds of Chicago DJs; the peeps I enjoyed from the West Coast at that time were the likes of DJ Dan, Donald Glaude, etc.

I don’t recall if we were introduced that evening or not, but San Francisco is a small town and we had some friends in common so sooner or later we became acquainted. I was having my first taste of success throwing underground parties that were pretty popular and Sunshine took my grandiosity in stride with a knowing smirk and a glint in his eye. He would later tell me that when he met me it wouldn’t have surprised him if I came out to a DJ set wearing a codpiece. If you don’t know what that is, google it.

Perhaps owing to Sunshine’s grace and tolerance we developed a friendship. I recall a lot of afternoon chats over cups of tea in the Lower Haight and Castro, with a huge range of conversational topics. It was great to get to know one of the most humble, sensitive, focused people I’ve met in a deep way. In April of 2007 Sunshine got me booked to open for him and Doc Martin at Remedy. This was such a big deal for me; when I moved to SF I would go out every Friday night to Remedy and breakdance my heart out. I felt honored and privileged to be there sharing the decks with such legends, and we began a professional relationship in addition to our friendship.

Over the next few years we did a few gigs together (one was called Depth Charge and had the coolest flyer ever – it even has the original Rock It Science clip art logo!) and when Dubtribe reunited I had the honor of doing their first couple of bookings back in San Francisco. By this time I was learning to produce and launching a label. Sunshine was very open with his experiences doing the same. It was great to have someone to bounce ideas off of. It was a natural fit to have him remix the 2nd release on my then-new label Rock It Science Laboratories, for which he did a gorgeous disco version of my buddy Native Intelligence’s tune Peak Time.

My last couple of years in San Francisco were difficult in many ways. As I’d expanded into bigger clubs and began playing out of town a lot of the local bookings from independent promoters which I relied on dried up. My label wasn’t growing as fast as I wanted it to, and my production wasn’t catching on quickly. I felt discouraged, and would often ask Sunshine for feedback, advice, or just stories from when he was coming up (if you’re lucky you may get to hear some of them…this man has some incredible things to share.) One day he was asking me what was so bad and I explained that I didn’t feel as though my music was getting me anywhere, and that nobody was hitting me up for remix work. With tears in my eyes I admitted that I was thinking about folding my label and giving up. Right then and there he asked me if I would do a remix for him on his forthcoming album.

I was and am very grateful for the opportunity. Needless to say, I have yet to give up. I got the album (Gas Masks and Crazy Girls) and was in love with Fall Down immediately. With any song I like, it’s a bit daunting to do a remix because I don’t want to tarnish the original track. My goal in this remix was to make something that was true to the original while showcasing some of the sounds I had been tinkering with at the time. In this case I felt that a spaced out, minimal version of the track would be beautiful, while still preserving some of the warm soulfulness of the song. I hope I achieved that vision.

With trepidation I turned over the remix to Sunshine and was so happy when he told me he loved it. It was even more of a boost when I got the word that the remix would be officially released by Holland’s Cosmic Disco Records! My confidence in my production has grown a lot since then, and the move I’ve made to Los Angeles has been quite fruitful. I don’t feel so downtrodden and instead feel as though I’m striding in the direction of my dream while reaching my goals along the way. However it is without a doubt that I submit that I would be nowhere at all without the support of those who came before me.

Please get to know the writer of this amazing song, and tune in with him on Sunday evenings as he bares his soul for the world on his 90hz.org Sunday Soul broadcast. Sunshine, thank you so much for all of the love, tolerance, guidance, and respect you’ve shown me. I am a better man for knowing you.

Made this mixtape for my dude Blu Jemz‘ “Night People” show on Scion A/V Radio, which aired in January (sorry for the delay!) Features a ton of house tunes that I’m feeling and a couple of exclusive jams of mine. Enjoy!

Track List:

1. Crookers – “Trillex” (Eric Sharp & George Cochrane Remix)
2. Para One ft. Jaws – “When The Night” (Acapella)
3. Wongo – Days Are Gone (Eric Sharp Unreleased Dub)
4. Julio Bashmore – Au Seve
5. Danny Daze ft. Louisahhh!!! – Your Everything
6. Anna Lunoe & Touch Sensitive – Real Talk
7. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – Latch (T. Williams Club Edit)
8. AlunaGeorge – Your Drums, Your Love (Samo Soundboy Remix)
9. Duke Dumont – The Giver
10. Eric Sharp & George Cochrane ft. Siouxsie Black – Never Was Enough
11. Two Door Cinema Club – Sun (Alex Metric Remix)
12. Chris Malinchak – So Good To Me

This has definitely been a great year for music. Electronic sounds have gained more traction in America than ever before, and it’s an exciting time to be sure. Personally moving to LA has been very uplifting, and I feel like the pulse of dance music is all around and inside of me. I’m very much looking forward to finding more inspiration in the coming year, and sharing it with the world. (That means you!) Full disclosure: this list is probably biased as a couple of these folks on here I’m working with on projects.

I used YouTube embeds rather than Soundcloud as the streams load faster (multiple SC embeds tend to clog a page.) If you dig the music from these artists please support them! Buy their tunes, follow them on Twitter and Soundcloud, like them on Facebook, join their mailing lists, go see them play live and most importantly tell your friends about them. It takes a lot of time and effort to create brilliant work and a great artist in a vacuum does the world no good.

So without further adieu, here’s 10 songs from 2012 I’m in love with!

1. Disclosure ft. Sam Smith – Latch

Disclosure moved mountains this year, and is the pinnacle for me. So heartfelt, perfectly produced, gorgeous.

2. Julio Bashmore – Au Seve

This young buck started his own label Broadwalk Records this year, after some notable releases elsewhere. I really love the call-and-response in this tune, and am generally excited to see groove-based production making a big push as opposed to massive builds and drops which of course is popular as well.

3. B. Traits – Fever (Eats Everything Glandular Remix)

I got to catch Eats Everything’s first US gig with Daniel of LA Riots in tow at Monarch in SF – a 300 capacity room with a Void sound system. The lineup was just Eats and Claude VonStroke. What a night! This remix of his grabbed my attention immediately, and influenced a lot of the tracks I’ve written – especially the interplay of percussion as melodic bass sounds interspersed with arpeggiated synths.

4. Major Lazer ft. Amber of Dirty Projectors – Get Free

Not one for my DJ sets, but man did this song speak to me. I experienced a lot of financial struggle and creative growth simultaneously this year. At moments it was really difficult to continue pursuing my musical aspirations between my own internal resistance and external obstacles. Really related to every word of this tune, and still gives me chills.

5. Anna Lunoe & Touch Sensitive – Real Talk

Rad to see Anna move to the states this year and absolutely tear it up. This song she did with Touch Sensitive captured everything I love about 1990′s house – uplifting vibes, gorgeous piano riff, groovy bass line.

6. LOL Boys feat. Heart Streets – Changes

LOL Boys released this top-notch work and then broke up. That’s what I call ending on a high note! Jerome has continued to push forward as a solo artist under “Jerome LOL” in addition to launching Body High with Samo Sound Boy. I really dig the jazzy vibes in this tune, and if you haven’t figured it out yet I’m a sucker for some soulful vocals.

7. Tommie Sunshine feat. Fast Eddie – Chicago

Tommie has successfully bridged the gap between rave culture and today’s EDM explosion. He’s very outspoken, and I dig the fact that he has a deep reverence for his musical roots and takes time to share them with his fan base. This track is a throwback to the days of hip-house and features one of the originators of that sound. It’s on the more banging side of the spectrum while still clearly being a house jam – this one works very well for me on a busy dance floor.

8. Chris Malinchak – So Good To Me

I fell in love with this the instant I pushed play. It is so deep, warm, and groovy. Chris is a new face for me and I can’t wait to see what else he comes out with. He’s on the French Express label which dubs itself “protectors of the feel good.” You’ll see why when you listen to this.

9. Poolside – Harvest Moon

I’m cheating here, this came out before 2012 but I can’t resist including it. Really incredible to watch these friends rise this year. (I met Jeffrey Paradise on the scene in San Francisco and had the opportunity to play his legendary party Blow Up a few times.) This version of Harvest Moon does such great homage to Neil Young’s original, replete with gorgeous swells, bubbling arps and lush falsetto vocals.

10. Usher – Climax

Another superb Diplo production here. Also not one for most of my DJ sets but I listened to this song so many times. Perfect breakup anthem.

My good friend George Cochrane & I put a completely different spin on this Crookers track for a Fool’s Gold Records x Gotta Dance Dirty remix competition: built a bottom-heavy house groove and sprinkled some analog goodness on top. Enjoy

Hey y’all, I busted out this lush, moody vibed-out dub of Wongo’s “Days Are Gone” to give away with the Vanguard EP. This mix hit #3 on The Hype Machine’s Twitter chart and has been getting some excellent feedback. Really happy about the response, as this is the first window into some new production sounds I’m working with (almost my most played track on Soundcloud already.) Enjoy, and don’t forget to cop Wongo’s EP on Beatport!

“Lush and moody, Eric Sharp’s Days Are Gone dub is a subtle yet effective 5 am burner. Keep the night going for this one.” ~ Louisahhh!!! (Bromance)

“Dub sounds cool man” ~ Peo De Pitte (Fool’s Gold, Rising, Flat Out)

“This is sick man! Love it!!!!!!” ~ Wongo (RIS Labs, Union Jack)

“Dude finding his own sound. Very deep, spacey yet danceable” ~ Sick Boy (Dim Mak)

“sounds great…. gonna rock it” ~ Alexander Technique (DJs Are Not Rockstars)

“Like this vibe!” ~ Will Eastman (Plant Music)

“Nice work” ~ Reilly Steel (Top Billin, Senseless, Hot ‘n’ Heavy)

Fresh new banger from Sick Boy & myself out now on Plattenpussy Records. Think hard UK Funky drums meet slamming dutch electro synths plus congo madness.

Every so often I get a booking request for a show that doesn’t seem real when I get the offer. This was definitely one of those events. First off, Squarepusher is one of the most respected, forward thinking electronic music artists in the world without question. He is signed to the seminal Warp Records which is an absolute force to be reckoned with. His music is rich with texture, avante garde, and musically complex. To top it off he is touring with what is hailed as an incredible LED show including the helmet pictured on the flyer.

As if the fact that it’s a Squarepusher show wasn’t surreal enough, it’s being presented by Goldenvoice – the man behind the curtain at a little festival in Southern California that you might have heard of called Coachella. Last but not least is the venue; The Regency Ballroom is a great place to experience music.

If you’re in SF I can’t recommend this show highly enough – I’m honored to be playing. It’s an early one so no worries if you have to work in the morning. Doors are at 7, I play 8 to 9 and then Squarepusher plays until 11. I am excited to unveil some of my new work that has yet to see a release. I’ll leave you with this video of what’s to come tomorrow from our headliner. Hope you can be there with me.

My much-respected homies at Media Contender asked me to make an exclusive mix for them after my SXSW set warming the decks up for Photek, Apparat, Grenier and Kuru. The result is kinda twisted, ranging from mental tech-house to tear out electro. It features several exclusive original productions that I’ve made which have never been heard elsewhere. Click the image to check out the interview and the mixtape!