Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?

My name is Ethan, I go by "Eights," and I'm a singer and producer based in Atlanta, Georgia. I also play live acoustically with a guitar and live band on occasion. My production style is very trap-like, with a hip-hop/R&B structure and EDM style synths, drums, and effects. I write lyrics to most of my songs, but release instrumentals on occasion as well. I'm originally from Ann Arbor, MI and have a neuroscience degree from the University of Michigan. I started playing music at age 6, started dabbling with production at 17, and decided I wanted to go into music midway through college. After graduating, I attended the Atlanta Institute of Music for two years to study recording.

How would you describe your influences and how have they changed over the years? Do you feel that changing tastes over years as artistic growth? ?

Although I still listen to it, my tastes have changed from purely hip-hop to include more electronic, indie, and neo-soul music. My musical influences encompass a wide variety of genres, as I like to incorporate production and writing elements from various sources rather than stick to the unwritten guidelines of any particular style of music. Since I'd rather not sound TOO pretentious, I will say that I do often take influence from specific songs or artists' styles when recording. Since it's difficult to listen to music while working on music, new artist discovery hasn't been quite as fruitful as it used to be. Most new artists I listen to are either recommended by friends or are featured by artists I'm already familiar with. I listen to music using a mix of Youtube, Spotify, and Itunes.

What´s new right now?

Right now I'm working on singles to release, after putting out my first demo, titled 'Something You Can Do With Your Ears,' a few months ago. I plan on releasing a new instrumental within the next few days, really just to maintain a steady stream of content rather than to market or try to break out. My next release will be a single called "Don't Let Me Fall in Love," and I'm really excited about it. It's unlike anything I've put out before. The song is more contemporary R&B than it is anything else, with structural elements resembling EDM and Neo-soul. I'm finishing up the writing phase and should have it recorded, mixed, mastered and released within the next couple months.

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What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?

Don't be afraid of imitation, at least not at first. Don't flat out copy someone, but don't be afraid to use elements that are commonly featured or that you notice in someone else's song. Everything successful is at least somewhat derivative, every chord progression has been used, and you'll drive yourself crazy trying to be 100% original. I made this mistake and it kept me from not only making better music, but from studying others' work, which I should have done much more from the start. Sure, you should find some signature elements and make them yours, and this will happen over time. But trying to be completely novel is just as ineffective as being a complete imitator.

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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?

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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

My actual biggest challenge, which is most musicians' biggest challenge right now, is getting heard. The music industry is incredibly saturated right now, which makes rising above the fray incredibly difficult. But since that's such a common answer, I'll go with narrowing down my personal style. When music is difficult to define, that means it's difficult to market and difficult to find loyal fans. People might like one song of yours but are then turned off when they find the rest of your work is very different. It's not impossible to become established with a wide array of song styles, but it's certainly more difficult than working in a genre with a built in audience.

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How do you promote yourself? Do you have any specific promotion tips for other musicians?

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We meet again in one year. What has changed?

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https://www.facebook.com/eightsmusic

https://www.facebook.com/eightsmusic

Tweets by iplaymusictoo
https://theartistunion.com/eightsmusic

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