Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Downs.
Hi Eric, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I moved to LA in 2012 with a band from Pennsylvania. We had very high aspirations and an inimitable work ethic. Then we broke up five months after arriving. (It ended up being for the best – knowing what I know now, we didn’t stand a chance). Aside from the band, I only knew one person in LA – my cousin – who moved to Vancouver several months later. At this point, I just tried to find gigs/bands anywhere and started on Craigslist. I saw met (and sometimes played for) SO many artists who were completely out of touch with what it means and takes to be a successful musician.
One day, I was on Facebook and saw someone from my hometown make a post about all the people from central PA who were making music in LA, so I decided to toss my name onto the thread. The original poster ended up connecting me to an artist who actually grew up about 10 minutes away from me but went to a rival school district. I joined her band, met her bandmates, and they pulled me into their circle and onto my first professional tours.
From here, I met more people and continued to bust my ass practicing and developing my playing, recording, and production chops, and eventually bigger calls started coming in. I remember my first gig that I considered professional because a manager contacted me…via e-mail…asked me what my rate was…and asked me for my frequent flyer numbers. I almost exploded in joy that day.
Anyhow, from here I continued to tour and eventually became involved in building shows. After building shows for several artists, one of them referred to me as her MD (Music Director) one day, so I added it to my e-mail signature, never looked back, and continue to do that to this day.
I’m also a pretty big schemer, and throughout this, I experimented with a ton of different side hustles and projects, the list of which is far too long to include in this interview. However, my most successful venture to date is a company I launched in 2018 called Clearsound Baffles, which manufactures and sells plexiglass shielding for live music performance purposes.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I’m willing to guess that most people say it wasn’t a smooth road for them, but honestly for me, it was. I attribute that to two major things:
1) I am obsessed with maintaining a low cost of living. To this day, after 10 years in LA, I still have the lowest rent of anyone I know. It makes the hustle so much less stressful and allows you to save money and free up time to focus on bigger-picture projects. Like Mark Cuban says, “Live like a student”.
2) Work ethic – I never had a problem putting in 4-6 hours 7 days a week working on my craft. My personal mantra here is “Work every day, whether you’re getting paid or not because eventually you will.” This mindset has not only allowed me to develop a strong command over my skillset but has functioned as an emotional anchor in my life.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I think I’m known as the guy who kind of knows a fair amount about everything and uses it to piece together the puzzle of life in the most clever way possible. I believe I tend to maintain a good balance of a vision of the future, an understanding of the past, but a firm ability to exist in the present.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
It’s so cliche, but just follow your heart. Pursue what you think is interesting in life. You’ll either a) find that you were wrong, that thing is stupid, and it’s a waste of your time or b) you were right, that thing is so cool, and you love pursuing it. When you pursue something you love, the time you spend on it will just melt away. You’ll become good at it, naturally meet others along the way who share your interests, and eventually be recognized for your excellence. Then people will (hopefully) offer you money to do it for them!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/eldowns
- Youtube: youtube.com/eldowns
