Conversations with Erik Clear

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Clear.

Hi Erik, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started in a wedding band while I was in college in Boston, Massachusetts. I was in a “professional development” class at Berklee College of Music when another student in my class recommended that I check out a job board within the college. I auditioned for a band and became the saxophonist for “Good Will and Them Apples Band” within days of auditioning. The band played 6 – 7 nights per week all over the New England area, performing in nightclubs from Boston to Rhode Island and Connecticut and weddings on the weekends from Maine to New York. I was playing saxophone and EWI, an electronic saxophone, that helped the band play more electronic pop music with big synths and massive drops that no other live band in the area was doing at the time. This was also at a time when Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber and other big artists were all coming out with their hit songs of the early 2010s, and my band was playing all of them as soon as their songs were released. Playing EWI required that I have my computer on stage to manage the live aspect of the synths that I designed and played. Since I had the laptop on stage already, I was also responsible for all the other parts of our events that weren’t performed by the band – such as dinner music, first dances, announcements, etc. I didn’t know that I would become a DJ in the future, but I can see how this was the beginning of my career as a DJ now.

I graduated college in May of 2013, and stayed in Boston for the remainder of the year. In 2014, I moved back to Denver, where I’m originally from. And I put my saxophone down for 7 years… It’s crazy to think how I abandoned my musical career, and had absolutely no plans to come back to it at all. At that point, playing saxophone was something I only used to do. I was young and suddenly thrown into “real life” without the safety blanket of being a college student with a campus to live on and classes to take. I needed a way to pay rent, buy a car, purchase groceries, etc. I was working as a sales representative in the wireless industry during the majority of my time spent away from music and saxophone.

In 2015, one of my sisters got married and asked me to DJ her wedding – and she and my parents helped me pay for a pair of speakers and some DJ equipment. Nothing crazy, but enough to get the job done. It was exciting to do something musical again! I even surprised my sister and played saxophone on a song that I had written called “Photobook” – a very sweet ballad that is about the nostalgic feeling one gets in the moment while a core memory is being created, like taking a photo and knowing it’s going in the photo album! That wedding led to one of her friends asking me to DJ her wedding as well, and my cousin also asked me to DJ her wedding in Missouri a few years after that, my other sister did too, and so on with a few others. I still didn’t have any plans of “becoming a DJ”, but it was fun to dabble in that world just a little bit!

It was the pandemic that really got me playing saxophone again, though! After a total fluke of a phone call due to a name mixup, Joey Mora, the band leader for the Denver-based horn band, Brass Attack Band, called me in the Fall of 2020 and told me he would like me to come play with his band that weekend – and I showed up. I’m now a pillar member of the group; I arrange the horn charts for all the songs the band puts into rotation. Here we are, coming up on the five year anniversary of me joining the group, and the band has become something completely different than when I had started! It really got me back into playing saxophone and practicing daily to become better at what I do.

I got married myself in the Fall of 2021, and with pandemic restrictions still in place at the time, we held a fairly intimate low-budget wedding, so I “pre-DJed” my own wedding, mixing the songs together beforehand. I played my same original song, “Photobook”, on saxophone during my own wedding that I played at my sister’s wedding 6 years prior, but this time, one of my guests filmed it.

That guest also happens to know DJ Brian Howe, who is based in Loveland, and showed him the video when he was looking for a saxophonist to play alongside one of his DJs for a very upscale wedding in Silverthorne. I mentioned to Brian that I have DJed a few weddings before; which intrigued him enough to bring me onto his team as a wedding DJ in the Fall of 2022.

I have been DJing and playing saxophone at weddings ever since. I’ve been performing all over the state of Colorado from Laporte to Ouray, and also in nightclubs in Downtown Denver, including Whiskey Row, The Disco Pig, and Press Play in Boulder. I played at Winter Park Jazz Festival with Elan Trotman a few years back. I even picked up sort of a residency for the last three years at The ART Hotel for their Pride event every June.

Last year, I decided to move forward with my own brand as “DJ Aeryk” and go into business for myself. This was a huge move, but one that is proving to be exactly the right direction I needed to go in. I really enjoy what I bring to the table from my experiences from that first wedding band I was in all the way to now. Working for myself is still scary, but it is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done – and I’m only finishing my first full year with my own company.

I am still playing saxophone alongside other DJs and also working as a DJ and Saxophonist with other entertainment companies, including Howe Eventful and Mountain Sound DJ and I’m still playing with Brass Attack Band. I’m even booking the band for weddings as well. I know I’m doing exactly what I need to be doing and fulfilling my purpose to provide the best DJ and live entertainment in Colorado. It’s worth it!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I always say that I fell into this career on accident. I know that’s not entirely true, because I am intentional with my career, but I did not see myself becoming a DJ. I have not always been the perfect saxophonist, or the perfect DJ – and there has been some events throughout the years where I may not have been the best fit – and that’s okay with me. To expect for myself to be a perfect DJ, or saxophonist, or now a business owner, would be foolish. What makes someone experienced is experience. That experience does not come from just years of being perfect, but it comes from years of learning from every single moment, every single event, or even from a phone call – what room for improvement was in that experience so that I can be more effective next time?

Being open to feedback and criticism is where I have the ability to learn those lessons, even after many years of being in the music industry. I keep myself humble to be able to learn from my mistakes and earn my stripes so that I can become the experienced DJ, saxophonist and business owner that I’m on the journey to become right now.

I have found that it is important for me to be authentically myself. I am not just another wedding DJ – or a saxophonist that has found a great paying gig. This is my career. It is important to be self-aware when my personality, professionalism and musicianship is exactly what I am offering.

I recognize that being a DJ AND a Saxophonist, as popular as it is right now, is pretty niche. Most other DJs have a saxophone player join them (I’m very often that saxophone player), but when I went into business for myself as “DJ Aeryk”, I knew that I wanted to provide the musical vision of myself DJing and playing saxophone at the same time – and not just being any other wedding DJ, playing the same wedding songs that we all know. My goal is to provide an experience that is custom tailored to each individual client of mine, that also showcases my love for DJing and playing saxophone the way that I do.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a wedding DJ and saxophonist, known for my affinity toward Electronic Dance Music and playing saxophone while DJing. I am best known for my melodic saxophone lines playing alongside pop remixes and Progressive and Electronic House and nu-funk music.

I am most proud of myself for creating a brand and image and for going into business for myself. I am proud that I quit my day job(s) that were not serving me during the time I put my saxophone down, and realized my calling on this planet during my lifetime to become the musician and DJ that I know myself to be, and able to support myself doing what I love to do. I am overjoyed and honored that people invite me to the biggest days of their lives to entertain them with what I love to do as a DJ and Saxophonist!

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
You can find everything online about me at my website, www.erikclear.com.

I am very active on social media, where you can follow me on most platforms @erikclear – which are all linked at www.erikclear.com as well.

If you are interested in booking me, you can email me at erik@erikclear.com or schedule an inquiry meeting with me through www.erikclear.com

Pricing:

• Pricing is custom to each event

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.erikclear.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikclear/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erikclear
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ErikClearMusic
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/erik-clear
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@erikclear

Image Credits
Sarah Beaugh
Nathan George
Sam Clauson
Sheryl Clear