Eric Graham

laying one track after another. Inspired by the likes of Richie Hawtin, Gui Berato, Bryan Zentz, DJ Rain / Phuture Primitive, Trent Moeller, Front 242, Trent Reznor, Z trip, Underworld, Orb and Emancipator - his sets tend to cover vast ranges of music style. He has always maintained that a DJ needs to do more then match beats and blend tracks to justify his position. Engraham's unique style of performance combines elements of production techniques and skills of turntabilism. In 2018, Engraham decided to set aside DJ'ing and completely focus on producing his own music, with the aim to perform his own music live. Through the techniques evolved in production, his sets have continued to evolve to the point of being more live performance act - creating real time remixes and song deconstructions. Ultimately, everything Engraham does, is in support of building a nuanced and transcendent story, to move his audience both in mind and body. Eric Graham follows in the footsteps of a long line of successful musicians and artists. His Grandfather was a notable jazz and country producer with a discography reaching back to the 50's with re-issues as recent as 2018. Eric's Father, a notable guitarist and music producer in his own right, and his partner Cynthia Kirk, publicist for Portland Center Stage and the Oregon Symphony, ensured that the arts were always an integral part of his upbringing. Eric's youth was spent in a number of places around the country, until finally settling near the Gulf Coast of Florida. Central Florida is known for spawning heavy weight metal bands such as Morbid Angel, Deicide, and Cannibal Co**se. Growing up in Florida, you were either a rocker or a top 40 kid. Weaving his way through metal bands, then punk, the hard edged shreak of a tortured guitar filtered through heavy processing wormed its way into the reptile brain of Eric Graham. In High School, there was a chance encounter between Eric G and Oliver Ackerman, at the time in a band called "SKYWAVE" which showed Eric a more experimental / industrial edged sound. Oliver Ackerman would soon after found the innovative and influential band "A Place to Bury Strangers". From this point on bands like KMFDM, Ministry, Gravity KIlls, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, and on would prove to be a significant influence on the tone of Eric's eventual own productions. Of course, this is not the end of the journey, for there was to come one of the single most formitive moments of Eric's musical experience which revolved around a dare, a little white square, and serendepity. Initially terrified of doinng psychoactive drugs, especially when a friend told him "You're going to crying like a baby when the walls of reality start melting around you." Being a literal kid, this sounded pretty terrifying. Of course, when a dare is involved, all that goes out the window. Taking two hits of acid with a friend was a catalyst for discovery. As it happened staying up until 3am, under the influence of L*D- Eric turned to the radio hungerily, flipping through awful song after awful song... Getting to the point of almost a bad trip, the dial had reached all the way to the left where it finally exploded a live with sound when the dial hit 88.3 AM. It was an alien sound, that seemed to form liquid shapes of expression, it was mechanical and hypnotic, it was techno. Eric had discovered the one radio show in the area that supported electronic music in the mid 90's. And to hear it you had to catch it from 3:00am to 4:30am.... and so once a week, Eric religiously stayed up once a week to record the radio show on to cassette tapes for later experiencing. More experienced friends clued Eric into the fact that Florida had a vibrant electronic music scene, which was somewhat unique to the area. Tampa Florida is one of the birth places of comically named Funky Florida Breaks... a very specific bass infused formula bassed of of the famous Amen break, but used in normal breakbeat speed. The other patent pending element of the formula was the iconic sound of the 303 or "ACID". Making his first foreys into the club scene at 16, he found himself in another world that seemed like a different planet. There was fabulous club kids, there was speaker phreaking ravers, there was head bobbin arms crossed hoodies, there were giant alien looking beautiful women.... that he was told were "drag queens." And playing over the largest sound system Eric had yet experienced was the DJ Hero "Josh Wink" who was playing his seminal his "Higher State of Consiousness" one of the most celebrated acid tracks in electronica. That acid line drilled its way into his brain, did a few donuts on his brain cells, and eventually settling down taking uip resdence in a part of the brain it would never leave.