Eric Chun makes drums talk

Making drums talk and helping musicians rock.

Eric and Kathie in the Auburn Studio

Make the drums talk. That is the goal of Eric Chun every time he sits down in front of his percussion instruments.  He was inspired by the words of his percussion instructor, Vera Daehlin who was a student of the legendary Clair Musser and also a virtuoso in her own right. Eric, too, is a musical genius, in the eyes and ears of many, even if Eric wouldn’t admit it.

Immersed in music since he was born, he started playing the piccolo at age 4, the piano at 5, flute at 6 and drums at 7. He says he owes it to his family’s musical roots. Chun’s mother was Hawaiian and his father Chinese, and although they were in the dental profession, both had musical backgrounds.

“My mom played cello and sang in the choir. And she played a little piano too. They got me started, my brother and me both, when we were young,” Chun explains. He still has the orchestra bells (c. 1922) that his father’s brother used in a World War I orchestra, as well as the Conn Saxophone (c. 1923).

“They are all still in perfect order and I use them all the time.”

Starting improv, theater, and singing activities at age 10, by age 14 Eric was well on his way, even playing with the famous Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

If he has a favorite instrument, or style of music, he won’t say. Apparently diversity is his strength. Playing almost two dozen instruments and at least as many styles of music, he says,” I’ve been doing music for so long that I have a pretty good ear. I may not be as specialized as some people, but in general, for having a facility like this, for somebody like me in this area, I can meet a lot of clients’ needs without them hiring a specialist from Los Angeles to come up and paying them quite a bit of money.”

The creative genius and founder of Creative Music Services, Chun offers recording and production services, music industry education, artist development, product consultation and songwriting services to the multi-faceted music industry of Northern California and Sacramento Valley. With a resume of accomplishments that spans at least four pages and over four decades, Eric is most passionate about music education. He is the founder of the Commercial Music Degree Program at American River College in Sacramento, CA. He encourages all artists and musicians to study their industry and utilize the support and experience of others.

In that spirit he is the Director of the Music Plaza for the CCD (Content Creation and Distribution) Expo being held over 2 full days in Loomis, CA on September 16-17, 2011. He feels that it is imperative that musicians “get out of the rehearsal rooms and get to arenas like this and meet all the television and video and film people and show their wares to everybody and create new markets and see new ways to network.” He understands that the internet and social media has leveled the playing field which allows more people to jump in the pond, but he cautions artists too.

“It’s harder for someone to rise above the pond to be seen. Because so many people have the same opportunities and then you run into the issue of who’s good. How do you know who is good and who’s not? And how do you have a reference of quality, and timing and luck. The social network and technology has definitely made it more accessible and made it a little bit easier, but it also puts more pressure on musicians and bands and creators of art. If it’s a level playing field, that means you have to do all the work. That means that if you just want to do music, you can’t just do music. You have to manage, book, promote, create, record, engineer, practice, rehearse, write, compose, lyricize, take pictures, shoot your own movies, and figure out the software to get it online. Pretty soon you’re doing a whole lot more than just plain music. So you really still need the services of qualified industry people to really be an artist. ‘You’re the artist; you do the music. I’m the manager; let me take care of your career.’ “People think ‘I’ll just do it all online,’ and it’s just not true.”

He sees technology as a tool, but doesn’t want people to give up what he calls “old-school” relationship development. He insists that a musician’s quality of music is reflected by the relationships they develop with others: fellow musicians, industry experts, mentors, etc. “You need to have a balance of people who know you in real time, who you call up on the phone, and quality means you spend time with them physically.”

Eric hopes that the CCD Expo and events like it will attract managers, publishers, talent agents and others to Sacramento to change the professional landscape for content creators and distributors.  He would like to see a bigger growth of performance venues for the groups and a better attitude from musicians and up-and-coming artists in order to understand the requirements, conditions and experiences that are needed to become a bona fide artist.

Also an activist, Chun says that more people need to get involved in industry specific groups and coalitions to advocate for support of the arts. Chun is on the advisory board for the California Lawyers for the Arts, and a member of ASCAP, SAG, and AFTRA, among others.

Following the CCD Expo, Eric Chun had plenty of projects going to keep him busy. He is working on an album with the Auburn Drum Line with plans to submit it for the Grammys. He will also be shooting eight to ten episodes of Hit Music Central with nFocus Entertainment over the next two months. The episodes are scheduled to air on NBC in February, 2012. He will be on tour with David Hasselhoff in Las Vegas in November. He has a variety of clinics and workshops scheduled and just in case that wasn’t enough, he will begin a book project this fall as well.

Besides making drums talk, Eric Chun is passionate about making musicians rock, and not necessarily speaking of the genre. His goal for his own music is the perfect hook, perfect verse and perfect chorus. According to Eric, the perfect hook is a great melody, a unique musical idea that captures the beginning or end of the song and compliments the lyrical directions. A perfect verse is a great story, and the perfect chorus is in Eric’s very own words, “something so memorable, something so identifiable, something so universal and genuine that it affects generations of people.” Now that ROCKS!

Posted by Michele Jennae on October 6, 2011. Filed under Indie News,Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry