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Son of Erik Mixtape Release: Slash

Slashing for dancing. This mix has a sense of being a dance track that you would hear in a club or where ever you just want to dance. Some great dance tracks slashed with some remixes of your favorite songs. This mix is full of energy and life, so make sure you finished your redeye or redbul before you listen to it.

I have provided a link for you (at the bottom of this post) to download the mixtape. (If you would like it split into tracks, let me know, and I’ll provide.)

The track-listing is as follows:

Fire Up The Shoesaw (LP Version) – Lionrock
Galvanise the Eye of the Tiger – Survivor vs The Chemical Brothers
Magic Carpet Ride (Steir’s 1999 Ride Club Mix) – Steppenwolf
Don’t Let Go – LMC & New Radicals
Up & Down (Superclub Mix) – Scent
Something On Your Mind (Switch Remix) – MYNC Project
What You Waiting For (Jacques Lu Cont Vocal) – Gwen Stefani
Sweet Dreams (Frank Valency & Alan Garcia mix) – Eurythmics
Shot Away (Club Mix) – Pawn Shop
Hear My Name (Feat. Spalding Rockwell) – Armand Van Helden
You Spin Me Around – Dead Or Alive
Round and Round – Bodyrockers
Jump – Girls Aloud

Download Slash Here

These mixes are not intended for sale or reproduction. Son of Erik does not and will not receive any proceeds from the production of these mixes. Please respect the copyright of the original artists that have been listed.

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Son of Erik Mixtape Release: End of Line


Bit by bit, line by line; sorting through all the beats. This mix is a bit heavy in nature, but it is sure to get your juices flowing and your head boppin. The name End of Line comes from MCP character in the movie Tron. I know I made an earlier post about the new movie coming out which resulted in me watching the old masterpiece. I created this mix shortly after viewing the older movie. End of Line is about technology. It provides a feeling of being inside a computer, traveling through the network of energy, information and processes.

I have provided a link for you (at the bottom of this post) to download the mixtape. (If you would like it split into tracks, let me know, and I’ll provide.)

The track-listing is as follows:

Bring It On (Tronik Youth Edit) – Goose
Sweet Light – Boys Noize
We Are Your Friends – Justice vs Simian
Le Disko [Ferry Corsten Remix] – Shiny Toy Guns
Technologic (Kids At The Bar Remix) – Daft Punk
72 Virgins (Bloody Beetroots Remix) – Shitdisco
Escape (Bloody Beetroots Remix) – The Toxic Avenger
Cherry (Mustard Pimp Dark Remix) – Mustard Pimp
Running Away (Mstrkrft Remix) – Space Cowboy
Gifted (Steve Aoki Remix) – N.A.S.A.
Human After All (The Disco Villains Remix) – Daft Punk
Omen – The Prodigy

Download End of Line Here

These mixes are not intended for sale or reproduction. Son of Erik does not and will not receive any proceeds from the production of these mixes. Please respect the copyright of the original artists that have been listed.

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Website Redesign Underway

In the last year I have reinvented myself. My career path has evolved from design to strategy and social media. My personal website has yet to convey that evolution. Just to let you know, I’m trying my best to tackle this challenge, but with my contract work, it’s getting difficult to find time during the day. I think I need more hours.

There are a few things that I need to tackle when redesigning the site.

1) Message:
Quite important when establishing (or reestablishing) any brand. I know what my personal and professional message is, however, I need to actually get it on paper, or more specifically, typed out. Lately it seems that my clients’ messages have been taking front seat to my own.

2) Design:
Once my message has been established and typed out, I will design the aesthetic of my newly evolved personal brand and establish the flow of the site. I’m halfway there already; it will mirror the aesthetic you see here on the blog.

3) Linking it Up:
Integration of select inbound links with my site, is essential in my job. I suppose this will be apart of the “Design” process.

4) Getting the Message Out:
Once the message has been drafted, design completed, and the inbound links established, promotion begins. Whether it be through the inbound links, in-person networking, or another aspect of promotion, I’m uncertain at this junction. But, what I do know, is it will require a firm SEO strategy.

So, that’s where I’m at right now with my personal site. I want to make it clear, that when I’m discussing the “personal site,” I’m not referring to the blog you’re reading now. So, please be patient, it’ll be live soon.

Gotta get back to work!

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The Wallpaper Initiative

I came across a website with a slew of wallpapers for iPhones today. There were so many great designs including music, movies, and general graphics. As I was looking through all of these, I had a strong desire to make one. In fact, I want to design a whole bunch of wallpapers for the iPhone. And why stop there? Why not make wallpapers for desktop machines too? Maybe the iPad as well.

So, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to start to design wallpapers for devices. Use my design talent and make some killer papers. I think I will first make wallpapers for ebreakdown, then branch out and create some papers for Son of Erik, wallpapers for music, wallpapers for art and the list goes on.

I’ll be sure to post links to the wallpapers as soon as I design them.

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Son of Erik Mixtape Release: Innocent Idealism

This mix is all about music that I listened to when I was younger. Music that is aligned with the feeling of idealism from back in the day when I still had my innocence. There are a few contemporary tracks in this mixtape as well that help reinforce that nostalgic feeling. I’m sure you may not get the same feeling, however, this is more of a personal look back at a time long-lost.

I have provided a link for you (at the bottom of this post) to download the mixtape. (If you would like it split into tracks, let me know, and I’ll provide.)

The track-listing is as follows:

If Everybody Looked The Same – Groove Armada
DARE – Gorillaz
Do Your Thing – Basement Jaxx
Audacity Of Huge – Simian Mobile Disco
The Creeps – Camille Jones vs Fedde Le Grande
Let Forever Be – The Chemical Brothers
So Many Times – Gadjo
Poppiholla – Chicane
Right Here Right Now (Redanka Mix) – Fatboy Slim
No Air (Jason Nevins Remix) – Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
Love Island – Fatboy Slim
Tao of the Machine – BT & The Roots
Dealing With The Roster – Junkie XL
Never Gonna Come Back Down – BT
Stop The Rock – Apollo 440

Download Innocent Idealism Here

These mixes are not intended for sale or reproduction. Son of Erik does not and will not receive any proceeds from the production of these mixes. Please respect the copyright of the original artists that have been listed.

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The Evolution of Son of Erik: Album in the Works

From the last post, you may have read that in order to apply an audio track to my video, I needed to create it first. It was no big deal at all. However, once I started producing that track, I wanted to produce more!

As a result, I’m going to produce some original, custom Son of Erik tracks for an album. Now, Son of Erik, over the last year, was primarily a DJ/Mixtape sort of adventure. I would produce an hour long mix utilizing existing tracks, try and splice them together creatively and pass them along to my friends. I had no intention to mix live sets or make profit on it, it was merely a hobby. But, I want more.

I believe that Son of Erik can evolve. It can be mixtape production as well as producing tracks that are original to the Son of Erik name. Moreover, I can then utilize those tracks into the mixtapes themselves while making an album. I have to say I’m very excited.

So, what’s next? Well, I’m planning on producing an album in 6 months or less featuring only Son of Erik tracks. I know that’s far away, but I need to get a grasp on some things technical: scales, time-management, and overall flow of the track. My plan is to work on this album as much as I can while producing the mixtapes on the side. And of course, I’ll keep you all updated on the progress. (Maybe give you all a preview of a few tracks too!)

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Video: Abstract Ambience

For a long while now I’ve been wanting to try my hand at creating some video works. I have been producing some mixes under the Son of Erik name for the last year or so. But, video has often intrigued me, as a result, I’ve created my first video. (Well, first since High School.)

The video is entitled “Abstract Ambience.” Yes, it’s a pretty basic video with nothing really going on. It’s simply a candle burning with no over or undertones. I’ve always been entranced by flickering flames. They’re so lovely to stare at and get lost in. The video was shot using my Canon SD750 Powershot camera. I used this camera simply because I don’t have another. I edited the whole piece using Apple’s iMovie.

I had originally wanted to use Ulrich Schanuss’ “Gone Forever” track for accompanied audio track, but the upload was denied on YouTube for copyright reasons. Yes, I do know you can’t do that, I simply forgot. As a result, I needed a new track that was free of copyright. I decided to use my skill set in audio production to create a custom track that would reflect the overall feeling that I was trying to convey. So now, Son of Erik also makes background music for videos.

It was a great evening of creativity tonight. Shooting and editing my first video and producing the accompanied audio track for it too. I can’t wait to make more videos, develop new ideas, create new tracks and post them all for you to watch.

So, take a look. Let me know what you think. I can take the criticism, however, please keep in mind, this is my first attempt and I plan on getting a lot better as I delve into this new creative experiment. Enjoy!

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OpEd: A Designer’s Responsibility Is Communication

A responsibility of the designer is to make sure the communicative process/dialog is never impeded or broken. As designers, we are the masters, or hope to be, of the communication process; whether it be through identity development, advertising or the making of publications. We set type, layout images, create copy, all in order to communicate the idea or message to the audience. It is our responsibility, or divine calling to maintain that communication, to create that communication.

However, it has become customary for designers lately, to forget or disregard the notion the we must maintain and facilitate the same amount, if not more, communication with our clients. They didn’t hire us so they could do all the talking nor did they hire us so they could communicate with the audience by themselves. They hired us for our ability to communicate a message. There is always information that we need from our client. Always something to think about that the client needs to say without dialog. We as designers have no idea what to do in order to finish the project, unless we can establish and maintain dialog with the client.

Also, we as designers, are the conduit through which all communication from the client and the audience travels. We are the interpreters, the ones who translate one language to another so the marriage between the client and audience or client and consumer will never be interrupted.

Like what was mentioned before, it is our divine calling, as designers, to facilitate and maintain that conduit between client and audience. Without it, all design would be chaotic and most communication would be chaotic. None of the messages would make sense.

Our job is communication. Our job is dialog and it’s our job to defend, create and maintain that dialog.