We recently connected with Don Erikson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Don, thanks for joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

When I was a kid – I guess around eight years old – they started me with piano lessons. I learned the basics of classical music and, after a few years, was given a Herb Alpert songbook that got me started with pop music. At the time, The Beatles were my main influence, but I didn’t get to explore that avenue.

Fast forward to the beginning of junior high. I began playing drum – not drums – in the band. I had several conflicts with the band instructor, but I learned a lot. At the beginning of eighth grade I had a serious accident, severing nine tendons and three nerves in my right hand. The best thing my parents did was to put me back into lessons as soon as the cast was off. If they hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t have been playing today. I stopped taking lessons when I started high school and didn’t play the piano for at least two years.

At the end of my sophomore year my parents decided to move to a new community. My brothers were out of the house and they must’ve figured it was okay to move at that point. The best thing they did was to get a baby grand piano for the living room. Since there was nothing else to do in that area I decided to start playing again. I found out that my sight reading skills had deteriorated, so they hired a student from the university to come and teach me. I was able to choose music I liked, so I had some books – The Beatles “Abbey Road” specifically – and started learning those tunes.

One day I asked the teacher if the guitar chord symbols were relevant and she took a minute, compared the chords to the staff, and told me they were the same. I realized that I could voice the chords the way I wanted and actually play the way a keyboards player does in a rock band. That was it for sight reading.

I got into rock bands, alternating between bass guitar and piano. One night while rehearsing in the garage we got a complaint. My dad stepped in and stood up for us. That was the first time I felt he approved of the music we were creating.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I became a Psychology major in college while still playing in a band. I thought briefly about being a music major, but figured if I didn’t “make it” as a musician I’d end up teaching music. Remembering my conflicts with my band teacher I thought that I’d end up hating music if that’s the route I took. Ironically I ended up becoming a teacher and making it my career for 35 years.

Throughout my career I continued playing and writing music with some of the same people I’d started with.

During my career I taught math, science, wood shop, PE, and, after getting my Masters’, computer classes. One day my Principal asked if I could teach film production. I told him I could and then started my research. I taught myself filmmaking from pre-production through post so I could teach my students the process.

In learning to write for film I rekindled my love of writing. Ever since my early school days I was writing stories – long stories. That is until fifth grade. My teacher kept telling me to write less. By the end of that year I didn’t care about writing and would only do the minimum. I tried to remember that particular lesson throughout my career and tried to never squash a student’s creativity or drive.

Now that I’m retired from teaching, I get to pursue my creative urges with complete freedom. I get to play and write music, I get to write screenplays and do a bit of acting. I didn’t let my dreams die, though they were dormant for a while.

I’ve recorded with several bands. I currently play bass as a member of The Matter (thematterband.com) and with John McCabe as Engine Trouble. I have a produced screenplay, “Dead by Daybreak”, and have a couple others in development.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My screenwriting goal is to have my feature length scripts produced. It’s tough to break in, but frankly I haven’t been doing the networking and door knocking that I’m sure I have to do. I don’t mind taking my time because I feel I’m getting better with every script I write and figure if it’s to happen it will. I do have a couple of producer/directors interested and I collaborate with one on a regular basis.

My main goal in music is to produce my own work. I have a backlog of songs dating to the 80s that I want to work with and record. Music technology has grown so much that I’ll be able to do that in my home studio. My goal is to use technology, but not lose the human touch in the music.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The ah-ha moment of discovery. Having a breakthrough is a rush that can’t be adequately described. There’s a feeling of being in touch, not only with my own essence, but with a huge pool of creativity that I was able to tap for a moment.

Second to that is when somebody appreciates what I’ve done. Whether it’s a song, a bass line, or a screenplay, being recognized as a creative person is a very rewarding feeling.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: erikson.don
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/don-erikson-30602031
• Twitter: @EriksonDon
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9vtRBkctN2sgqok6FeOHpA
• IMDB: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm6952925?ref_=nm_nv_usr_profile
• ReverbNation: https://www.reverbnation.com/enginetrouble https://www.reverbnation.com/musician/donerikson