Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eric Harabadian. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eric, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Although I’ve been involved with many meaningful film projects and music recordings, perhaps the most meaningful is my current documentary film “We Thrive.” I say that because it is the third documentary co-directed and produced by my wife Lisa Hagopian and it is the most personal. We are both of Armenian descent and in “We Thrive” we tell a story about Armenian-American musicians and the healing powers of music. We do that through archival and historical footage of the tragedies of our ancestors past and the attempts at exterminating an entire race. However, all these many decades later, we’re still here and thriving through music and cultural perseverance. We share our personal stories and struggles and share the personal stories of many of the subjects in the film. We make a correlation between the struggles of a people (Armenians) and the personal hoops we as individuals have had to jump through and overcome. And we all do it through music! It’s a very uplifting film and I think my grandparents and ancestors would be proud of what we’ve done here. So, that’s why this means so much to me!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Eric Harabadian and I live in Dearborn Heights, which is a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. I’ve been a freelance journalist since 1990, writing for several national and regional publications, including Music Connection, Downbeat, Dearborn Press& Guide, Crain’s Detroit Business, Progression, Geoff Wilbur’s Music Blog and many others. I’ve also edited two books written by guitarist Robert Balderrama ( original member of Question Mark & The Mysterians). I’ve been a singer-songwriter and guitarist, mostly working with my original band Chain Reaction, for over 35 years. We are getting ready to release a new EP called “Still in the Game. As a filmmaker I’ve been active doing local access cable television and feature documentaries since the late ’90s. However, my wife Lisa and I really didn’t get rolling with our production company Vision 561 Productions, LLC until 2007. We’ve produced three full-length feature documentaries, with music themes. Our first was entitled “Nothin but Music (2016)” and focused on career musicians that strictly did music full-time–documenting their daily struggles and triumphs. We followed that up in 2019, with the Detroit blues scene film “Paradise Boogie.” That film was broadcast on PBS TV in Detroit and throughout Canada. And, as I mentioned, our current film is entitled “We Thrive” and it tells the story of Armenian-American musicians of all genres ( rock, blues, jazz, classical and traditional Armenian folk) and how music is a healer for them.

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

Probably the most rewarding thing about being a creative artist is the takeaway from, first what you learn from the experience of creating that art, and then how people respond to what you do. Whether it’s writing a song or scripting a new concept for a movie, you have to do your research to flesh out the idea you’re going to focus on. And, in doing that, you tend to learn a lot about yourself. Certainly in the songwriting process you have to come up with what you wanna write about and why is that relevant to you. nd then you explore the motivations for writing the song and how it’s gonna affect an audience. And it’s that same process in putting together a film. I personally learn something about myself, good and bad, every time we take on a new film project. I say “good and bad,” but it’s really all good because, ultimately, I’ve always come out on the other end of a project being a better human being for it!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Society supporting creatives and artists can be as simple as purchasing their wares, be they recordings, DVDs, streaming their music or movies, buying a book, etc. Of course it’s been a rough two or three years with the pandemic and all, but people getting back out there and supporting live original music, in particular, is a necessary and beautiful thing. I think whether you are an active creative or not, just supporting the arts as a patron puts you in the driver’s seat and makes you a part of a shared experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vision561.com ; www.chainreactiondetroit.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/eric.harabadian ; www.facebook.com/vision561productionsllc
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/ericharabadian
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@chainreactiondet
• Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
All credits attributed to Eric Harabadian