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

Erik, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In the entertainment industry, it is crucial to be versatile. I don’t just do video, but I also do photography, play bass, tour manage, advance shows, and basic sound production. Even within video, there are multiple roles that depending on the gig, are divided up amongst several people, such as camera operating, lighting operators, directing, or editing. When you’re familiar with all of the roles associated with a given project, it’s easy to jump into a specific one and be a team player, or to run the entire team no matter what specific role you are playing in the entire project. The ability to run and be part of a team is truly the way to be successful. I came to realize this when I started getting involved with an artist development organization called Pitch Music. Eric Fortaleza, the founder, a great friend, and mentor to me emphasized this. He empowered me to build an entire visual team for Pitch Music, which offers different kinds of video and photo services to artists we work with. The best part is not only does it benefit me personally, but having a team like that opens up the door of opportunities to everyone participating. Having a community like this enables other like-minded folks to develop their skills and take on a wider range of gigs, ideally so they are able to pursue doing work they love full time while also moving together as a unit rather than our individual selves.

Erik, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born and raised in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. I moved to Nashville in 2015 right out of high school to attended Belmont University. In 2019 I graduated with a BBA in Music Business. I had always been interested in music, and participating in the industry somehow. I began learning piano, and basic music theory as a kid. In 2009 I started playing bass, and eventually joined bands, and have been lucky enough to continue playing with great musicians. At the same time, I also had a great interest in visual art. My grandmother is a painter, and I painted with her a lot as a kid. My father is interested in roads and infrastructure, and we would travel the country filming interesting roads in America, which can be seen on his YouTube channel, Freewayjim. My mother is interested in many different crafts, such as sewing, woodworking, gardening, and currently it’s working with leather; so the creative spirit is alive and well in my family. On top of their creative passions, they also greatly value community. The combination of these values gave me the space and resources to flourish in whatever creative endeavor I pursued. I combined the two when I started doing photos & video in the music industry. When the band I was in played with other bands that I liked, I would go to their shows and take photos & video to build up my chops and network. Things really got serious when I started getting involved with Pitch Music, and 90% of all the current projects I’m associated with on are some how associated with it, whether I was recommended to a client by someone in Pitch Music, or the client themselves are involved with Pitch somehow. My outlook on what projects I take on align with Pitch very well, as their mission statements are ‘Music Done The Right Way For The Right Reasons’ and ‘Music Without Compromise’. I choose to work with clients not based on their budget, but whether I believe in what they are doing and if it’s true to them as an individual. I would much rather work with someone who is genuine to their message and is uncompromising with their project instead of someone who may have a big following and budget, but isn’t authentic with themselves and chasing trends that are set by other people’s originality and creativity. It’s unfortunately all too common in the established music business; people are told how to present themselves, what kind of songs to write, how to dress, what to say, and what kind of content they should produce, often by people who actually don’t know what they’re doing. It is my mission and hope to play a part in changing that.

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

It’s the community and collaboration. The most rewarding thing for me is not my own creative endeavors, but creating a space and a team that allows others to flourish and grow in their own creative ways. One of my favorite analogies is musicians jamming together. When the music in a jam is great, it is because the musicians are all listening to each other, and thinking of the entire band as a whole rather than what they’re individually playing. If you’re just playing as many notes as you can, it will not sound as good compared to when you’re selective and intentional. Sometimes you just need to sit back and hold down a simple rhythm while others take the spotlight, and when it’s your turn to take the spotlight, you’ve had the ability to sit back and think about the greater context of the music, and make a much deeper impact compared to firing on all cylinders the whole time. I love this analogy because it shows that when you play to the room rather than yourself, you often get something far greater as a unit. A great example of this is working with Gage Clark, and a project we frequently collaborate on called ‘Live at Gnarly Whale’. The musicians in the jam is Gage’s audio, my visuals, the artist/band, and the room. Each one of us shares the spotlight. Often, Gage mixes the audio in a way that plays to the visual, and I respond to the way the band plays or how the room portrays them. When the audio and the visual perfectly align with each other to suit the song, and that alignment is the secret ingredient that makes it special, better than anything we could’ve done individually.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Pitch Music’s weekly event, Pitch Meeting! Pitch Meeting is an event held every Tuesday in Nashville. It’s like an open mic night, but with a full 8-11 piece band, and only original music. Each night, songwriters come and sign up, and are chosen in no particular order that night, and the band learns original music on the spot. For every show, the visual team captures high quality videos & audio that are used to highlight our favorite moments on our social media platforms, and photos are given to each artist that performs with the band. Aside from playing with the band, it is also a great networking event to meet people in the industry, whether they’ve been here for years, or just moved to town. Those who follow Pitch Meeting see the work done by the team, and often reach out to have us work on their projects.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erikjames.jpg/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-georges-470453157/
• Other: See my and my team’s work at Pitch Meeting!

  Insta: https://www.instagram.com/pitchmeeting/
  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PitchMeeting

Image Credits

All photos were taken by me