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

Neel, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My very first artist moniker – Harmonee – is definitely my most meaningful project.

The idea first came to me when I was still working as a strategic consultant in the medical field. The work I was doing then was undeniably helpful, but it didn’t resonate with me and I found myself routinely escaping to music. I found excitement, energy, passion, and community through music; I was always listening to and sharing new music with my friends and at-the-time-girlfriend (now wife!), and I’d spend my weekends at live shows and festivals to let loose and forget about the mind-numbing job I had during the week.

Before long, I’d realized that I wanted to shift careers into the music industry, and I wanted to be an artist that contributed directly to the scene and maintained the values that attracted me to music in the first place. So, I came up with the Harmonee project and got to work on developing my sound.

I knew from the start that my central message would emphasize community, togetherness, and playfulness, and that led me to a whole range of careers in the music industry. I became heavily involved in two of the biggest online music programs in the world, first as a student and then as a teacher, wanting to give back to the community I’d learned so much from. I brought that same level of excitement and passion I first felt as a listener into my time as a teacher, and that led to me working with a number of phenomenally talented artists and producers.

Had it not been for my first conception of the Harmonee project, I wouldn’t have ever had the passion and drive to become so involved in the industry. I’ve been able to help hundreds of artists fulfill their musical visions and reach their goals, and the music I’ve worked on as an engineer and a mentor has reached millions of listeners around the world.

Being a mentor and producer for other artists has left me incredibly fulfilled in my work, but I still have that initial calling to the Harmonee project close to my heart. Now, I’m getting ready to re-launch the Harmonee project with a brand new sound and journey in mind. I’m playing with a variety of genres and blending styles from all of the other projects I’ve worked on to-date, and I’m absolutely thrilled to launch this next stage of my career.

Neel, 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 spent my first two years in the music industry strictly as a student, as I’d known next-to-nothing about production. I took beginner lessons from EDMProd.com and Hyperbits before leveling up my game from EDMTips.com and penultimately attending Icon Collective in Los Angeles.

Once I’d completed those programs, I was ready to launch my career and begin giving back to the community. I created a profile on SoundBetter.com to start my mixing, mastering, and ghost production career, and I began creating course content for EDM Tips and Icon Collective as an instructor. Nothing was an instant success, and it was a ton of hard work to develop those programs, but I stuck with it because I absolutely loved every moment of it. Within a couple of years, I’d developed enough of an income in the music industry to support myself full time while still allowing time to create my own art.

Now, I spend about 20 hours per week working directly with students and mentees to help them level up their projects, another 10-20 hours working on mixing/mastering and ghost production projects, and the remainder of my time developing my own music for the re-launch of the Harmonee project.

For anyone wanting to transition into making a living in the music industry, the best advice I’d have is to simply get started and to approach any job you get with true passion. There’s no one path to success in music, and what’s best for you is truly dependent on who you are as an individual. One thing is for sure though – you won’t get anywhere if you don’t put yourself out there.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

More than anything, I just want to share my passion for music with my fans and to keep the culture of dance music alive and strong.

While the music I create speaks true to my own artistic self, I also want it to connect and resonate with as many people as possible, so that the mission and values of my broader artist project can be communicated with as many people as possible.

My project promotes love, fun, inclusivity, community, and playfulness, and I want everyone who interacts with my projects to feel every one of those values – whether it be at a live show or simply listening to my music at home & with friends.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I first started the Harmonee project, I over-engineered the direction for the project in my mind. I thought I had to define a one-way story, vibe, and sound, and that deviating from that would only hurt my project. I’d look at my favorite artists and projects and think, “this is what I HAVE to do to succeed”.

Beyond that, I thought that everything I made had to be “happy” to communicate the values behind the Harmonee project.

In that initial thought-process, I ended up really limiting my creativity – and as a result I was keeping my true artistic self from ever truly thriving. After a couple years of forcing myself down that one-directional path, I found myself consistently uninspired and unimpressed with the music I was making.

So, I decided to put the Harmonee project on hold altogether, and instead I focused on simply developing my production skills. I took jobs engineering music in entirely different genres, including singer-songwriter, pop, rap, country, and more, and I began designing sounds for Slate Digital in the darker hip hop and trap genres.

Through that break and exploration, I found my creativity really start to come alive again, and I felt free to make whatever I truly wanted. Now, as I’m getting ready to re-launch the Harmonee project, I’m going to be tackling a much wider variety of sounds and styles than my initial vision allowed for. There will still be some happy uplifting music along the way, but I’ll also be introducing darker and moodier music in deep house, bass, and trap music down the road.

I’ll still hold the core values of the Harmonee project close to my heart, and if anything I’ll be even more closely aligned with them.

Contact Info:

• Website: harmoneemusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harmoneemusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarmoneeMusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neelerickson/