ELEW: On Creativity
Marianna
Do you have a routine for entering into a creative headspace?
Eric
I definitely use chess as a mental sterilizer. But also I certainly have an operatic and visual arts mindset. Most of my creativity is connected to some kind of visual or more often, emotional portrait of a subject.
Marianna
Do you have habits you've built for yourself to foster creativity?
Eric
I think studying horror films helps me distill my creative process. Often the creative process resembles the intense struggle to escape symbolic situations that are typically native to horror films.
Marianna
Where do you think ideas come from?
Eric
Ideas are evidence of subtle cognitive associations becoming less subtle. They come from existential phenomenological substrates.
Marianna
What does creativity mean to you?
Eric
Creativity is like the breath of life, which is sweet and welcome and ever precious. It means everything.
Marianna
When do your best ideas hit you?
Eric
When I notice something interesting in life. Or Notice a sound that would be the perfect expression or picture of a feeling or a person who has impacted me somehow.
Marianna
How would you describe your creative process?
Eric
It is the bifurcation of mind and Fury.
Marianna
Has quarantine affected your creative process?
Eric
In my case, nothing has changed. In fact, I've had multiple creative and technical breakthroughs in my hermit type existence. I have an extrovert performer side but generally, I constrain my energies to the quiet spaces of meditative confinement.
Marianna
What unexpected turns did your life take to lead you to become who you are today?
Eric
I never expected that hardcore panic attacks and depression would result in me discovering a love for hard rock which would shatter my jazz consciousness but then ultimately serve to more perfectly realize it with the innovative techniques and identity I developed through the learning and exploration process.
Marianna
What sources of inspiration do you use to foster creativity in your work?
Eric
John Carpenter, Ozzy Osbourne, John Coltrane, Igor Stravinsky, Franz Liszt, Art Tatum, Beethoven, Akira Kurosawa, Jimi Hendrix, Pablo Picasso, Miyamoto Musashi, "Sweet P" Bobby Plummer ( a sadly deceased chess hustler who showed me so much )
Marianna
What creative accomplishments are you most proud of?
Eric
ELEW - And to the Republic, ELEW Plays Rosenwinkel, I'm very proud of having created a legendary identity along with the degree of skills necessary to immortalize it.
I’m very proud to have become a professional DJ with the highest level of clientele and finally that I finally have understood how to properly write and direct films.
Marianna
What do you think is something that the most creative people in the world have in common?
Eric
Focused Devotion, Precision, Aspiration.
Marianna
How do you make sense of chaos in your life?
Eric
There is no Dana, only Zuul... - Ghostbusters.
Marianna
Why do you think people get stuck on problems?
Eric
Imprecision + Aspiration.
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About ELEW:
Eric Lewis began his career as a jazz pianist, performing alongside Wynton Marsalis and Elvin Jones. A decade into his career he re-emerged as ELEW and began fusing his classically trained piano skills with modern pop and rock music generating a new genre of music called Rockjazz.
Lewis began his career as a jazz purist, playing as a sideman for jazz artists like Wynton Marsalis, Cassandra Wilson, Elvin Jones, Jon Hendricks, and Roy Hargrove as well as performing as a member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. However, he eventually became interested in rock music and embarked on a solo career as a crossover musician, quickly gaining recognition for his instrumental "Rockjazz" piano covers of mainstream rock hits like The Rolling Stones' "Paint It, Black" and The Killers' "Mr. Brightside". He released his first album of instrumental covers, entitled ELEW Rockjazz Vol. 1, on his own label, Ninjazz Entertainment, in March 2010.
He has performed at the behest of Google, Fendi, Disney, Mercedes Benz, Salesforce, and various Royal Families around the globe. ELEW has even taken Rockjazz to the White House, where he played for Barack and Michelle Obama in the East Room.
ELEW’s unparalleled creativity, innovation, and passion have propelled him to new endeavors in his career; that range from Composing for films, Screenwriting, Directing, DJ-ing, to speaking engagements for Fortune 100 companies and luxury brands.
His distinctive style has helped him to amass a large following of celebrity fans, including Barack and Michelle Obama (for whom he has played at the White House), Leonardo DiCaprio, Donna Karan, Téa Leoni, David Duchovny, Hugh Jackman, Forest Whitaker, and Gerard Butler. Throughout his career, he has performed with musicians such as Sting, The Roots, Natalie Cole, and Esperanza Spalding. In the spring of 2011, he joined singer-songwriter, Josh Groban, as the opening act on the American leg of the singer's Straight to You Tour. Around the same time, he appeared as a contestant in an audition on the NBC reality series America's Got Talent, where he received a standing ovation from the crowd and positive scores from all three judges. Despite his positive reception, he ultimately dropped out of the competition in order to tour with Groban.
His work on films can be heard on "The Great Debaters", directed by and starring Denzel Washington, "Girlfriends", "761st", "I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With" starring Jeff Garlin and Sarah Silverman and "Dark Country".
Most recently, he scored the feature film Revival! featuring Harry Lennix, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Chaka Khan.