Ian Erix
| Ian Erix | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ian Erix |
| Born | Long Island, New York, United States |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, Songwriter, Presenter, DJ, Actor |
| Years active | 2006-Present |
| Labels |
Ultra Records Sony Music Entertainment Warner/Chappell Nordican Music Group Misfit Mindz Entertainment |
| Website |
ianerix |
Ian Erix is an American pop singer and songwriter and is known as the leader of the Mutt Army, a movement of open-minded proponents for freethinking and self-expression that advocate against conformity and toward social responsibility. Erix was first signed to Transcontinental Records, Universal Music Group, Warner/Chappell and most recently Ultra Music/Sony Music Entertainment.[1][2][3][4] [5] [6] [7]
Career
Erix began his career as a DJ and Emcee from the early age of 9. He signed his first management and record deal with Transcontinental Records at age 14 which was headed by the now infamous boyband mogul Louis J. Pearlman. Pearlman is currently imprisoned for embezzling half a billion dollars in one of the largest ponzi schemes in history and stands accused of molesting several members of the famous groups he used to manage.[8][9] Some time after his relationship with Pearlman went bust, Ian began posting songs and videos on MySpace where he began to build an online following and eventually created a TV series with MySpace called "Journey Of A Rock Star". The series starred Ian as he traveled around the world to meet with fans from the social network on each continent.[10][11]
Erix's fanbase steadily began to grow and he amassed millions of song plays and video streams online. His singles began charting in various territories and he appeared on MTV as a performer and presenter in numerous countries and at some of the world's most famous music festivals such as Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival Europe. He had a major breakthrough in 2012 when he played his single, "Sex, Dance and Rock & Roll" in front of 2.5 million people onstage at a live New Year's Eve show in Brazil with David Guetta. Since that time, Erix has continued to tour extensively, visiting more than 70 countries thus far. [6] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]
In 2014, Ian recorded "Shangri-la" a/k/a "Rannalle" which is a song he wrote with Finnish boyband TCT and producer Erik Nyholm. In Scandinavia, the song was nominated for the 2014 summer hit by radio station The Voice. The song was originally ranked second but it eventually won the vote to be named Best Song Of The Summer. The track climbed to the top of the single charts for several consecutive weeks reaching #5 on national radio charts and #3 on the iTunes Download Chart. Overall, the song was the fourth most played radio song in Finland in 2014 and on 24 July 2014, it was announced to have sold enough copies to be awarded gold record status. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]
In 2015, Erix released the English language version of "Shangri-La". Ian's video premiered on Vevo in Spring 2015 and features Erix on a wild summer holiday in the notoriously hedonistic European party resort of Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. As of 1 June 2015, a month before the single's official UK radio release date, the clip had been viewed nearly a million times and had broken into YouTube's Top 40 pop charts in Europe. The campy party track received mixed reviews from media who either loved it or hated it. On July 10, 2015, in regard to Ian's video the UK's most famous newspaper The Guardian reported that "music is over because Ian Erix has spoiled it for everyone" and The Fix Magazine sarcastically printed that "the video is currently being considered as a recruitment video for the Islamic State". [29] [31] [33] [34] [35]
In 2016, Erix wrote, produced and released a 4-part music video film project called "Graffiti On My Heart". He stated in several interviews that the material was some of his most personal to date as it reflects on childhood abuse and the 2013 murder of two of his closest family members. After the debut of the music video quadrilogy film, a full-length album tentatively titled "Scream For Freedom" was announced for release sometime in 2016. Erix has said he will continue to combine modern dance beats and synth elements with tastes of punk guitars to create a pop sound he has recently begun referring to as Electro Punk Pop.
Personal life
It has become known that Ian was a victim of child abuse and bullying in his early years. His grandfather was then murdered in 2013 followed by his father being killed in a related incident two months later. Erix's short film "Graffiti On My Heart" touches on this subject matter and an introspective and grief-stricken Erix is portrayed graveside in his music video for "Time Machine". In various interviews Ian has stated that he hopes he can use the experiences he has shared in his music to help others overcome any hardships they may have to face in their lives. [13]
