Premiere: Meet Erik Sanders, who makes a return with Silk

Back in 2017, Australia quickly caught wind of Erik Sanders. Armed with his Allday-assisted break-out In The Air and its later follow-up Mission, the Brisbane-based rapper quickly flourished into an act on the cusp of a larger hip-hop revolution, becoming one of the first names of this exciting next generation that now, two years in the future, feels more concrete than ever. For Erik, however, he's missed much of this early wave. After being primed to become one of our rap circuit's next big things, he then took a year out of the spotlight to work on his craft and hone in on his skills, finessing a vision that now, a year in the future, feels more exciting than ever.

His returning single Silk is his first taste of this refined skillset and vision, and it's a clear-cut display of not just Erik Sanders' craft, but also what the future of Australian hip-hop may very well sound like. It's a mix of quick-paced hip-hop and his autotuned R&B croon, with a trap-rap production forming a pacing backbone for Sanders to flex his muscle above. Sitting a touch above three-minutes long, it's also evidence that Erik Sanders is able to bring his everything while keeping it short and concise; he doesn't have much room to play with duration-wise, so he keeps his pace focused and direct, a true talent only more relevant in the streaming age as he creates "a sonically accelerating atmosphere, a similar feeling to a racing or action movie scene."

There's more in the pipeline for Sanders, with Silk merely being a warm-up to what he has in store, but in the meantime, dive into Silk below with its official video clip by Sean Pyke, and better get to know him while you're at it.

Tell us about yourself.

I go by Erik Sanders and I’m from Brisbane, Australia. All I’m here for is to make good music and to go down as an iconic figure that represents hip-hop from Australia. I’ve been a presence as a hip-hop artist in my city for some time now but I feel that I’ve only recently come into my full form as an artist.

What are your production and writing processes like?

I usually work with my friends in my immediate circle on production. Sometimes song ideas spark up from random gems or phrases dropped in everyday conversation and I will keep certain words and themes stored in my notes to come back to, and build a complete idea out of it. Majority of my songs are freestyles off the top as well. I base my songs off the feeling and melody first. Sometimes when you’re recording a written verse, you can’t deliver it how you pictured and you get stuck on doing it that one particular way. I used to get stuck doing that. That’s why I started freestyling a lot, so that I could experiment limitless different approaches to the song.

Can you tell us about your new single, Silk?

This is one of those songs that I can always picture fitting so well into a car racing or action movie scene. That was always my aim when I started making music. For it to make you feel alive. I also design all of new songs specifically for performing live, so this is one of them.

Tell us about your upcoming EP and its concept. What can we expect?

On my upcoming EP, I wanted to focus on making songs that create a sonically accelerating atmosphere. I wanted to experiment with seeing how much of an impact I could make in noticeably shorter records. The whole project was made with the intention of going to the studio and making my next favourite single, until it became a completed body of work. The EP is titled Still Alive, simply because I can’t believe I’m still alive, and I’m thankful for that.

Any tour dates coming up?

I’m going to focus on doing shows and tours after I get more of my new music out. But stay tuned and see what happens.

What does the rest of 2019 have in store for you?

More music, more videos and more progression with my art.

Where can we find more of your music?

Erik Sanders on all of your streaming services.

Follow Erik Sanders: FACEBOOK