Dr. Eric Schultz also known as “Schltz” hosted a party for the release of his album “Estuary,” on August 30 in the 1200 building. He discussed the process of creating his album and establishing a new artistic identity.
Schltz is a music production, theory and history teacher here on campus. He has spent most of his career as a classical composer, saxophonist, and music technologist. His musical interests range from acoustic and electronic, to mainstream and experimental.
Once on sabbatical, he embarked on the challenging journey of creating an album from start to finish and figuring out what was the proper way to release it as an independent artist in this complicated era in the music industry. He wanted to stay relevant with what his students are currently doing.
As students, friends, and faculty gathered for the “Estuary” listening party, Schltz opened up the night by thanking everyone for attending. Then we began the “Estuary” experience. The audience was energetic and grooving to the songs, as one song played after another, people would dance, smile and play the occasional imaginary instrument, needless to say, the energy in the room was electric.
Schltz credited Josh Ocasion, a Chabot alumni and one of his former students, for inspiring him to create his album. Josh later commented that he, “Felt honored that he was given credit but didn’t feel worthy.” Ocasion said Schltz was the person who set him on his path and has impacted his music tremendously. After listening to “Estuary” he felt inspired and very proud of his former teacher.
As we continued our experience we heard a song that expressed happiness, aggression, and liberation. We heard a range of instruments and sounds from the musical spectrum, some that are not usually paired together but were now complementary to one another.
I later asked Schltz what was an inspiration and influence for the album and he stated “‘Estuary’ is a confluence of multiple musical experiences. The tracks on this album are influenced by my grounding in the world of academic concert music, my explorations as an experimental art musician and technologist, my saltier times as a baritone saxophone player in jazz, blues and country bands, and my current life in which I am a professor of music production and beat making. I find the music on this album to be true to all of these influences, without having denied anything from any of them.” If you would like to listen to the album “Estuary” its available on Apple Music, Google Play, Spotify, Amazon, Tidal, and YouTube. You can also listen to the album for free and buy merchandise at schltzmusic.com. Happy listening.