Eric Prydz talks EPIC 2.0 ahead of back-to-back NYC shows, plans to debut new Pryda originals
For the first time in its history, Eric Prydz’s EPIC will be touching down on American soil, starting with a two night performance at Manhattan’s Hammerstein Ballroom. An artistic and highly stylized experience, EPIC 2.0 is set to break new ground and redefine the expectation of a “DJ-in-concert” experience. In sharp contrast to many of his peers touring performances, Prydz and his team will be performing 100% live this time around, piecing together the music and the visuals on the fly. It’s no secret that Prydz’s legacy comes from his own deep love for the music, a sort of art for arts sake approach during a time when clarity of vision has been replaced with over-the-top pyrotechnics and flamboyant showmanship. “For us, as a team, and me, as an artist, when you do these big live shows, most of them are pre-planned. The scale of the production, the pre-planning and pre-programming to make everything work together — it’s too static and boring. With EPIC 2.0 my team and I decided we didn’t want to do that, we didn’t want to be boring, so we are doing it live. It’s not just me playing whatever tracks I want, it’s live across the board, the visuals are live, the music is live, it’s just like we are all jamming.”
With back to back days in one of the most discerning electronic markets in the US, Eric understands the need for creativity, especially since many fans have purchased tickets for both nights to see him perform. “Every show will be unique, that’s the beauty of it. I never pre-plan what I am going to play. Maybe I know the first track that I am going to open up with but from there it’s all in the moment. There has been so much press about DJs just pressing play and I don’t want to be part of that trend.”
The greatest challenge for the EPIC 2.0 team lies in its execution, while there may be only Eric behind the decks, there is a large team of VJs handling the holograms, lights and LEDS. “It’s a real team,” Prydz explained, “I think that because we’ve been working together for a lot of years on EPIC we believe that this is something that we can do and there is no reason why we shouldn’t. It’s going to be a fun experience for us and a fun experience for the fans. A lot of people bought tickets to both shows and I want people to get a unique experience each time they come to an EPIC show. For me personally I want to do something different every time to keep things interesting.”
The execution and visuals aren’t the only thing that is going to be unique to the EPIC 2.0 experience, Prydz has been holding on to numerous new productions that have never seen the light of day just so he can debut them at EPIC. “There are also going to be tons of edits of Pryda and Cirez D tracks. There is a lot of new music definitely.” For fans looking for classic Pryda to make its way into their evening, there is little room to worry; “I want to play the classics because it’s Eric Prydz in concert so it has got to be a spectrum of old and new, but for me to go back and play a track I made 5-6 years ago in its original form? That’s a bit boring. I always do EPIC edits of my tracks, and that’s what I did this time around too.”
After being in development for over a year and a half, during which the team needed to solve the original EPIC’s problem with portability, Prydz’s EPIC 2.0 experience is finally transportable, scalable and more ground-breaking than anything he’s done before. “We wanted EPIC to be an extension of the music, that fifth element, the final piece in the puzzle that truly amplifies the music and the experience. I am confident that we have accomplished that goal.”
When asked how it looks, Eric just laughs “I’m the wrong person to ask that question, I’m always DJing so I can’t see anything. But whenever I ask someone after rehearsal ‘How’d it look?’ the response is always… ‘Incredible.'”