BASSHEADZ
Perpetual music machines in the valley
by Brennan Anderson
As Leon Erickson travels from class to class
at Houston Secondary School, an aura of soundwaves
perpetually encircle his 6’6” frame, leaving a wake of
sounds in his path. Like hearing a marching band from 20
blocks away, with muffled bass kicks and faint melodies,
you know that something fun must be going on. With
headphones perpetually affixed to his ears, or wrapped
around his neck, Erickson awaits any spare moment
to indulge his passion; each moment without music
is a moment waiting for music. As he walks the school
hallways riding his soundwaves,
he is immersed in a world of pure,
unadulterated satisfaction and bliss.
Leon Erickson has found what we’re
all looking for.
Like
most
16-yearolds, Erickson loves listening to
music, but since he has begun to
create songs and play with sound,
love has transformed into an allencompassing, unremitting passion,
one that motivates and fills his days.
When discussing his art, Erickson is
animated, loquacious, and focussed;
he has a musical maturity beyond his years, and an excited
drive and youthful ardour that is both contagious and
inspiring. When talking to him about music, it’s hard to
believe he’s only been producing songs for just over a
year. In that time he’s created over 200 tunes, gathered a
significant following on the music-sharing site, Soundcloud,
and played the iconic Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver.
Impressive work for a new musician, tucked away in
northwest BC and is only in grade 10!
Erickson was introduced to producing music
after moving from Burns Lake to Houston. “I wanted
to find something new to do, but in a small town like
Houston, it’s sometimes hard,” he says. Lucky for him,
the Houston Friendship Centre had lots of ideas. Darren
MacDonald and Travis Hebert, who worked at the centre,
welcomed Erickson with open arms, and introduced
him to the magic of producing music. “My buddy Travis
introduced me to a program that I use, FL Studios, and
[he] took me through some tutorials.”
Through the Teen Empowerment Awareness
Project (TEAM), Erickson worked with Hebert,
MacDonald, and a group of other kids including Stanley
Tommy, Erickson’s brother, on the art of working with
sound. The brothers were hooked, and began to make
music incessantly at the centre and at home. They started
with “dinosaur computers, that were really heavy and
big,” and made song after song with
wide-eyed excitement. After the
first week, they had enough tracks to
fill an album, and enough enthusiasm
to fill all idle moments with creative,
searching expressions that were
waiting to be captured, structured,
textured, and expanded upon.
The brothers named their project
Bassheadz.
Bassheadz wobbles, pops,
vibrates, shifts, compresses, expands,
and shimmers with experimental
flare. The brothers work within
various electronic genres and are constantly searching for
new ways to