Led by the Unknown
Ethan Immanuel Pelser's Lifelong Journey with Music
Article by Luke Swanepoel
A journey into the unknown is a labyrinth that runs deep within oneself. And any discovery made within this maze leads one further inwardly.
Ethan Immanuel Pelser has found that the walls of his labyrinth are shaped by sound. Through each moment of exploration and with each step of creating, does he carve through the illusion of sound and colour, revealing the ever-resonating source of the cosmos.
“It became this, like, labyrinth or this place for me to be a little bit more chaotic.”
As with any journey of creation, the starting point is often not too evident in retrospect – arising from a natural need for growth. The novelty inherently found in exploring oneself feeds the desire for self-expression. In these waves of constant discovery, Ethan has realised the necessity for a shifting perspective of creating music. The changing potential of the journey means that it has no bounds – the path runs winding beyond any limit.
“So I guess that's my ethos in a sense: this discovery. Mainly I don't want to try and create the perfect template then stick to it for the rest of my life. It's always going to change... There's like no threshold. You can literally do anything. And I wanted to stay like that, you know?”
Ethan has found many avenues to venture into through his music. e%m (pronounced like lime) has been his most personal project to date, forming before his days with Cistamatic and Broken Telephone. Being a session bassist for Kayla the Crow and playing with Ikeepitbutter has given him the chance to explore the varying degrees in which one’s Self can be expressed. With Cistamatic he feels a more daring freedom, which, by extension, he has cultivated within the production of e%m.
“I just kind of simplified it down. And the more shows I played with Gabby and everybody, I started like, changing my production style and I started finishing things a lot more quicker... Systematic, because it's our band, I'm a little bit more daring with how we play. And then with e%m, I'm like the most daring.”
Returning to the centre is necessary for balance – a constant outwardly expression can cause spiritual exhaustion. We cannot escape the interconnectedness of our relationships, psyche, and creative voice. What connects, however, is love, and at the core lies the Soul. With our lives centered around this zero-point, we have the power to allow transformative change.
“But in a sense, I think the burnout came from just my lack of a work-life balance, because I put myself quite in a unique position at Cape Audio Academy. I'm studying, and I'm also working there. And then I'm also doing shows on the weekend, and then I'm also playing in my church's worship band every Sunday.
Other things, like relationships and things like that, can also be a contributing factor. Working with friends as well, because you want to see them, but then you also want to talk about work...
But I am making more of a change to balance it out and revisit things. So like, leave and then come back. I figured that out now. It took me a really long time, and hopefully by the end of this year, I'm not exactly where I was the year before.”
Whichever way the music leads him, Ethan has found the perspective of his contemporaries and his audience to be highly valuble in divining his path. We often hold onto only what we know, disregarding the multiplicity of our life – forgetting our goal, remembering only the past, absent to the present.
“There's things that you build with your portfolio that you need to always have if you want to be a serious artist. And then the right people will contact you eventually.
I would say a key in getting things to work is just following up. You have to follow up all the time because people forget things.
You need a backup and that's how you keep going, you know, instead of just having it fall into nothing and then you don't do anything, even if you keep the momentum in a small way.”
We have to keep the explorative spirit alive. We must recognise when we are lost and return to ourselves in our own time. Ethan Pelser has discovered that the chaos of uncertainty can be your guide through life. No matter what is created and destroyed within this labyrinth, you are whatever emerges from the centre.
