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Psychology student by day and DJ by night, Eric Perrine, senior in LAS, has taken the Champaign-Urbana music scene by storm.
Starting piano lessons when he was very young, Perrine has been deeply involved in the music community ever since.
“It’s been quite a journey, so to speak,” Perrine said. “I started with piano, then I tried guitar, and then I went to viola. Then eventually I went to percussion in elementary school and I stuck with it. I just enjoyed percussion, snare drum, all sorts of stuff.”
Perrine operates under the alias “Seeking Polaris” when performing, and he first got into music production and EDM in January 2023 during the Marching Illini’s offseason.
“I still am a drummer,” Perrine said. “I’m in the Marching Illini right now, and I play the snare drum. Between that and then production, it led me to where I am now in terms of being a DJ.”
Fusing his drumline experience with DJing has allowed Perrine to find his own unique performance style, and he speaks to the importance of a good performance mindset.
“We can all play, but how do you perform?” Perrine said. “I’d say the mind, the mental component of it, and the mindset of performing that I learned from drumline has carried over into DJing in many ways.”
Perrine describes the genre he makes as Melodic Bass, a subgenre of Melodic EDM. This is just one of many different genres that exist under the EDM umbrella.
“Melodic bass would be the genre that I like to reside in really in terms of production and as a DJ; anything that is euphoric, melodic or cinematic,” Perrine said. “Something that kind of tickles the brain a little bit with certain different chord progressions and stuff that takes you on a journey.”
Perrine has released three singles on Spotify under the name Seeking Polaris over the last two years, and his song “Reverie” has been streamed over 444,000 times since its release.
“Seeking Polaris is just a one-man project for me, but ‘Reverie,’ which is a track I got super lucky with in terms of streaming, was a collaboration that I made with my good friend Matthew who goes by Wandarrin,” Perrine said.
Although performing onstage requires advanced technology, Perrine emphasizes that DJing is like playing an instrument.
“With a guitar, you see strumming, with drumming you see people with sticks but with DJing, you see a bunch of spaceship-like knobs and people moving them,” Perrine said. “It doesn’t mean they aren’t being musical or playing an instrument as much. It’s just a different way to approach performing.”
During his time at the University, Perrine has worked hard to revive the Electronic Music Club, an RSO where he currently serves as president.
“That’s been a huge passion project for me,” Perrine said. “We have lessons, we have an amazing officer team of both DJs and producers that will help you out, regardless of skill level. We designed EMC to be a cool, safe, creative space where anyone interested in electronic music is welcome.”
One year after his first DJ performance at the Canopy Club’s Electric Tuesdays, Perrine opened for iconic EDM producer and DJ Flux Pavilion.
“I got to open for him, and it was truly one of the most special nights of my life by far,” Perrine said. “It was just such a crazy moment, knowing that a year ago I had done my first 20-minute set and that here I am opening for one of my favorite ever EDM producers and DJs.”
Perrine’s creative process has evolved significantly since he first began DJing, and he emphasized the importance of creating a musical journey.
“To me, the most effective (set) always has hills and valleys,” Perrine said. “Give people time to rest and then bring them somewhere new. Make it so that when we reach the end of a set you feel like you’ve truly traveled somewhere with the group, with the crowd and you’ve gone on a journey.”
Looking forward, Perrine plans on keeping music and his DJ projects going after graduating, no matter where his career takes him.
“I’m going to make a point to myself to make sure that I am pursuing the Seeking Polaris project in some form,” Perrine said. “My main goal is that I don’t want to settle. Whatever ends up happening, whatever path I end up choosing, that I at least remain consistent in some way, in producing music, releasing music and performing music.”
Seeking Polaris can be found on all major streaming platforms and Instagram, with links and more information available through this Linktree.
“I have yet to find a medium that is as fulfilling in so many avenues as live music,” Perrine said. “Everyone being together and sharing one moment that only everyone in that room at that point in time can share.”
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