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Cover Story
Eric Aukstikalnis has been working simultaneously with international DJ and legend,Steve Aoki since October 2020. A record where Aukoustics and Aoki collaborate with featured artists Gatuso and MKLA expected to release June 2021, counting as Aukstikalnis’ fourth major release of the summer, following “Stars In My Eyes”, “Missing You,” and “Wasted On You,” which just hit 200,000 streams on Spotify in 28 days. PHOTO BY ANTONIO JOSEPH MARRONE
Nichols grad Eric Aukstikalnis traded a career in finance for making ‘Monster’ hits
Liz Fay Special to Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK
In January 2018, Worcester native Eric Aukstikalnis took a brave leap of faith when he packed up his life in Massachusetts and moved across the country to Los Angeles in pursuit of his dream career as a music producer. In 2017, Aukstikalnis graduated with a degree in finance from Nichols College, where a former finance professor personally recommended him for an elite position as a financial analyst and promise of a six-figure starting salary. h Unwilling to settle for a standard 9-5 job, Aukstikalnis followed what he described as “a gut instinct” to choose music production over a corporate career. Aukstikalnis had a keen ear for music from a young age. Longtime friend and collaborator Worcester singer/songwriter Sam James noticed Aukstikalnis’ musical abilities long before the already multifaceted producer decided to pursue music full time.
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“I remember him coming over my house in Sturbridge years and years and years ago,” James said. “He’d bring his piano with him and come over just to make songs for fun in my home studio, and even then I always knew he was talented.”
Receiving recognition from a local star like James was surely a positive indicator of future success for Aukstikalnis, but little did the pair know that in just a few short years they would come together to produce multiselling hits.
Aukstikalnis recalls his first year on the West Coast as a challenging period of life changes, career struggles, and isolation after leaving behind many long-term relationships.
“I was going through a really, really, really tough time mentally. I had just moved to LA, and I was going through a lot of different things in my personal life. My music wasn’t really taking off the way I hoped, and it was just kind of like a rock bottom period of time for me because I gave up all my friends and family, and left everything behind to go pursue a dream in LA and sleep on a couch,” he said.
Despite its shortcomings, Aukstikalnis’ new life in California wasn’t all bad. Aukstikalnis was fortunate enough to have a small but close-knit team around him able to understand and support his career goals, all while teaching him the ins and outs of the music business. Aukstikalnis’ manager, Ernest Osei, and career mentor, David Saint Fleur, a Warner Bros. A&R executive, both natives to Worcester, helped keep Aukstikalnis on the straight and narrow path when the going got tough.
Osei met Eric in 2012 while the two were working as caddies at Worcester Country Club. Early into the friendship, Aukstikalnis shared one of his rap songs with Osei on Facebook. Osei was immediately taken by Aukstiklnis’ gift for writing melodies. “Eric sent me one of his songs, which at the time he was a rapper, and I noticed the great melody he had on his hook. So I asked him if he wrote for artists on the side, and when he said he didn’t and that he just enjoyed making music I told him about a team of composers that I’d been working closely with, and soon after took him under my wing.”
A couple of years down the road, Osei introduced Aukstikalnis to Saint Fleur, who was already a successful music producer working alongside such artists as Bebe Rexha, Dipset and Cassidy. Osei says Saint Fleur is the person who really “trained Eric’s ear to make a hit record.”
“Eric was actually a singer/ rapper when I first met him, but he was very, very musical,” says Saint Fleur. “So I remember the first time I met him we were at a studio session in New Hampshire and we ended up making a song together on a whim based off just a quick idea, that ended up landing us a cut with DJ Dzeko, who is now known for producing Jackie Chan starring Tiesto featuring Post Malone and Preme. So we ended up getting that cut just from the first time being in the studio together and ever since then we’ve been building records together.”
According to Saint Fleur, Aukstikalnis’ strength as an artist lies in his ability to think up creative, new ideas and bring them to life. “Eric is a Quincy Jones type of producer, he’s the guy to put in the room to get things started and come up with great, fresh ideas, and he’s a great songwriter too. He’s just very musical — great melodies and great concepts.”
Osei said that Aukstikalnis’ early challenges in LA had some benefits.
“Eric pulling off the transition to life in Los Angeles not only made him stronger as a person, but him coming out to Los Angeles inserted him into an environment surrounded by the best of the best from all over the world to compete with, which really pushed Eric to step up his game in terms of production and songwriting. He knew needed to make sure that when he would pitch songs, they would cut through the competition and be heard as undeniable hits, which ultimately made his product stronger.”
After 10 months of struggling to make his life in Los Angeles work, Aukstikalnis was finally presented with his first big opportunity when Saint Fleur sent him the concept of a song titled “Monsters,” which according to Aukstikalnis, is the project that really got his career moving.
“Monsters” was originally assigned to Worcester rap star Joyner Lucas, who was immediately taken by the concept. Lucas nailed his version of “Monsters” within days of receiving the project. However, the style of the record didn’t fit any of Lucas’ ongoing projects at the time, which led Lucas to sit on the song for two years in hopes of placing the track somewhere it would make sense. Sadly, Lucas eventually declined the opportunity to release his epic version, but can be heard on YouTube since being leaked by an unidentified user late 2020.
While waiting patiently for word about “Monsters,” Aukstikalnis still sensed a dark cloud of discouragement looming over him while in search of his next move, but all hope was not lost after contributing to “Monsters”, which gave Aukstikalnis an opportunity to “escape his mind, and think outside the box”. Only a month later, he delivered the now hit rec-
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ord “Faith” featuring American icon Dolly Parton and Swedish superstar DJs, Galantis, which recently hit over 100 million plays across all streaming platforms since its release in October 2019. After “Faith” served as Aukstikalnis’ formal debut into the music scene, he finally began to reap the rewards of hard earned success, as his music career continued to lift off like a rocketship.
By the end of 2019, a plethora of manifestations were coming to fruition for Aukstikalnis since 2013 when he cleverly invented his musical identity, Aukoustics, a play on words where he combined the beginning of his last name with his artistry. Over the last four years, Aukstikalnis has developed a handful of records, some of his most notable collaborations being the 2019 song “Get Like Me” starring Bhad Bhabie featuring NLE Choppa and “Mobb’n” by Kash Doll, both co-produced by Aukstikalnis. By 2020, Aukstikalnis was ready to start releasing records under his personal artist brand, Aukoustics. Such projects include “Stars In My Eyes,” “Wasted On You,” and his most recent, “Missing You” featuring DJ Tez Cady. “Missing You” released early May 2021, hitting 20,000 plays on Spotify within its first 48 hours. The 2019 song “Get Like Me” is another notable project co-produced by Aukstikalnis, starring Bhad Bhabie featuring NLE Choppa.
After two years of grinding away at other projects, “Monsters” worked its way back into Aukstikalnis’ orbit during fall of 2020 when Lucas made his final decision to pull his version of the record.
After receiving word of Lucas’ decision, the original songwriters quickly reassigned “Monsters” to internationally acclaimed DJ Dynoro with hopes of placing 2020’s newest rising rap and R&B star 24kGoldn on the vocals. With luck on their side, 24kGoldn agreed to take on the project amid being in the height of his popularity after releasing his 2020 single “Mood,” which during this time had been charting as the Number 1 song across the globe.
Nearly three years later, “Monsters” was released on all platforms May 28, paired with an extravagant music video, which, according to Saint Fleur, cost $200,000 to shoot. Aukstikalnis is credited for his contributions as a co-producer and songwriter on the track.
But “Monsters” isn’t nearly the last we’ll see of Aukoustics this season. Aukstikalnis has been working simultaneously with international DJ and legend Steve Aoki since October 2020. A record where Aukoustics and Aoki collaborate with featured artists Gatuso and MKLA is expected to release June 2021, counting as Aukstikalnis’ fourth major release of the summer, following “Stars In My Eyes,” “Missing You” and “Wasted On You,” which just hit
Eric Aukstikalnis at work at Universal Music Studios in Santa Monica. PHOTO BY VIVIAN NOURI
Ernest Osei
Aukstikalnis’ manager
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200,000 streams on Spotify in 28 days.
According to James, he and Aukstikalnis are joining forces once again to release another major project coming fall 2021, which James describes as “way bigger than ‘Faith,’” which was the pair’s first major record together. Aukstikalnis’ relentless dedication to his craft is undeniable, but is just one ingredient to his quick growth and impressive résumé. Aukstikalnis has the combination of personality traits necessary to succeed in a highly competitive business environment. An artist at heart, Aukstikalnis’ empathetic and personable nature make him a standout peopleperson, complementary to his eagerness to learn, willingness to explore fresh ideas, and ability to quickly adapt in new environments.
In fact, his mentor, David Saint Fleur, compares Aukstikalnis’ adaptability to that of a chameleon. “Eric is really good at adapting to his environment. When I first met him I didn’t know if he was a producer, songwriter, rapper, or singer. He’s kind of like a chameleon, he can master any environment you put him in, and he can play any role as a producer.”
Reflecting on his journey to becoming a professional music producer, Aukstikalnis hopes his followers are inspired enough by his story to go out into the world and pursue their own wildest dreams.
“In regards to the last four years, these opportunities have been the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life,” he said. “This journey has pushed me to grow out of my comfort zone, to seek discomfort in ways that I would’ve never imagined and experienced things I would’ve never been able to, had I decided to sit at a desk job fresh out of college. It’s the memories I’ve made over the last three and a half years, and the many ups and downs that have helped me evolve into the man I am now and the person I’m still evolving into. … My dad told me from a really young age, ‘Eric, I want you to follow your dreams,’ and I live my life by that motto. This has all been a dream come true, and this is only the beginning of my story.”
Follow Aukoustics on all streaming platforms and on social media @Aukoustics.
