Artist Profile: burch

burch, the alternative hip-hop artist based in Los Angeles, California, has taken a leap of faith with his newest EP, “deja vu”, and, in doing so, has cemented his movement away from electronic music and into a production-rooted, dynamic sound that represents the newest avenues of his creative energy.

Growing up in Columbus, Ohio, burch had minimal exposure to music; his dad was the type to drive with the radio off in favor of time spent in conversation, and the music he did listen to consisted primarily of Top 40 hits.

However, as a teenager, burch arrived in the moment where electronic acts were bubbling beneath and beyond the rave scene; artists like Flume, Louis The Child and Chrome Sparks captivated his imagination and drew him closer toward a desire to make music.

This budding passion grew stronger as a friend introduced him to Ableton, and, after saving up enough to purchase it for himself, burch began his first tentative steps into making his own music: sounds that were heavily influenced by the artists he had grown to love.

“When I look back on that time, it was the freest I've ever [felt while] working on music because there was no pressure of it ever coming out. So, even though I didn't… understand the traditional language of music, I felt like I could kind of do anything. With YouTube and all the resources that we have, anything that I needed I could look it up and try to make something happen. Back then my music was not good by traditional standards, but it didn't matter. It was just cool that I was making it.”

As burch went off to college at Indiana University, his own personal output gave way to a newfound side gig: DJing at campus parties. Through this hobby, he gradually learned about how audiences react to certain sounds and sequences, and, while he had stepped away from his own music for the time being, this knowledge would eventually be formative to his production capabilities.

When it came time to graduate, burch was still primarily operating in a DJ capacity, but, like many at that time, he had a crossroads in front of him; he had been offered a corporate finance job in Milwaukee, but he had also been accepted to a one-year program at the ICON Collective, a music production school in Burbank, California.

Ultimately, burch decided to take the leap, uprooting his life and moving across the country to revive and pursue his passion of making music.

His first EP, aptly named “the first one”, was born from this period in his life; he produced the entirety of the album, collaborating with a number of artists to provide vocals and fill out the tracks sonically.

Yet, after moving down to Los Angeles following his graduation from ICON, burch was exposed to an entirely new world of opportunities: one which he found daunting at first. 

“It's overwhelming, but, when you sit with it for a little bit, it almost flips in a way. I realized that there are so many people like me [in Los Angeles], which means that there is so much opportunity… I think at the end of the day, going out there and like making sh*t happen is the best way to advance yourself, not only in terms of quality of work as an artist but also climbing that ladder. When you look at it from where I'm at, it's like three Mount Everests stacked on top of each other, but, the more you get out there, the more you realize that you just start climbing and you don't even really notice.”

His newest EP, headlined by the dynamic and intricate track “radio”, represents both the confidence he has found in his own voice and the collaborative energy he has harnessed in his time in Los Angeles; the five songs on the project all cast off varied energies but remain united under the trademark sound of burch’s idiosyncratic production.

Now, as he begins to work toward his first larger project, an attempt to showcase his newfound voice and style, he has also diversified his musical portfolio, finding ways to maintain his output as he continues to hone his craft. As burch continues to find his footing in Los Angeles, it is certain that his next steps will be special.