Vol. I, No. 8
Every once in a while you get to witness a star being born. Imagine if you'd had that chance with your favorite artist. What would it have been like to watch one of the greats rise from just a kid with raw talent to a truly remarkable household name? In Ludwig Persik, you can watch just that happening. He's on his way, and here's a sliver of his story...
Ludwig was five years old when he started making music. And I'm not talking about the kind of music you whip up on a Fisher Price plastic keyboard. I'm talking about Ludwig teaching himself to use his dad's four-track tape recorder to, as he puts it, "manipulate sound."
And he wasn't just making music. He was falling in love. With the art of music. At home, he memorized and sang the lyrics to everything from The Beatles to Velvet Underground's Heroin and Sex Pistols' Liar. Back then, Ludwig was growing up in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and for him, this music set the scene to his surroundings.
Anyway, by the time high school rolled around, Ludwig was a veteran of the music world. But he was still in school and he had to make a choice - to pursue his dream to make music, or to follow the more mainstream path of using his intellect to get into a good school. For me, someone who regularly profiles people following their dreams, Ludwig's inflection point is an interesting one: at a very young age, Ludwig had made an unusual realization, which was that he'd have to struggle in any competitive field in any career. So why not do what he loves and persevere in that competitive field?
So that's just what Ludwig decided to do. He formed a band and gave up his chance to study at an esteemed school. This was not without its moments though - moments of loneliness, tested faith, and "serious shedding of ego" as he says - but Ludwig managed to remain steadfast to his own path, realizing, as he says himself that "the grass is always greener when you generalize your own personal problems, pitting them against your own projections of the world outside your own."
Above is Ludwig's official music video for "Hallway Light". Follow him on Twitter and on his website at www.ludwigpersik.com. Buy his new album here.
Every once in a while you get to witness a star being born. Imagine if you'd had that chance with your favorite artist. What would it have been like to watch one of the greats rise from just a kid with raw talent to a truly remarkable household name? In Ludwig Persik, you can watch just that happening. He's on his way, and here's a sliver of his story...
Ludwig was five years old when he started making music. And I'm not talking about the kind of music you whip up on a Fisher Price plastic keyboard. I'm talking about Ludwig teaching himself to use his dad's four-track tape recorder to, as he puts it, "manipulate sound."
And he wasn't just making music. He was falling in love. With the art of music. At home, he memorized and sang the lyrics to everything from The Beatles to Velvet Underground's Heroin and Sex Pistols' Liar. Back then, Ludwig was growing up in Manhattan's Lower East Side, and for him, this music set the scene to his surroundings.
Anyway, by the time high school rolled around, Ludwig was a veteran of the music world. But he was still in school and he had to make a choice - to pursue his dream to make music, or to follow the more mainstream path of using his intellect to get into a good school. For me, someone who regularly profiles people following their dreams, Ludwig's inflection point is an interesting one: at a very young age, Ludwig had made an unusual realization, which was that he'd have to struggle in any competitive field in any career. So why not do what he loves and persevere in that competitive field?
So that's just what Ludwig decided to do. He formed a band and gave up his chance to study at an esteemed school. This was not without its moments though - moments of loneliness, tested faith, and "serious shedding of ego" as he says - but Ludwig managed to remain steadfast to his own path, realizing, as he says himself that "the grass is always greener when you generalize your own personal problems, pitting them against your own projections of the world outside your own."
Now Ludwig is once again embracing the fear of the unknown, using what he doesn't know to begin the next chapter in what he considers a lifelong path of learning. And what is that next chapter? Well, he has just gone on tour in Europe and America, playing solo and opening for Jamie Lidell. And, Ludwig has his first single coming out. It's called "No Go / Storm" (released by Iris Records) and it's debuting April 23.
It's incredible - a star is being born. A haunting, elegiac star of a performer whose music will really stick to your ribs.
