Today we’d like to introduce you to Erik Helmstetter.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Trancension Music is an LLC that is rapidly growing and is a very different company than it was a year ago. Working closely with Nico Hartt who manages all the day to day operations, we have monthly residencies at SPIN nightclub playing Trance and at Avenue in PB playing Techno. We also have our own merchandise line, several trademarks in our name, a weekly newsletter and we have started a music label with the first release coming later this year. Additionally we have two boat parties planned, two colab events coming in May, as well as a few more events up our sleeve. In addition to our residencies, Trancension has taken over and owns the Lucent Nights brand where we do bigger events at SPIN such as two high end shows with artists such as Ruben de Ronde, Sneijder, Jody 6 & Greg Downey,
Trancension was started in 2018 by Jonathan Lestat and was focused on bringing like minded music lovers together by doing dance events in various spots in San Diego with a monthly residency at the AC Lounge in North Park. When Covid hit, Trancension began doing Sunday music streams on Twitch and was regularly getting hundreds of viewers per show. During this time, I (Erik Helmstetter) who am a Financial Advisor used the extra time to delve deeper into DJ’ing and to improve my skills there. I was eventually asked to play a set on Twitch, and really enjoyed it and became friends with Jon and the rest of the Trancension Twitch team. Once clubs reopened I was then asked to play a live set at the AC Lounge which went very well.
As time went on Jon decided to leave San Diego and given my business background and obvious love for the music, I was asked if I would be interested in taking over the group. In addition to being around music itself, I really enjoy running a company and learning all the business aspects of the entertainment industry.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Navigating a music scene that is dominated by huge companies with large budgets that operate in multiple cities has been tough to compete with for sure..
Also advertising ourselves to the community and getting younger people to become as passionate about this music as we are has proven tougher than expected.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Trancension Music?
I am the owner operator of Trancension. Also though I am the only employee, the company has amazing music residents that volunteer a lot of time to do the events and activities that we do. I manage the day to day finances and top line organization of the company, as well as reaching out to talent to play our shows.
That being said this would not exist for the rest of the team who are acknowledged in the credits below.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Nico Hartt, Kailey Grace, Tony Komodo, Matt Woolverton, Billy Bruce, Katrina Cameron.
Although I called them residents earlier, these guys are the heart and soul of Trancension. They also love the music and the community and put hours of their time into everything from event set up, social media posting, marketing, graphic design, merch ideas, and many more things.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.trancensionmusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trancension/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trancensionSD
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/trancensionmusic
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/trancension
