S.C. Electronica Whiz Kid to Study with Grammy Winners

Erik “Cropley” Buell will be a senior at San Clemente High School in the fall, but he’s already ahead of the game when it comes to producing electronic music.

July 9, he’s headed to the electronic music production program at Grammy Camp, an educational seminar for kids who show promise in various aspects of the music industry. Buell is one of only 15 students  the camp selected from a nationwide pool of applicants for the electronic music program.

Buell, 17, is the president of the Music Appreciation Club at San Clemente High School. He has a budget recording studio in his home’s spare bedroom, consisting of a few pieces of audio equipment, including a keyboard and some industry-standard software.

“Even when I was young, I always enjoyed music a lot,” Buell said. “As I grew up and was exposed to different genres, I really liked electronica music, so I thought, ‘What would it take to make that?’ ”

He has the background in performance that can inform his brand of electronic music, which relies heavily on sampling other tracks.

“My parents made me take piano lessons, and I guess it paid off,” Buell said.

He’ll also get together with instrumentalists to create tracks in the spare room/studio. For example, he’ll create a beat on the computer using drum samples and a guitarist will play along, recording another track over it.

Only 111 kids from 93 cities in the U.S. will participate in the camp at USC’s Thorton School of Music July 9-17. According to the Grammy Foundation, Grammy Award-winning artists and songwriters have spoken to kids at camps over the past six years that the camps have been in existence.

Buell said his favorite artists include electronic groups such as Daft Punk, and his ultimate goal with his music career is to get his music into dance clubs. He most closely identifies his creations with the house music genre, but doesn’t like to pigeonhole his music.

“I really don’t know how to classify it just yet,” he said. 

Check out the video files that accompany this article for a few demo tracks from Buell, who goes by "Cropley" when releasing music.