Ethan French, who describes himself as "slightly reclusive" and softly spoken, launched his Idea a Day series on Instagram last October as a personal discipline. The challenge was simple: force himself to create and post a bite-sized musical sketch every single day, without pausing to perfect it.
"Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but I've been a victim of eternally trying to work on something until it is," French said, speaking from the studio he calls his second home. "So Idea A Day was a way of pushing against that; record, release and then whatever happens next is out of your control."
His approach, layering expressive piano chords over punchy drums and deep, dynamic basslines, quickly snowballed. French has amassed nearly 900,000 followers since his first post and has caught the ear of industry heavyweights, including Pharrell, John Mayer, Justin Timberlake and SZA.
"It was truly bizarre, and I don't say that to sound humble; seeing artists who I look up to actually engaging with my work was baffling," he said.
French, who surrounds himself with instruments and admits he would happily spend his life "tinkering around on the piano," said the attention has upended his preference for staying tucked away in obscurity.