Life lessons from the DJ booth | ELEW

Summary

TED Talks Daily: “Life lessons from the DJ booth” — ELEW (Eric Lewis)

Date: May 18, 2026

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Overview

In this engaging TED Talk, renowned rock jazz pianist and DJ Eric Lewis (aka ELU/ELEW) shares his unique philosophy: we are all DJs navigating the unpredictable club of reality. Drawing from his personal journey—from classical prodigy, through creative struggles, to nightclub DJ—ELEW explores how adopting the DJ mindset has shaped his outlook on life, choices, and well-being. He interweaves personal stories, neuroscientific insights, and lessons about resilience, empathy, and adaptation, finishing with a dedicated musical performance.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The DJ Philosophy: Life as Club Reality

• Central Metaphor:
  • We are each DJs, Club Reality is where our lives unfold, and our choices are the tracks we drop.
  • Quote: “The choices that we make are the tracks that we drop, and the perceptual entity that we identify with... we are the DJs.” — ELEW, [03:55]
• Daily Plans vs. Reality:
  • Even with our best-laid plans, reality (like a chaotic nightclub) throws surprises and forces adaptation.
  • Quote: “Every day, we approach with some sort of plan... Well, then, of course, Club Reality comes along and oftentimes... sets everything on fire.” — ELEW, [04:16]

2. Personal Journey: From Jazz Prodigy to DJ

• Origins:
  • Started piano at age two, part of a multi-generational family tradition.
  • Discovered jazz through his mother, became passionate, but felt out of sync with the jazz industry, which led to anxiety and innovation.
  • Developed his own “rock jazz” style in response to personal and industry pressures.
• Nightclub Discovery:
  • Immersed himself in New York City nightlife at clubs like 1 Oak and Finale.
  • Virtual DJ Masters:
    • Hip Hop DJs: “It seemed like they had multiple arms.”
    • EDM DJs: “Mythical eldritch energy guys... Is there a mammoth in the room?” — ELEW, [05:45]
  • Observed the artistry and technicality in DJing, decided to learn despite initial overconfidence.
  • Quote: “I thought it would be easy given my piano background. And of course, I was dead wrong. Reality had much different plans.” — ELEW, [06:52]

3. DJing Skills Transfer to Life

• Empathy and Sensitivity:
  • Success in DJing (and in life) isn't just about technical skill, but about reading the room, preparation, timing, and empathy.
  • “It's so much about empathy and sensitivity and rigorous preparation. Ultimately, it enhanced my common sense.” — ELEW, [07:17]
• Practical Wisdom:
  • Matching music to the moment is like matching your choices to context—don't play high-energy tracks in the wrong setting (i.e. no “huge Avicii EDM rager at a lunchtime cafe”).
• Neuroscience Analogy:
  • Our brains function like mixers: right and left hemispheres, with the corpus callosum keeping things in sync.
  • “We're DJs organically.” — ELEW, [08:05]
• Innovation:
  • Developed “piano turntablism” (playing two songs at once on piano).
  • Notable Moment:
    • Sting hears it; this leads to ELEW opening for the superstar. “Pretty funny.” — ELEW, [08:33]

4. Coping with Anxiety: The Mind as a Club

• Psychological Impact:
  • Adopting the DJ lens helps ELU cope with panic attacks and depression.
  • Mantra:
    • “My mind is the club, I am the DJ, my choices affect the atmosphere. So let's keep that atmosphere groovy.” — ELEW, [09:05]
• Universal Application:
  • Encourages listeners to use the DJ framework as a tool for resilience and positive self-management.
  • “No matter what life throws at us, we can always be enhanced by thinking of it as if we were a DJ. Because in the end we—we are all DJs.” — ELEW, [09:25]

5. Musical Performance

• Original Piece: “The Inspirer”
  • Dedicates performance to the audience: “I find you all so very inspirational and so very groovy. Please enjoy.” — ELEW, [09:35]
  • (Musical segment begins.)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “We are all DJs. The club we exist in is called Club Reality. And the choices we make are the tracks that we drop.” — ELEW, [03:48]
• “No matter what happens, no matter how improbable or absurd the load, we have to bear it like the mythical Atlas, we have to keep those tracks spinning.” — ELEW, [04:28]
• “It seemed like they had multiple arms... [the EDM DJs] were like mythical eldritch energy guys... Is there a mammoth in the room?” — ELEW, [05:45]
• “I thought it would be easy given my piano background. And of course, I was dead wrong. Reality had much different plans.” — ELEW, [06:52]
• “My mind is the club, I am the DJ, my choices affect the atmosphere. So let's keep that atmosphere groovy.” — ELEW, [09:05]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:45] – ELEW Introduction, central DJ philosophy
• [04:16] – “Club Reality” metaphor and facing unpredictability
• [05:30] – Discovery of DJing in NYC nightclubs
• [06:52] – Learning curve and humbling DJ experiences
• [07:17] – Empathy, preparation, and common sense in DJing and life
• [08:05] – Neuroscience mixing-desk analogy
• [08:29] – “Piano turntablism” and Sting connection
• [09:05] – Coping with anxiety; mind as club mantra
• [09:35] – Performance of “The Inspirer”

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Conclusion

With humor and honesty, ELEW (Eric Lewis) argues that anyone can harness the flexibility, creativity, and resilience of a DJ. By accepting our unpredictably wild “Club Reality,” feeling out our choices with empathy and presence, and tending to our internal atmosphere, we can spin our own “groovy” tracks through life’s chaos.

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For more on TED’s curation or to explore further talks, go to ted.com/curationguidelines.

Transcript

[Elise Hu]

You're listening to TED Talks Daily where we bring you new ideas to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Every day you show up with some version of a plan, and every day reality might have other ideas how you respond in that gap, that's the track we drop. As concert pianist and DJ Elou says,

[Eric Lewis (ELU)]

no matter what happens, no matter how improbable or absurd the load, we have to bear it. Like the mythical atlas, we have to keep those tracks spinning. Our life choices. We have to keep everything going on.

[Elise Hu]

ILU born Eric Lewis is a rock jazz pioneer and one of the most inventive pianists today. In this talk and performance, he traces the unlikely journey from classical prodigy to New York City nightclub regular and shares what he learned along the way. A philosophy that changed how he plays, how he thinks, and how he moves through the beautiful chaos of everyday life. That's coming up right after a short break.

[Paige Desorbo]

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[Eric Lewis (ELU)]

My philosophy is that we are all DJs. No matter whether you're a schoolteacher or a neuroscientist or a VC genius or even a piano player, we're all DJs. I think that the club that we exist in is called Club Reality. And the choices that we make are the tracks that we drop and the perceptual entity that we identify with that is us. We are the DJs. Now. Every day we approach with some sort of plan, some sort of gentle idea that we're going to execute. Well, then of course, Club Reality comes along. And oftentimes, like with the flights, like with all other kind of things, sets everything on fire. No matter what happens, no matter how improbable or absurd the load, we have to bear it like the mystical atlas, we have to keep those tracks spinning. Our life choices, we have to keep everything going on. And it's not like we have much of a choice in the matter. I mean, you can't stop feeding your dog or you can't stop closing that million dollar deal. We just have to keep pushing forward and remember that we are the DJs. So I want to share with you how I came to this kind of concept. I want to share with you my journey into the world of DJing and how it affected my piano playing from a technical perspective as well as my thoughts, my life. When I was about two years old, my great grandmother put me at the piano and said, okay, it's time for you to become a Fourth generation piano player in our family. And so eventually my mother introduced me to jazz music and I fell in love with it. But I was always a little bit out of sync with the jazz industry. This led to panic attacks, which led to me creating my own cathartic rock jazz style. But it wasn't until I started hanging out at One Oak and Finale, these New York City nightclubs, that I became aware of the DJs and their art and their science. At 1Oak, there would be these hip hop DJ virtuosos. And I mean, it seemed like they had like multiple arms. But then the EDM DJs over at Finale, these were like mythical eldritch energy guys. They'd be immersing the room in, like, these amazing sounds. Like. I was like, is there a mammoth in the room? Either way, I was so fascinated with this stuff that I had to become a dj. And I began to think that these guys were like, logical extensions of like, Franz Litz and Fats Waller or. I had to become a dj. I said, I gotta learn how to do this stuff. I thought it would be easy given my piano background. And of course, I was dead wrong. Reality had much different plans. After a pretty embarrassing learning curve, I began to feel a little more comfortable with DJing. And I began to notice that it's so much about empathy and sensitivity and rigorous preparation. Ultimately, it enhanced my common sense. I learned stuff like don't play a huge Avicii EDM rager at a lunchtime cafe, and don't play obscure, amazing B side in the middle of bottle service at the peak hours of a nightclub. I actually studied the neuroscience of it all. And I noticed that even our brain is set up like a mixer. There's the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere and the corpus callosum that's stripped between the two of them. Keep them in sync. So we're DJs organically. I even came up with an idea I called piano turntablism. This kind of thing here, Playing two different tunes. Sting heard that. That's how I got the gig. I opened for him. Pretty funny. So ultimately, this all has helped me get in control of those panic attacks that I touched on, the depressions, all that stuff. My mantra is, my mind is the club, I am the dj. My choices affect the atmosphere. So let's keep that atmosphere groovy. I hope that you find this idea useful, applicable, because no matter what life throws at us, I believe we can always be enhanced by thinking of it as if we were a DJ. Because in the end we we are all DJs. Having said that, I'm going to play a quick tune for you. This is an original I call the Inspirer. I find you all so very inspirational and so very groovy. Please enjoy.

[Elise Hu]

That was ELU at TED Next 2025. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out [e-mail] curationguidelines and that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This talk was fact checked by the TED Research team and produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Greene, Lucy Little and Tansika Sangmarnivong. This episode was mixed by Lucy Little. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Ballarazo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.

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[Paige Desorbo]

Hey, it's Paige DeSorvo from Giggly Squad. Okay, wait, have you ever had one of those moments where you're like I should be doing something fun tonight and then you just don't because you don't have what you need because same. But recently I've been trying to be more of a yes person. And honestly, Amazon prime has been enabling that energy. Like the other night I randomly decided I was going to host a last minute Girls night. No planning, no groceries, nothing. And instead of spiraling, I just ordered everything I needed and got it that day. Snacks, drinks, even like random hosting things I absolutely didn't need, but emotionally I did. And suddenly it went from maybe next time to yes tonight. That's what I love. Prime Same day delivery makes it so you can say yes before the moment slips away. Because let's be real, the only thing worse than a bad plan is a plan you never make happen.

[Amazon Prime Advertiser]

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