Interviewed by: Gio Battaglia
Music during quarantine is so important, and many people agree! We have seen many concerts organized by celebrities such as Elton John and James Corden, but it always important to recognize local artists as well. The Skate To End Hate, an organization that benefits the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, has created an event that spawns over the whole month of April spotlighting local artists, including Zach Eberts, scheduled to go live on April 9th.
Zach Eberts has made his way around the Rochester area. He has performed as the Season Opener singing the National Anthem for the Buffalo Bills, has been apart of the Camp Roc Star, a "a year-round music academy that provides aspiring musicians, of any age," and has even gone nationally taking home the first place prize on America's Funniest Home Videos.
Eberts also shares a lot of himself singing and performing and social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube, so an Instagram Live is not an unfamiliar word for Zach.
I took the opportunity to interview Zach to see what we can expect to see from his Instagram Live, and how music has been helping him through quarantine.
"How has music overall helped you during the quarantine?"
"Music has helped me during the quarantine by providing something that I love for me to do. Writing songs has been a passion for me and although quarantine isn’t ideal to get ideas flowing, it’s really nice to have alone time to really get my feelings out on paper and produce them, and I’m actually releasing my first song tonight on all streaming platforms! I also love covering songs, being cooped up in my house for a large period of time has also given me many opportunities to cover songs I love!"
"Awesome, it is amazing how much music can help during unexpected and hard times. What can we expect to hear during your set for Instagram Live?"
"Songs that I am planning on doing on my set during my Instagram Live performance, are a lot of popular songs at the moment. I’ve been really into Dua Lipa and her new songs, so i’m hoping to have some of those prepared before my show, and 3 huge influences for me are Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, and Billie Eilish, and their songs will definitely be on my set for my shows. I also may or may not be performing songs of mine that aren’t released quite yet, but am excited to share with the audience. Definitely stay tuned to hear some sneak peeks!!"
"Those artists are the best for providing great music in these times. What has been the top artist or song that you have had on repeat during quarantine, either when singing or not?"
"The number one artist that I have been obsessing over has to be either Dua Lipa, or early Ariana Grande. I love the nostalgic feeling of listening to Ariana's past albums, like "Yours Truly" and "Dangerous Woman". Dua Lipa also just released her second studio album, "Future Nostalgia" and I am in love!! Especially with the tracks "Physical", "Break My Heart", and "Don’t Start Now"!!
"Dua's album came out at just the right time. Everyone needs to take a second to get up and dance and that album does it perfectly! How has what you’ve done in the past shaped you for your Instagram Live performance?"
"I’ve always loved doing Instagram Lives, as I pretty much do them every other night, so I'm really excited to set up a nice space and provide music for people who love it!! I’m hoping to pull some of my followers over to come on to the live on the Instagram account, @theskatetoendhate, and I’ll be using that night to have some familiar users watching me!!"
You can catch Zach and many other local artists during the "Amped Up April Concert Series," hosted on Instagram by @theskatetoendhate, Monday-Friday at 7pm! You can also check out Zach's new single "Euphoria" on streaming services here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/zacheberts/euphoria