Cleveland's DJ E-V Takes Over Terminal Tower, Delivers Wild Light Spectacle

Earlier this year, EDM artist and Cleveland native DJ E-V was walking around downtown contemplating what his next move would be during the pandemic. That's when one of his friends pointed towards Terminal Tower and asked, "What about there?"

That set the wheels in motion for one of the most epic DJ sets Northeast Ohio has ever seen. After cutting through a ton of red tape, E-V set up his turntables outside on the tower's observation deck and performed to a timed light show as a drone filmed the entire thing.

E-V will release the footage, which was filmed several weeks ago, to his YouTube channel and website at 7:00pm. Wednesday, October 7.

"Honestly, I couldn't be more happy and proud to be from Cleveland," says E-V. "This just solidifies how I want to put my city on the map when I'm traveling. It's always been a part of what I've done and it always will be." E-V, real name Eric Vajda, has spent the better of 15 years traveling the globe, perfecting his act as a "hybrid DJ" of various genres. He's recorded with platinum recording artists Machine Gun Kelly and Mike Posner. He's been featured on MTV and BET. But everything changed once the coronavirus pandemic hit.

"I was headed to a big gig in Miami the night when everything got locked down," E-V recalls. "Everything was flipped upside down within two weeks. There's been nowhere to DJ. I started wondering, 'What can I do?'"

So, E-V turned his attention to live streaming, an idea he'd been working with his producer on for a year. The plan was spotlight different locations around Cleveland - a rooftop overlooking the city, a Cleveland script sign and inside Ohio City footwear and apparel shop Xhibition.

"I really wanted to think outside the box," E-V says. "I wanted to do something that could live forever on the Internet that could live forever and a spotlight different locations that would make Cleveland look good. We used different lighting setups and it turned into this little art project."

Taking on Terminal Tower was a different kind of beast, however. E-V says he sent multiple emails to people he hoped could connect him with K&D Group, owners of the building. He then put together a proposal, which was approved, but only for inside the observation deck.

"I was like, 'What do you guys think about doing it outside?'" E-V recalls. "As many hoops as you imagine there are to jump through, there's those and then some. The FAA has to clear the drone to fly. The amount of people has to be right. It took three and a half months of planning and logistics. But we got it done."

The video E-V will drop on Wednesday showcases the hour-long spectacle. The DJ's back is to Key Tower with the night time sky lit up by city lights.

E-V and his team worked with Vincent Lighting Systems to reprogram Terminal Tower's light show, which typical changes from one color to the next at a slow pace, into flashy concert lighting synced with E-V's music set.

"This was the first time they did anything like that where the lights continuously move in crazy fashion," E-V says "People saw what was going on started Tweeting concerns like, 'What's going on with the tower?'"

The Terminal Tower performance is the culmination of E-V's new lifestyle during the pandemic. E-V was recently featured on the "Verizon Staycation Road Trip" video series in an episode highlighting Cleveland. Several of his live streams have been produced to benefit local charities. He's also, for the first time, managing his own artist, local singer-songwriter Siena Bella.

"We've spent a lot of time making music and developing her as an artist," says E-V. It was kind of my quarantine project. Life's definitely not what it was. But we've got more stuff coming up. More crazy live streams. And, hopefully, we have some gigs by end of year or early next year."

--cleveland.com