Caledon’s Ethan Luce is achieving his dream with his upcoming EP, the single “Airplane Mode” drops next week

By Rob Paul

For more than five years, Ethan Luce has been searching for the right musical vibe to define a moment.

In his fight to craft the perfect sound for how he's feeling on any given day, for any given situation, he arms himself with a guitar and pen.

Between strums of his guitar, he puts his carefully thought-out lyrics to paper and, in that moment, Luce can feel himself alive as he works towards his dream of making it as a singer/songwriter.

“You are one of 20 people on a red eye flight that has just taken off,” he says. “You didn't tell anyone you were leaving, and you don't plan to. Staring out your window, you admire the grid of lights that illuminate the city you call home... then suddenly, you're above the clouds; 40,000 feet above all the problems that are bound to the earth's surface... with no cell reception. As you put on your headphones, take a sigh of relief and relax, you feel a sense of tranquility and clarity that you haven't felt in a long time.”

That's how the 21-year-old graduate of Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School in Caledon East describes a true experience he felt that inspired him to write his upcoming single, “Airplane Mode.”

The single is set to debut on February 16 with plans for an EP later in the year. 

“Actually making a record has been something I've always dreamed of doing,” he said. “But it was never something I saw as a real possibility in my head because nobody in my family ever really got into music and, growing up, I was never really involved in it. I was always a sports kid. Then when the pandemic hit, I was already on the fence about the university program I was in, I didn't want to do online school, and I wanted to give music a real shot and put all my effort into it. So, I stopped going to university and put all my energy into making music and started taking online courses about music production. I also have a really good network of friends around me that are all into music, being creative and making music videos. I've got a team of friends who have made it possible for me to make a record.”

Luce's upcoming EP is years in the making and it's nearly done, but a recent injury to his vocal cords has impacted the timeline for when it will drop. 

“The EP probably won't come out until this summer, but I'm super excited,” he said. “I've been working on it since about Grade 12, so that's about four years. I started producing and recording about a year and a half ago, but I've been dealing with a vocal injury. I haven't been able to sing for about three months—I blew my voice out at a show. I didn't think something like this was even possible and I thought I'd bounce back quickly. After about a month of it not coming back, I saw a doctor for it and I've been seeing a vocal therapist. Honestly, it's still not back so I haven't been able to continue recording the record and that's been holding it up. I've just got to track vocals for one more song and then it's done.”

The goal wasn't just to put out a handful of tracks he's written, but it was to pull all the different music Luce enjoys and blend it together throughout the EP to sharpen his skills while also developing a unique sound. 

“It's like a ride, it's kind of a collage because I'm experimenting and not focused on one sound,” he said. “I've got one song that's a singer/songwriter vibe with beautiful cellos, another that's a true rock song, another that's got a beat I made and is more pop/hip hop—it's a good mix. Two of the songs that are on it and out already are called ‘Potion' and ‘FAM JAM.' ‘FAM JAM' is probably my personal favourite and is just sort of a song about the pandemic ending and being able to do things with family again—it's a feel-good vibe song.”

Having only begun his foray into music a few years ago, Luce is proud to have come as far as he has, especially when he reflects on his first time really learning guitar. 

“I started writing songs in Grade 10 and I had only played guitar for probably six months before I started writing songs,” he said. “I gravitated towards writing songs, I love playing guitar and producing music, but just writing has always been the main thing I love. I took a guitar class in Grade 10 and I always joke with my friends because guitar class was my worst mark in all of high school and now I'm trying to pursue it! Shoutout to my Grade 10 guitar teacher!”

Drawing inspiration from one of the most popular artists in the world, Luce doesn't like to pigeonhole himself into one sound and prefers to go whichever direction he feels best suits the moment 

“I always think of Ed Sheeran being in the scope of what I'm trying to create,” he said. “Almost because he does so many different things—he's made singer/songwriter albums, collaborative albums with hip hop artists, he's done pop. I kind of like to grab from everywhere, too, like that but this upcoming track (Airplane Mode) isn't really an Ed Sheeran vibe it's more of a rock song. I'd stick my sound with the pop genre because that's how I tend to write my melodies, but I like to draw from different genres—rock, pop, hip hop. I'm kind of still at the point where I'm just experimenting with what I like.”

While many musicians have felt the difficulties of the pandemic with live music being taken away for long stretches, the situation is actually what gave Luce a chance to hone his craft and realize his dreams. 

“I really took a leap into music when the pandemic started,” he said. “That gave me the opportunity to slow down and learn, and not feel rushed to produce music. I've enjoyed having that time to slowdown to write and make my music rather than feeling the pressure to play a bunch of live shows right away. When things did start opening over the summer and in September, I started playing with a band. I actually went to Robert F. Hall with all the guys in the band. They were all in the jazz band and I looked up to them when I was just starting music because they're all crazy musicians. One day, I reached out to them to play some shows and they were all down and it was kind of a full circle moment to be playing with the guys I admired in high school. We had so much fun playing live shows and having a crowd.”

Though he has plans to follow-up the EP with an album and play more live shows, it all hinges on when he'll be able to return to singing given his vocal injury, but it hasn't stopped him from starting the process. 

“I've actually already started recording the album, at this point because I can't record vocals with my injury, so I've been in my home studio and been trying to get better at producing and playing guitar,” he said. “I've been working on the instrumentals for the album, and I really want to play more live shows with the band too, but it's really a matter of when my injury heals.”