“4th of July, driving down to the beach, I know a secret spot we can go.” Those are lyrics from Elijah Pressman’s debut song “Let’s Get Lazy.” Elijah, a current senior at Milken,  has turned his long-running love for music into his full-time passion, and rightfully so. He has released two songs this year, “Let’s Get Lazy,” and “City Lights,” which are currently streaming on all platforms. 

Elijah explains that he has always been into music, as he always has been surrounded by it. “My dad got me into drumming at around 3 or 4 years old, and given he owns a record label, music was always around me from very early on,” he says. As he got older, Pressman expanded his love for music and began exploring by playing various instruments such as piano and guitar. After a few years of playing, Elijah began to find more interest in music production. He mentions that his beat making, which started out as a joke with his friends, soon turned into him spending hours in his bedroom studio trying to learn how to “mix and master, and get that bass line sounding just right.” 

After his long journey of exploring music, Elijah has started to create what he describes to be Indie Pop. Pressman says, “This is a genre that has been gaining popularity recently.  It’s all a blend between 80’s pop and rock with a modern twist.” 

Following all this curiosity, hard work, and dedication, Elijah released his first two songs this year. His debut song, “Let’s Get Lazy,” is a lively tune he wrote with his friend, Jake Kolker while being quarantined together in early July. Exploring their musical talents as a pair was not new to them though, as they have been playing music together for years solely for their own enjoyment. While explaining the process of how “Let’s Get Lazy” came to be, Pressman says, “The first thing we came up with was the bassline, and when we heard it the first time, all the music followed suit.” The lyrics in his launching song, “But tell me why it takes you and me to make the fireworks explode, let’s not be shy tonight cuz my night is free and I got nowhere else to be”, expresses that the song is about someone who just wants to live life with a chill and laid back state of mind. He or she wants to be unbothered by their significant other but also loves spending time with them. Soon after “Let’s Get Lazy,” Elijah came out with a second song: “City Lights.” For this song, he says, “My latest release, “City Lights,” is all about the “honeymoon phase” in a relationship.  I know it’s a cliche but that’s okay.” The honeymoon phase in a relationship refers to the first few months when everything is just light, romantic, and fun. 

These songs have definitely been a hit, and not just at Milken. They have gotten thousands of streams, and students in the Milken Community and beyond have been very supportive by frequently playing and enjoying Elijah’s music.