Elephante

Top Hits Song Highlights Intro

Garnering hundreds of millions of streams across his two EPs, including 2018’s Glass Mansion, which shot straight to #1 on iTunes’ U.S. Dance chart, Elephante is a wildly innovative musical producer, artist and songwriter that listeners can’t help but notice. His versatile soundscapes, fusing melodic electronic dance music with pop, blues and other genres, have earned kudos from Billboard, Rolling Stone and EDM.com, and blown away live audiences at major musical festivals as well as his nightlife residencies and sold-out national tours.

In the wake of his collaborative remix of Mako’s “Chameleon,” an electropop creation praised by media like Vents Magazine (“There is a thrilling dance-floor energy to this production, using uplifting strings and powerhouse drops to take it further”), 2021 promises an evolutionary leap for Elephante (pronounced like Belafonte), the nom de scène of American music artist Tim Wu.

A native of in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Elephante was immersed in music throughout his childhood, beginning with classical piano lessons at age five or six. Self-taught on guitar after discovering alt, indie and mainstream rock, from John Mayer to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, his musical influences broadened into hip-hop, from Eminem to Dr. Dre, as well as electronic. A competitive tennis player during high school, his skills and academic record earned him a “lucky” acceptance to Harvard, where he played tennis for two years while diving further into electronic music, playing open-mic nights and managing the campus studio. Pushed toward a sensible pre-med major, it soon became clear that being a doctor wasn’t in his future. In 2011, he graduated Harvard with a B.A. in economics and a minor in music.

Landing a well-paid management consultant job in Los Angeles, it wasn’t long before alarm bells were going off in his head. Now in L.A., he had dreams of getting into the music industry: creating song remixes of diverse artists from Calvin Harris and The Chainsmokers to Lorde and Katy Perry, developing his unique sound, and learning the craft of being a producer. He spent every free hour producing music and knew two things for sure: the corporate lifestyle wasn’t for him, and he would never forgive himself if he didn’t give music a real shot. Embracing “the elephant in the room,” he set his sights on the dance music sphere – and Elephante was born.

Signing with CAA in Summer 2014, Elephante began touring, playing college shows and other gigs, segueing into original songs after cutting his teeth on producing remixes. His first indie EP, I Am The Elephante (2016), established his persona and potential with an ambitious nine tracks, which peaked at #20 on the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. A seamless blend of progressive house, synthpop and trap – replete with epic bangers, emotional songs and groovy tracks, it served as a calling card. Singles included the soaring escapism of “Age of Innocence” (feat. Trouze and Damon Sharpe), the relationship-fueled “Closer” (feat. Bishøp), the percussive “Sirens” (feat. Nevve) and a nod to ‘90s hip-hop, “Hold” (feat. Jessica Jarrell). Billboard called it “crisp and layered… it seems to intentionally buck traditional categorization.”

Elephante’s second EP, Glass Mansion (2018), reached #1 on iTunes’ U.S. Dance chart, pushing beyond pure electronic music with cross-genre creativity and soul-baring songs of frailty and strength, with Billboard lauding that “each track has its own compelling backstory.” Singing lead for the first time on the illusion-busting Glass Mansion, the EP is also distinguished by such standout tracks as the self-doubter “Have It All” (feat. Nevve), the cowboy-confidence “Come Back for You” (feat. Matluck) and the bluesy, guitar-driven “No Room For Lovers” (feat. Crystal).

An engaging live performer beyond the studio, Elephante has appeared at major music festivals such as Lollapalooza, Made in America, EDC Las Vegas, Electric Zoo, Ultra Miami, Phoenix Lights, FVDED in the Park and Chasing Summer. Along with his own sold-out national tours, the Glass Mansion Tour (2018) and the Diamond Days Tour (2019), he’s also played a series of nightlife residencies, including Hard Rock, Hakkasan Las Vegas, Omnia San Diego and Wynn Las Vegas, where he began his third residency in early 2020 before the pandemic hit.

“The quarantine has distilled what excites me about music. It’s really raised the bar for what’s important in a song outside a live setting,” says Elephante, who continues to embrace a mission to write songs “that mean something to people.” Viewing electronic dance music as more of a technique than a genre, he feels most excited pushing boundaries and audience expectations. With hundreds of millions of streams and an ever-growing social media following, it’s clear that the medical and business world’s loss is the music world’s enduring gain.