Dennis Erickson, a Tacy volunteer throughout middle and high school, is now a college graduate. In the following article Dennis describes his current musical life as CAEZZURA. This article is reproduced from Voyage Maryland Magazine.
Dennis writes: “I want to reinforce that the message I want to portray to young artists is to really listen to themselves, create with authenticity, and do not do punk stuff just because it looks cool. It is important that I am encouraging the pursuit of authenticity in the face of "no one else around me is doing it!”
Today we’d like to introduce you to CAEZZURA.
Hi CAEZZURA, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I began music around 4 years old — as a classically trained pianist. I grew up with private lessons which also included studying music theory, which I loved. It did not take long for me to become interested in composition. I was intrigued by what went into writing a piece of music that I found interesting. Acoustic composition remained a hobby of mine all the way through high school. Towards the end of high school, two things had happened musically: my taste had shifted from “normal” music to acquired-taste avant-garde music that seemed to break all the rules, and my start in electronic music happened through sound design so I could build the sounds themselves from scratch. This led to me beginning my undergrad at the University of Maryland College Park in 2020 where I pursued a music composition degree.
Two specific people served as the spark that started my career in heavy electronic music. In the summer before my sophomore year, I met a rapper who goes by Quad the Dark God, through a friend of ours. I had never heard of the genre trap metal before, so when he showed me his works-in-progress where he was yelling over 808s deep-fried in distortion, I was immediately captivated. He invited me to his first show in March 2022, which was in the garage of a house in College Park. It was dark, humid, and packed shoulder to shoulder with sweaty people. The wall behind the area designated as the stage had visuals projected onto it, and the PA system was way too big for the room. Quad’s stage presence alone started mosh pits while the rest of the crowd rippled outward trying to keep the pit contained. Later in the show, I watched the set of another rapper who goes by Death Bard Thanny. My first impression of Thanny was him crowd surfing as he performed while also trying to avoid the ceiling inches from his face. Remember that up until this point, I only had experience with concerts where people are seated and expected to behave and stay quiet until after the piece is over. I remember returning to my dorm the next morning and thinking that that show was the coolest thing and that you don’t need to have “made it” to do it.
Fast forwarding from 2022 to the time of writing this (August 2026), I am proud to say that I have been able to achieve many things. I have laid a strong foundation for myself in the underground. I have traveled far away from home just for my music. I have DJed and played countless shows ranging from trap metal to dubstep to hybrid shows with metal bands. I have been responsible for directing and codirecting almost 20 underground music events, alongside Quad and Thanny, at venues in and around the DC area in the last two years. I have been building myself up as a producer and engineer to be able to help others create their music and materialize their vision. I have met and collaborated with bigger artists I look up to — artists who first used to be just a name that seemed untouchable to me. I have completed my bachelor’s degree in music composition from the University of Maryland, and I have somehow also found the time to earn a master’s degree in computer music from the Johns Hopkins Peabody Institute, both of which I am extremely fortunate to have been able to do. But most importantly, after all this time, I am finally creating music that feels authentic to me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Between 2022 and 2025, I struggled with detachment from my work. Towards the end of my freshman year of college, I realized I was not connecting with the music I wrote for credit towards the music composition degree. I did not prioritize EDM either because no one around me did EDM as their main pursuit. I was torn between what I valued in having a degree and what I actually liked. Plus, I also felt that electronic music was probably not the best use of the resources available at a school of music that was entirely acoustic music. That being said, it was not a matter of someone saying I couldn’t do it—it was that I felt like no one said that I could. I placed myself, unknowingly, into an environment for years where I was the only one doing something, and that can be an isolating place to be.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My stage name is CAEZZURA, and I am a tearout dubstep artist, trap metal producer, DJ, recording/mix engineer, and occasionally a DIY heavy music event organizer. The name was derived from the Latin word “caesura”, a term used in music and poetry to denote an unmetrical break in time or meter. In other words, a strategic silence. Tearout is a subgenre of dubstep characterized by noisy percussive stabs over distorted basses. I often describe it to the layperson as the heavy metal of dubstep. Trap metal is a genre of rap that began as rap with harsh vocals over electric guitar riffs and 808s with a hip hop style of production, but over time it has become an umbrella term for all scream rap over chaotic beats. As a producer, I am most interested in the instrumentals first, then followed by how a rapper chooses to place their lyrics over it. The music I write draws inspiration from dubstep and trap metal production techniques, and I believe this specific combination is what sets me apart from the rest. I love these styles of music because of how abrasive it is. DJing for me comes in two forms. As a dubstep artist, DJing is my means of performance. Here, I am center stage and on the flyer as a main act. In the trap metal scene, DJing is a service I provide to manage the setlists of rappers on the show and fill the silence between sets. Here, I am a background character that supports the flow of the show. Being a dubstep producer provides me with a set of skills that align with the tastes of musicians in heavy genres. This allows me to have a client base of artists to record and mix for, and I am hoping to add heavy metal to my portfolio soon. Additionally, having a network like mine gives me the opportunity to create opportunities for artists around me, provided I have the bandwidth to take on the administrative tasks of hosting events. I volunteer my own abilities as a DJ and AV technician to not just cut costs, but to build, from the ground up, events for the underground artists who deserve to be seen. I am proud of the work I have done in recent months. This year has already been the most affirming year of my career as an artist. I have done more things at a higher caliber and in a shorter amount of time than I thought I would be able to at this point, and I still have things to look forward to. I am hoping to take this as far as I can.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
To quote myself from earlier, “it was not a matter of someone saying I couldn’t do it — it was that I felt like no one said that I could”. There is still an issue implied here, and that is that I was waiting to be allowed to make a move. Therefore, the lesson learned is you don’t need permission to create the art you want to create.
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