1) I travel the world with a monkey!
I've had him since i was born and have never flown anywhere with out him... by looking at him, most people might think he is just a stuffed doll but i know better... when nobody's looking, he comes to life and he's a real party animal!
2) I'm a pasta-terian!
If it once had a face then it ain't on my menu... animals are our friends not our food! It's hard to call myself a vegetarian though 'cause I don't really eat too many veggies... I pretty much live on spaghetti with tomato sauce and pizza!
3) I'm a TV junkie!
I watch like 15 different series and won't ever miss an episode... I'm usually crazy behind but binge watch whenever I can on the road, on airplanes or whenever I have time off... DVR, Netflix and TubePlus are my besties!
4) My favorite artist of all time was Michael Jackson.
I was so obsessed with his 'History' album when I was younger and then I was lucky enough to be in the same room with him a few years ago at the World Music Awards which was the first award show I was invited to... wish I got to spend more time with him and have a real conversation but hangin' backstage with him, just a foot or two from my childhood hero was so surreal and awesome... he obviously had some demons that sent him to an early grave, sadly, but I think he was really misunderstood and not nearly as strange as most people thought!
5) I've never been drunk!
The thought of losin' control of my senses just doesn't appeal to me at all and I can be my stupid, silly, crazy self and have fun without being wasted so I was never ever really tempted to try alcohol... believe it or not, I've never even had a sip... not even wine or beer! Also never went down the road with any drugs or smokes either... my dad beat an addiction and mentored kids that had substance abuse problems so I saw firsthand how destructive it could be so that whole scene just doesn't do it for me!
6) I'm a beach bum!
I was born and raised in New York and my family home is not too far from the beach on Long Island... we live just about half an hour outside of new york city but whenever I'm home and have downtime, you can find me skating to the beach if it's warm enough. When I'm touring and have any time off from music you can usually find me not too far from the shore too... some of my favourite beaches around the world are in Miami, Los Angeles, Croatia, Thailand, Uruguay and South Africa!
7) My favourite candy is chocolate!
I'm a sucker for M&M's and milk chocolate bars... I also really like strawberry sour straws... OMG, writing this is actually literally making my mouth water... time to go candy shopping!
8) I had a near-death experience at a show in Brazil!
I came off stage in Rio de Janeiro after being in front of the biggest live crowd of my life... 2.5 million people were packed into Copacabana beach for New Year's Eve, it was INSANELY epic... I had a couple hours before i had to get back to the stage to intro David Guetta and decided to get something to eat and got the genius idea to try exploring the local streets... figured I was a new artist and wouldn't get recognised that much but I never mind when fans come up to me anyway so wasn't worried... I also had two huge security guards with me who were my guides and translators so didnt think it'd be a big deal at all... boy was I wrong.
It was one of the only times on tour that I've gotten truly and legitimately scared for my life... there were just soooo many people squashed into those streets that it was nearly impossible to move and as soon as I was noticed, there was a rush of people trying to take pictures and talk to me which would normally be totally cool but there just was not enough space for the amount of people that were surrounding me... when they started pushing, all hell broke loose... I got separated from my security and nearly knocked over by the intense crowd... it got to the point where everyone was just pushing each other to stop themselves from being trampled and I don't even think they cared that I was even there anymore! I nearly got thrown on the floor and stampeded over... my heart was going a hundred miles per hour and I really thought I was about to get seriously injured or worse.
I managed to make my way to a parked SUV and pulled myself up on the hood of the car and then onto the roof to safety until my security found me... when people saw me on top of the car, it began a second stampede and I nearly got tossed off the roof but finally my security and the police were able to calm things down... it was definitely one for the record books... I loved visiting Brazil and the people there are so awesome and so passionate. I'm really looking forward to going back but next time I think I'll grab my meals backstage!
9) I have five piercings!
Two hoops in my left earlobe and one in my cartilage, a small plug in my right ear and a tragus piercing in that ear too... I was gonna get my eyebrow done but my sunglasses are glued to my face most of the time so figured I'd probably end up ripping it out accidentally so that probably wouldn't be too good... I did just get a nose ring though... it may or may not be real just in case my mom is reading this! #sorrynotsorry
10) I can stick out my tongue and touch my nose!
My grandfather taught me this awesome party trick... it's killer... and not at all corny!
Ian Erix's new single 'Shangri-La' gets a UK release later this year on July 10!