Musician Combines Chords and Couture

By R.J. White

Like most musicians, Elijah Zane Echeveste is hoping his guitar pick will make him famous. And it has—in a way.

Echeveste looks like an average college student. He’s working towards a bachelor’s degree in fine arts at UTSA and paying the bills by working at a restaurant. He’s also the lead vocalist and guitarist in a local band—the Elijah Zane Experience. That’s where the guitar picks come in.

Echeveste is the driving force behind Pickswear, a unique fashion creation that debuted in July 2008 during San Antonio’s monthly art event First Friday. "I’d never been in a First Friday," he says, "and I wanted to go out there with a bang."

With music as his art, Echeveste crafted the pick dress, made of 2,449 guitar picks of different colors in a textile design. When volleyball virtuoso Shilo Benhke wore it at the 2008 Teen Choice Music Awards, it turned many heads, including that of actress/singer Miley Cyrus, who used the dress as inspiration for an outfit in her film Hannah Montana: The Movie.

Echeveste used the dress’s popularity in noble fashion, auctioning it on eBay and donating the proceeds to a breast cancer awareness organization. "I thought it would be perfect for a piece of apparel that women wear to help support such a charity," Echeveste explains. He plans to create another guitar pick dress, and donate those auction proceeds to a nonprofit organization involving music and children.

The popularity of the pick dress inspired Echeveste to find another use for his trademark guitar picks – as bracelets. He’s also branching out to other, more conventional materials to convey his unique style ideas. His next project – his own fashion company, appropriately named Elijah Zane. His clothing line will feature simple designs "for people that want to exude rock and roll," Echeveste explains.

"I think music is a sensation that can be carried out in channels other than instruments. You can wear music. You can have it as part of your life and not be a musician."

Echeveste’s life reflects this outside-the-box thinking. Yes, he works at a restaurant—though his job doesn’t involve taking orders or washing dishes. The musician/fashion designer is actually helping to put the finishing touches on the design of a local restaurant. He’s also written the menus of multiple other local restaurants, including El Mira Sol and Soluna. "I work with the restaurants because I love food," he says, admitting he plans to feed his Tom Yum soup addiction later in the day.

Even the restaurant industry isn’t enough to satisfy Echeveste’s creativity. He also works as a logo designer, video editor, and photographer. He describes himself as "an imagination fulfiller," and calls his days as a creative trainer for pioneering computer giant Apple as, "a wonderful job, teaching people to adjust to the Apple lifestyle."

Still, as creative as those jobs are, none strike a chord in Echeveste the way music does. He wanted to learn how to play the guitars his father had around the house, and he had his father’s blessing, as long as he learned the craft in church. "In fact, I think all of my bandmates learned how to play at church," he says.

Those bandmates include singer/organist Sammy Viellela, drummer Matt Medellin, and bassist Brandon Olmos, the son of legendary actor/director Edward James Olmos. The Elijah Jane Experience―which has performed regularly at The Gatsby in San Antonio―has been together since the summer of 2008, though Echeveste has been involved in music since the turn of the century. If he has it his way, Echeveste will continue to make his mark through music. "Music and songwriting are first and foremost. I think life would be pretty boring if there wasn’t any music."

Boredom is the last thing the young musician/designer/entrepreneur is going to have to worry about anytime soon.