Meet Cypher Eihwaz

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cypher Eihwaz. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Cypher, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with us today. We’re excited to dive into your story and your work, but first let’s start with a broader topic that might be stopping many of our readers from pursuing their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. How have you managed to persist despite haters and nay-sayers that inevitably follow folks who are doing something unique, special or off the beaten path?

Anyone doing work in the public eye is subject to scrutiny. As a team, we have learned that the presence of scrutiny means that we are doing something here worth noticing. Criticism can sting, but it is also one of the most honest forms of criticism when it comes from a “hater” usually. No one will be as brutally honest about what they think of you than an anonymous reddit user. I think it’s very important to not let those things live in your head for long. Take them, adjust yourself accordingly, and maybe you can use it as an opportunity to grow in any place you lack. We have encouraged people to use anonymous drop-box forms to provide us honest feedback after some events we have held. I believe it’s important to hold space for honesty whether positive or negative, listening to people when you work with and for people is the most important part of public service.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

OddCity Entertainment is a collective of artists, musicians, and entertainers alike who hold immersive events in the Erie, Pennsylvania area.
We are behind annual immersive concert events like the Alternative Valentine Dance, Rainbow Fest, Noob Night, Basement of Terror, and Grunge Night.
OddCity also hosts a web series: “Flat-Out Odd Sessions” which is a visual and audio recording session filmed during a private annual creek party and posted online.
Under its umbrella, OddCity is also behind OddTV content like long and short form interviews, event recaps, behind the scenes and more.
We advocate for Harm Reduction by distributing free Narcan and testing strips at all events.
OddCity Entertainment is not just for musicians, it is for performers and artists of all kinds to come together and create a spectacular environment among immersive decor, workshops, games and activities that bring the concert experience to the next level.
We not only focus on entertainment, but some events are particularly special. Rainbow Fest is a pride event which showcases all queer featured bands, businesses, artists, drag performers, community speakers and more, and raises funds for Compton’s Table to help Erie’s queer youth.
Noob Night is also particularly special, in dedication to the late Alex Harrilla of Gimp Guy Underground, who’s vision of the scene was unity among bands, genres, promoters, and venue owners. Noob Night showcases each years newest bands and musicians in front of a crowd of fans, talent scouts, event planners, promoters, media outlets and more. Participants bring home a booklet of contact information from the entertainment community in the area, as well as advice from the scene and listed studios, designers etc. Everything one would need to have a successful year of booking gigs in a new-to-them scene. They also have the option of media press-kit services, and an OddTV interview feature. OddCity then also uses select Noob Night participants as openers for the following years large events. It’s debut in 2025 showed a massive success for all musicians this year, and brought together collaborations among venues and booking agents, bridging genres together as one.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

In the age of social media, a basic understanding of graphic design and marketing is a must. It’s always okay to start easy and simple, the more you practice, the better you will become over time, even without formal training. Avoid ai art, hire or trade services with an artist if you can not create graphics yourself. Even drawing it on paper and digitizing it is better than nothing.
The ability to stay calm as an event organizer and social media manager of a business is also one of the most important things to keep in mind. The more stuff you have going on at an event, the higher the chance of things malfunctioning, breaking, being forgotten, or plain going wrong. It is so easy to let stress take you out in these situations when you have hundreds of people waiting on you at a show. Taking a breather and remembering that sometimes the vision may not apply perfectly is very much okay.
The last piece of advice: relationships. It is so easy to enter this world with a business minded brain, which is not always a bad thing. But, it’s important to stop and remember that the people you are working with are your peers, building relationships with those you work with in the entertainment scene not only helps the scene as a whole, but creates a chain reaction of pay-it-forward moments that are endlessly passed down to nourish the young impressionable entertainers coming into this intimidating-at-times space. Just like the butterfly effect, a connection you may build today, may be the first brick in a foundation by association later for someone else.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

My OddCity team. This collective is packed full of extremely talented and driven people. There has been absolutely nothing that we can not accomplish together so far, and if one of us doesn’t know how, we learn. Everyone at OddCity pushes each other to be better than they were the last time, every time. Mistakes are quickly learned from, adjustments made, and when things get tough on one person, another steps in and takes a bit more of the load. We are all good friends, and it helps to check in on everyone’s mental state during particularly grueling planning periods. I am inspired each and every day by the ideas and executions of those ideas by the team. Whenever things seem too big, we just add more hands to the deck and push forward, and we have so much fun doing it.

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