Striking a Chord

The fall’s hottest new track is coming to a dressing room near you.

Meet A.J. Greer: Calgary’s newest musical marvel.

“I was always into music growing up and I even DJ'd for a few years,” said Greer, the Flames’ Thanksgiving Day waiver target, who refers to himself as a ‘Beatmaker’ on Instagram. “But then I learned more about music production and how you could do it on your computer and do it on the go.

“It's something I've been doing for two or three years now and it's something I really enjoy. I try to do a little bit every day, so I can fine-tune it and really have fun with it. Ultimately, it’s a hobby, but it can definitely turn into something big.

“Hopefully you'll see my name in the credits of certain big songs soon.”

That sounds like a hint …

The 26-year-old, who arrives in Calgary ready to make waves after being the odd-man out in Boston, is more than a simple hobbyist. In fact, he’s the ultimate hype man. One of his most popular tunes – ‘I Been Ready’ – amassed nearly a quarter-of-a-million views on the @NHLBruins Twitter account this past April when it was used as part of the team’s playoff soundtrack.

On his personal Instagram, Greer released a batch of six songs in mid-June to accompany a carousel of great moments throughout the year, including a baby announcement with his wife, Taylore, in early September. (The couple is expecting is a baby boy in February, 2024, by the way.)

The point is, for the musically inclined Flames winger, the potential he has in this ‘other’ passion of his is boundless.

Even if, for now, it’s only a way to break away and clear his mind from the pressures of hockey.

“I’ve made songs for commercials and all that kind of stuff,” he said. “I’ve even made a few songs for an intro to a podcast. There's a lot of avenues you can take with it, but the goal now is to try and get some big artists onto my songs.

“Right now, I pretty much make my songs without lyrics and I'll send it out to a bunch of different artists I like, or some that I think would work well in them. From there, they either choose the song or they don't. But if they do, they record on them and it becomes a bigger deal.

“We’ll see where it takes me.”

Greer, who’s as well-spoken as they come and delightfully forthcoming in a quick, pre-flight phone call, says creating music is more than a way for him to express himself.

It’s also a way to connect with fans on a more personal level.

It’s also why Joliette, Que. native started streaming on Twitch last year (Twitch.tv/AJGreer10).

There, he broadcasted himself playing Call of Duty and EA Sports’ NHL23, while simultaneously interacting with the chatroom and asking his fans all sorts of questions. It provided a rare opportunity for Greer to break the ‘fourth wall’ and to get to know them, instead of the usual, one-sided conversation that exists in usual, day-to-day media coverage.

He also broadcasted himself creating music from the ground-up, with screen capture software recording his digital mixer. In one clip, he talked about the influence of his grandmother, who played the piano daily until she no longer could due to arthritis many years ago.

Greer now has that very same piano and said on Twitch that it was “sentimental” thing for him to have.

“We actually played together,” he said on the stream.

That kind of access?

Unapparelled.

And Greer views it as such an important part of being a pro athlete these days.

“I wanted to show the fans a bit about myself off the ice,” he said. “You only see a certain version of people in their work environment and I wanted to change that.

“But right now it's all packed up,” he added of his frantic move to Calgary.

“It's going to be a pretty wild month or two here, but it’s cool thing I do on the side and hopefully I can do more this year.”