He is the Artistic Director of Forecast Music, and the Music Director of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts School of Dance. Schwartz describes his work as "genre bending", and cites diverse influences ranging from glam metal to Arnold Schoenberg. He most often goes simply by the name Eric Schwartz, however his middle initial (the J.), is occasionally added in order to avoid confusion with both the singer-songwriter and comedian of the same name.