Australian-born, Guelph, ON-based rapper, singer, and songwriter Optikz lays everything on the line with The Optikz EP, his most honest and revealing project to date. At its heart lies “Love The Child In Me,” a track that captures the full weight of his healing journey: raw, emotional, and unflinchingly real. The EP’s “Overnight Success” is another song that puts a sharp exclamation mark on his 20+ year long journey as Optikz.

After years of struggling with multiple addiction, mental, emotional, physical health challenges and the outstretching lifelong impact of complex childhood trauma, Optikz (born Darren Piper) has transformed his pain into art – crafting a body of work that isn’t just music, but a road map to recovery. The Optikz EP took more than a decade to complete, reflecting the patience, perseverance, and growth of a man determined to reclaim his story.

Recorded between 2012 and 2024, The Optikz EP was built across multiple studios including Revelation Sound (Guelph), Studio A (Kitchener), Metalworks Studios (Mississauga), Bink Sound (USA), Dras Studio (Germany) and finally Grey Wall Sound (Guelph), the home studio Optikz constructed himself. The project features mixing by JUNO/Grammy-nominated assistant engineer Jeff Crake (Metalworks Studios, Mississauga), JUNO–nominated assistant engineer Yanni Caldas (Metalworks Studios, Mississauga), Grammy–nominated mix engineer Blake Eiseman (Bink Sound, USA) and Sony Music-signed German engineer, producer David Hull “Dras” (Dras Studio, Germany).

“Love The Child In Me” embodies the emotional core of the EP – a song about facing buried pain, forgiving yourself, and finding strength in vulnerability. Written as part of Optikz’s recovery journey, the track explores the lifelong work of learning to love the younger self who endured so much. “It’s about learning to love the child in me that needed (and still needs) love, protection, support, guidance and ultimately to be heard because his voice and power were taken from him when he was little,” he explains.

While the subject matter is heavy, the message is one of empowerment. By breaking the silence around complex childhood trauma, specifically speaking to male survivors, Optikz gives a voice to those who’ve felt unseen or invalidated. “It’s still hard knowing this song is out there,” he admits, “but I needed to talk about it and receive support which sadly I didn’t get as a child. To my fellow survivors of childhood trauma, specifically male survivors of child sexual abuse, you are not alone. It was not your fault. You can heal, you can say ‘I love the child in me.’ This is your song as much as it is mine.”