FACES Podcast 01 w/ ELOY
Time has come. It’s April 2021 and we still have this global pandemic shit going on, seriously affecting the art & entertainment industries. But despite all the difficulties of these days, people kept creating, and we’re probably facing one of the most prolific times in the recent history of art.
This is why we are super excited to contribute with the cause by showcasing a range of talented djs from different countries that we had the opportunity to meet or get in contact with in recent times. Always ensuring underground quality, we hope FACES will be your new dj mix of choice whenever you want to get ready for the weekend.
First Face in the roster is one of our Amsterdam’s favourites: Eloy.
Eloy was born in Barcelona, but grew up between Spain and Chile and spent some time living in different places before heading to Amsterdam. His life would be a cool book to read, and all of its chapters probably made him become the person he is today: an open-minded, relaxed and fun guy, who is also a top-notch chef in one of the most iconic clubs in Amsterdam.
He’s been around for quite some time now, playing in multiple venues, from small to big clubs like Razzmataz (Barcelona), but also organising raves, afters and their now classic Kingsday and Gaypride celebration at Prinsengracht together with his friend Denver.
We had the opportunity to have an extensive chat with him and talk about his musical journey as a dj, so that you can get to know him a little better too.
Okay. First and most typical... when do you first get in contact with electronic music?
My first encounter with electronic music was thanks to my mom. My parents were running a music club and restaurant when we were living in Chile, and she was in charge of the music. She had tons of CDs and would play all types of diverse music, from jazz to electronica. But it was my old brother who first got enchanted with the DJ world. He bought a couple turntables and started mixing electronic music. I guess he was one my first biggest influences.
•Correct me if I’m wrong... but I seem to remember you once told me you were also into breakdance and hip-hop culture when you were younger, is that right?
Yes, you are right! During my teen years in Barcelona I was really involved with everything related to hip-hop: rap, breakdance, graffiti... and that’s when I first started using turntables to do some scratching. But that’s something really hard to learn, it needs a lot of practice, and I didn’t pay much attention at that moment... we were just playing around.
• So we could say those were your earliest steps into the DJ world?
Definitely. Though it wasn’t until some years later when I started to take it more seriously. They just released Serato Scratch and I could use my brother’s turntables to play all the music I collected over the previous years. Since then, I never stopped mixing!
•And when did you first played in front of a crowd?
That was when I moved to Mojácar. The guy in charge of the legendary Tito’s had a kiosk in the beach and he would let us make some parties from time to time. I brought the turntables there, installed everything... and I don’t know how, one of the Serato vinyls landed up on the sand of the beach. So it was damaged and I could only use one deck for the whole party! That was fun. But it was something just among friends.
When the summer season was over, my brother and I went on vacation to Brasil, and we brought a DJ controller with us. Now it was summer there, and we managed to play in a lot of parties during those months. That was the first time I played in front of strangers, and they loved our music because it was different to the usual house they were playing in Brasil. I got in love with that feeling.
•How did you end up in Amsterdam?
I first arrived in 2010, I got a job offer and thanks to that I met Dennis, aka Denver (dj name), with whom I would had the opportunity to keep playing at parties they were organising. But then I returned to Spain for some time until I definitely came back in 2014 to settle down in this lovely city. Since then, everything flowed smoothly for me. I don’t have any intentions to leave this place by now.
• We know you’ve been working at DeSchool for some years now... Tell us about the impact it had on you.
Just by the fact of having free access to everything, we got the chance to see many artists in action that maybe I wouldn’t plan by myself, but you randomly ended up there. So I had many surprises (good surprises) discovering new artists, different styles of music, meeting a lot of creative and inspiring people and doing networking... It brought me the opportunity to understand and learn from diverse concepts behind a party.
• I guess all of this has also shaped your sound in some way... how would you define yourself as a dj and what are your biggest music influences at the moment?
I’ve always said Talismann was a big influence for me, I love that ability to go from really slow rhythms to superfast and crazy and then down again to play something sexier... I don’t like to play lineal sets, building up it’s okay, but I enjoy the most when I can play in a more dynamic way. Since I’m living here I learned not to be afraid to go for some super intense moments and play with the crowd using the pitch. I hope you get a glimpse when you listen to my podcast.
In the technical aspect, Oscar Mulero is someone that I look up to and take as a reference for mixing and EQing. And I would also add Hector Oaks to the line up because I think he has been really innovative with his music selection and we share a similar philosophy.
•So you don’t share track IDs either?
(Laughs)... I normally don’t. If you ask me maybe I do but I will try to play the fool. I like to be exclusive and surprising, so I try to go for underground stuffwith not that many plays. If I hear someone of my social circle playing a track that I have on my collection, that track automatically disappears from my playlist. And I have really good memory for that. I do the same when any track starts to get hyped.
But on the other hand, I also love to play classics and bring back music from some years ago every now and then.
• If you had to describe “the perfect party”, how would it be?
First of all, it would be free. That would be essential. A party where anybody could join and enjoy the good vibe, always with respect and no judgements. Music-wise I would start with a mix of dark electro sounds and introducing techno to build up the night with a faster rhythms until hitting the climax around 6am, and not slowing down in the morning but also playing broken beats and ravey sounds mixed with techno. And I would cut when everybody is still dancing, I don’t like parties where it goes slowly down until it’s dead... an epic closing always leaves its mark.
And of course, only great quality djs in the mix and an ear-blowing sound system. A good sound wall is half of the party. Those would be my indispensable ingredients.
•Do you wanna talk about the pandemic, or should we conclude the interview here?
hahaha To be honest I’m fed up about this topic. About the pandemic I would just like to send a message of hope. There’s a lot of new music and artists coming up and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a massive time, like the end of the war. So I encourage everybody to keep motivated and getting ready to show all their weapons once all this situation is over.
Cheers to all the 64CREW people, hope you like the podcast!