Pebbles’ DJ Profiles Presents… Eli Escobar!!!
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
Eli Eli, fo feli, mi my mo meli, ELI!! This man is an icon. A quiet, collected, zero-ego, powerhouse of a music maker. One of the best New York based DJs, Eli Escobar has deep roots in hip hop and dance. Not only is he a successful DJ but also a bangin’ producer who has made remixes for everyone from Amanda Blank and Diplo to Britney Spears and The Glass. He loves Star Wars, rare vinyl, New York City and his poodle Obie. Here’s a chance to get to know him just a little bit better.
When you don’t want to “go in to work” what makes you go out there and do it? Do you feel like DJing is a joy or a bit of a task? Basically, is DJing your lover or your spouse?
Well I think it all depends on my mood and what the gig will entail. Like any other job, you have your on days and your off days. What I always try and tell myself is basically that, even if I’m playing for the worst commercial crowd ever, I’m still playing music for a living. I mean it’s pretty ridiculous to be in your 30s and still never have had to have a day job because you’ve been playing music in clubs your whole life.
How old were you when you first DJ’d a party officially or unofficially?
I would say 18 or 19? Freshman year of college. I had djing for about a year or less and we used to have wild house parties and I started cutting my teeth at those parties. That’s where I learned that girls didn’t want to hear rap all night and I would have to get some good reggae and R n B records!
Maybe lil’ Eli’s looking for some lady pleasing R n B?
What’s your first music memory?
That’s hard. I used to have all these weird plastic records with Spanish lullabies on them and play them on my toy record player. I could sing them all by heart even though my Spanish was terrible. But mostly I can remember my parents singing Beatles and Billie Holiday songs and by the time I was 5 I was pretty well versed in a lot of the great popular music from the 60s and 70s.
How did you get/come up with your name?
It’s just my real name. I used it in the beginning and then NaS came out with his whole “Nas Escobar” thing and I didn’t want people thinking I was trying to associate myself with any silly drug stuff so I dropped it. Bobbito came up with “DJ Eli” which I used for a while in the late 90s. Then it seemed the whole using a drug dealer’s last name thing became played out and I just wanted to use my name again. People still ask me if it’s my real name even though it’s a very common Latino last name.
What made Eli drop the “Escobar.” I’m glad it’s back. “Eli Escobar” has a way better ring to it than “Nas Escobar” anyway.
Who has influenced your style? Any moments out listening to another DJ when you knew you had to be the best you could be?
The first time I heard Danny Krivit and he was working the eq’s on “Don’t Go Lose It Baby” was a moment for me. I saw how you could totally re-invent the dynamics of a song just working with the mixer. I think the biggest influence on my style though (get ready for the super predictable Eli Escobar answer) would have to just be NYC in the 80s. I think music was very barrier free back then. Not so regimented as the 90s and early 00s. I mean the mix show DJs on the radio now are a fucking joke compared to back then, it’s really sad. The mastermixes on Kiss FM, the rap show on WBLS and Kiss, and college radio. You can’t even compare. I think radio should get some of the younger club DJs who are playing all this music you never hear on the radio to do the mix shows. Just start fresh and get all these out of touch bozos out of here.
Danny Krivit
The beat of 80s NYC: the subway and male booty shorts. One of many miracles.
What is the decision making process like from crowd to your head to the tables?
It’s all instinctual for me. Usually I’ll come to a party with a bag of records and my CD book and just figure out how to make it work for me. If I have a computer it’s way easier obviously. But nowhere near as fun. But I always pack a few sure shot records that I know will make everyone happy and that I love also. A well-placed sing along jam is one of the most rewarding things if it’s done right.
Any predictions for what or who will blow up next?
You are asking the wrong person! Everything thing I like seems to be pretty unpopular. There’s a good new group called Azari and III who made an E.P. that I can’t stop listening to. I also like the Desire album. That should be as popular as The XX. The Canyons’ record on DFA is also a current favorite.
The Canyons
If you had to bring 5 things with you to a desert island and only one could be a record, what would you bring?
Probably “Tusk” by Fleetwood Mac. “Rumors” is better but “Tusk” is longer and the emotional payoff is a bit more rewarding I think. Runner up would be “Disintegration.”
(You get extra points if you noticed Eli is wearing Cure t-shirts in 2 of the photos in this post).
What’s the biggest mishap you’ve ever had out at a gig and what’d you do to fix it?
Some drunk girl spilled champagne on my laptop once and the screen turned blue. It was a NYE gig and I had only been on for about 20 minutes. I had already gotten payed so I unplugged and went home. I was pissed because I had told the promoters to send security near the booth and they ignored me. I also almost got beat up on another NYE for not having any Biggie Smalls records. This was in like 1999 and I was kind of trying to transition into being a house music DJ. Wrong party to try that!
This may be the only worse situation that I can imagine than what Eli described above. Bitches messin up laptops urrwhere.
If you could tour with one artist alive or dead, who would you tour with?
Well John Lennon said the Beatles tours were like something out of “Satyricon” so I suppose them. Plus you could watch the two greatest ever write songs together. Would be pretty worth seeing I would imagine.
If you could play any club in history what club would you play?
The Loft in its heyday for sure. Runner up would be The Muzic Box.
A lot of times on flyers DJs are billed as “music selectors” but there’s a lot more to it than that. How do DJs influence the direction of music?
Well I guess we set the pace for the night. The best DJs can really pick a place up, bring it back down and then bring it back up even more. A lot of the DJs now seem really good at keeping it high energy all night. Not really my thing but then again maybe that’s why I don’t play at “Hard” fest or whatever- haha. My favorite thing is to just go somewhere really unexpected. If it works it’s the best feeling.
How did you and Roxy meet?
I have no clue! Seems like I’ve just always known her. But that’s what I love about nightlife, you meet all these people and they become part of your life but you have no clue where it started. And you all kind of exist in this vacuum outside of the real world.
…..
And that’s all she wrote. Make sure you stay up with Eli so you can catch him out and about. Keep up with him here: http://www.myspace.com/eliesco. Or here: http://www.twitter.com/eliesco. Or here: http://outsidebroadcast.blogspot.com. Get involved and stay involved. Happy Thursday, bunnies!!
xoxo
-Pebbles
