RB Exclusive Interview: Eli Brown @ Shady Park

This past weekend, Eli Brown and Weiss took over Shady Park for the last Treehouse Sunday of 2018. The two artists played extended sets and went back to back for a memorable end of the year celebration. Eli Brown, who just reached his two-year anniversary as a DJ and producer has been blowing up within the house and techno industry. His unique style of music combines U.K. Drum and Bass with house music and has opened a ton of doors for the artist. I had a chance to talk with Brown about his past, present, and future in the industry. Check out the exclusive interview below.

Hey Eli, thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for me today. Your unique style of music, utilizing bumping U.K. drum & bass with an American favorite, house music, has proved to be a success that has set you apart from other artists in the industry. What caused this love for music from both sides of the globe?

When I was a kid I grew up in Bristol and Bristol in the mid 90’s was a drum and bass mecca, so it was difficult to ignore that. So, I’ve got drum & bass running through my veins. But, when I went to university, I started going to house music nights and seeing the likes of Green Velvet, Slam, Dave Clarke, people like that. That’s really when I started to switch it up to house music. And I guess ever since then I’ve been hooked on it, but I think that’s where the two combinations of sound come from. That Bristol heritage and then getting into house music in the early 2000s.

You just dropped a new track with Weiss, “Push It Up.” Can you tell us a little bit about this track and working with Weiss?

We met at CRSSD festival back in March, we’ve never met each other before but we just ended up playing the same event. We ended up hanging out, we played back to back at one of the after parties, and that was really fun. And we just talked about doing some music together. We passed a few parts back and forth, and yeah “Push it Up” came out and I think we are really happy with how it’s come out, and It’s doing really well on Beatport.

This year you’ve traveled all over the world, playing shows in places like Spain, Ecuador, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. How does the energy of the crowd in these places compare to one another?

They are quite different actually, it’s surprising how different territories have a different style. Like South America, they are f*cking crazy and I love it because they will literally party for like 2 days. When I was over there I played the longest set I’ve ever played, I played like 5 or 6 hours and that was from about 4 in the morning till about 10 in the morning and they were still going off when I finished. I was like “You’re still really going?” but I was so tired. I love North America, I feel like the scene is really starting to pick up. The U.K. is always good. I just got back from Australia and New Zealand and I was really impressed with how the scene is developing over there, it’s quite a young crowd and they’re really up for it. I don’t think I’ve seen people raving so hard as I have in New Zealand. I think the scene is definitely different a little bit, but on the whole, I think the house music and techno music scene are really the up globally, and I think it’s a great thing.

You just hit your second-year anniversary as a DJ and producer, what has changed for you since you’re debut in late 2016?

A lot. I mean I started messing around with tunes at the end of 2016 with my first EP. Back then, I was just messing about no one wanted to play my tunes, I wasn’t playing any shows. And it’s been a really crazy 24 months, you know? Particularly in the last 9 months, everything started to pick up with the momentum of releases. I’ve almost had a release almost every month now and that’s really helped my profile. I feel so blessed to be playing shows all over the world.

That must be such a thrill.

Yeah. When you sat in your bedroom making tunes, that’s what you want to do, that’s why you’re doing it. Essentially, you love the music you want to go out there play your music to people and see the crowd reaction. That’s the most rewarding thing so to be able to that it’s a great feeling.

What can listeners expect from Eli Brown in 2019?

Lots of new music, the first 3-4 months I’m stacked on new releases. In January I have a new release on Solardo’s label, Sola, which is called “Another Dimension” which has been going off. And after that, I have an EP with Will Clarke, and in March I have EP another on Kaluki, which is a U.K. based label they run events now globally and their label is doing some really exciting things. And shows, lots of shows in North America. I think I’m in North America for the first 6 months of the year.

Any final words for your Arizona fam?

Thanks for coming out and partying! I felt the love tonight it was a great party!

Connect with Eli Brown: Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud