Terminal V Podcast 046 || Eli Brown

With an ear for the newest happenings in techno as well as the classic sounds, his remix for Orbital’s ‘Chime’ immediately springs to mind, Bristol lad Eli Brown is the real deal. His sets bristle with pitch black style coupled with rolling grooves for the big room which means Eli is capable of destroying almost any dancefloor. And he does. Quite often.

The main problem you will have is where to actually see him play as his world-wide tour schedule is rapidly filling up with far flung destinations. Luckily for you UK based ravers you can catch Eli in action when he turns out for Green Velvet’s stage takeover of The Terminal at our massive Easter rave. Until then full power maximum volume on his mix for our podcast series…

 

 

Welcome to Terminal V Eli, it would seem you are starting 2022 the way you ended 2021. What has been some of your tour highlights in the last few months?

Hey guys, Thanks for having me on! Yeah, since coming back after COVID it’s been unreal. I’ve had a lot of great gigs in North America. EDC in Vegas and LA on New Year’s Day with Charlotte De Witte & Enrico Sangiuliano were both particular highlights

Back in the UK I’ve also played some amazing shows such as the Steelyard at Creamfields and of course my home town show in Bristol at Motion last month. It’s been great showcasing my harder, darker sound which I’ve been cultivating throughout the lockdown period and the response has been solid.

Has there been any surprises of shows that exceeded expectations?

What’s been most interesting for me is seeing how the US market is taking to techno. Not just in the big cities such as LA, Chicago and New York which have always had a strong heritage for techno, but I’ve played places like Charlotte, Houston. & San Diego, and to see people really coming out and loving that harder sound is amazing.

Do you have a favourite place to play?

It has to be my hometown. I’ve lived in Bristol most of my life, apart from going to university in Liverpool for 3 years, so to play to my hometown crowd is always special. More recently, perhaps Toronto has been one of my favourites. Coda there is an amazing club and the crowd are so responsive.

Your track ‘Industria’ has just dropped on Filth On Acid, can you tell us more about the track and how it was written?

I wrote the track with HI LO when he was in London back in autumn. We actually got in the studio and wrote two tracks then took them away to finish them off. Getting into the studio physically with people is somewhat a rarity these days due to covid and it’s not always easy to collaborate. The track has been a secret weapon in my sets over the past few months so I’m glad to see it out and doing so well!

Did you have a particular dance floor in mind when you wrote it?

Not really. I’m always thinking of the dance floor when I’m making tunes but this one is defo suited to a big, dark warehouse. If I had to choose it would be somewhere like Printworks!

Where has been some of the best reactions when you have been testing it?

I posted some videos recently of me playing it at Motion in Bristol and Coda in Toronto and it’s safe to say it went off so I’d have to say those two!!! If you’ve not checked it out, head over to my instagram!

We need to discuss your ‘Chime’ remix. How did it all come about?

It’s a tune i’ve always loved and is of course an absolute classic. I wanted to play it in my sets but dynamically it was a little light, given the production is 30 years old, so I decided to do a bootleg. I played it out and Danny Howard played it on Radio 1 and the label approached us about making it an official remix. I was delighted the label and Orbital liked it. It’s so hard to remix such a classic tune and I hope I did it justice!

How on earth do you approach reworking such a huge track?

I think if they had approached me to do an official remix i’d have probably bottled it but as I made it as a bootleg to play out originally there was no pressure!

You will be part of Green Velvet’s party at The Terminal at our Easter event. What is your connection to Green Velvet and his music?

Me and Curtis (Green Velvet) became friends whilst in Australia one year at a show. Following this I released an EP on his label then during lock down. We wrote a tune together (‘Unapologetic Raver’) so our connection is very strong! Not to mention he is one of my heroes. I used to go and see him in the Annex at Nation in Liverpool many years ago and one of my favourite ever tracks is La La Land!

Do you have anything special planned for your set?

I’m always evolving my set to play the most up-front cutting edge music at my disposal. Expect a lot of my new stuff of course!

 

Interview by Stu Todd