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Eats Everything | Interview

Last month, tucked in a backstage nook of Vancouver’s Caprice Night Club , with distractingly gorgeous go-go dancers preparing for their next number, Daniel Pearce AKA Eats Everything and I exchanged words only moments after his impactful opening set for the legend, Pete Tong . We touched on his familial relationship with the Dirtybird crew, the state of his faction of dance music, and the experimental tendencies of his youth.

Low-Life: Who do you trust to give you honest feedback on your tracks?

Eats Everything: I trust Justin Martin , and Barclay Crenshaw ( AKA Claude VonStroke ), because if they think it’s shit then they’ll tell me, and if they think it’s good, then they’ll tell me; but they won’t beat around the bush. If it’s good it’s good, if it isn’t it isn’t.

“It’s all about how educated the crowd are.”

LL: In an interview with weareblahblahblah.com earlier this year, you talk about how you change up your sets depending on the setting. You said that at Glade Festival [which is held in a field], the attendee’s “dancing outside vibe” is what enables you to play both more obvious big records, as well as more underground ones.

Can you please delve further into the affect that a gig’s setting has on the set you play, as well as the affect that different working environments can have on the music you produce (your new studio vs. on the road)?

EE: Club environments, gig environments, it’s all about how educated the crowd are. Like tonight, the crowd seemed pretty educated. I don’t know how many people knew who I was, but it seemed like quite a lot, and so I played what I wanted to play tonight, whereas I played in Vegas last, and I didn’t play what I wanted to play, and I still cleared the dancefloor. Then you play somewhere like Glade Festival, and that is the most educated crowd out there, and they just fuckin’… all they want to hear is the newest shit goin’, that’s all they wanna know.

And so with production, I can’t work on the road. I don’t like working with the headphones. So I’ll put ideas down, but nothin’ more than that. I just need to be in the studio, I just can’t work with headphones.

I bought a Jambox, you know one of those big Jamboxes?

LL: Yeah, the big Jambox. My dad bought one because he needed to lose a couple years in a day.

EE: (Laughs) they sound shit, they can’t handle any… I was thinking I’d get the big one, but the thing is, some tracks I play out on it, it can’t even handle the kickdrum, like the hertz level is too low, and you just can’t even hear the kickdrum, it’s fuckin’ shit!

“[BBC]‘s playing cool music, and they’re trying to get people into it… because electronic music’s fucking horrendous.”

LL: On the topic of Glade Festival, you were asked during a pre-hype interview (the one where you got a make-over) about the current state of your faction of dance music, and about the dance music scene in general. You responded:

“Factions of dance music are getting meteorically worse, but it’s each to their own at the end of the day, but on the whole I would say that the dance music I’m into is as good as it’s ever been.”

“The future for underground dance music will be helped by the fact that you have these Paris Hilton s, these celebrities, that are starting to DJ (and popularize electronic music). They will take away the masses and let the underground flourish as it is, and let the scene grow and evolve.

These answers particularly hit home for me. I was wondering if you could elaborate on this, slash perhaps touch on the boarders that separate the underground from the mainstream, and those artists such as Disclosure , who even you praise for their ability to ride those fine (or not so fine) lines all the way to total popularity?

EE: Well, it’s weird, because when I said that… how long ago was that, six months ago?

LL: You were actually a fortune teller-

EE: Well aha yeah, because now look at Disclosure, and all these people… it’s amazing how quickly it moves. That was what, June I said that? They’re amazing, and they’re lovely lovely guys, and they’re not selling out.

They’re called Guy and Howard yeah.. and they’re twenty and eighteen, and Guy wants to be a pop-star – he always wanted to be a pop-star, and fair play to him. But they make incredible, very very credible pop music. They’re amazing… really talented. So to elaborate on that… obviously, it’s completely changed since what, in six months, it’s like it couldn’t have changed more.

Because of certain people, [BBC] Radio 1 in England (and throughout the rest of the world) has so much power, and as soon as Chris Moyles left the breakfast show and Nick Grimshaw was put in, literally all the hierarchies moved. So Chris Moyles left, loads of producers left, and then all the younger more cool producers like Becci Abbott who produces Pete [Tong] and Annie [Mac], and then Nick Grimshaw gets the breakfast show, and in the day time, they’re playing Teed , fuckin’… Disclosure, Hot Natured , Jamie Jones , they’re playing it because they love it, and they’re like “this is what you want to be listening to.”

At the end of the day, they’re playing cool music, and they’re trying to get people into it… because electronic music’s fucking horrendous.

LL: This time last year, you were asked by spoonfed.co.uk , if you could throw the perfect party (money no object), who is playing, and where is the party?

You answered,

“I would go back in time to when Dimitri From Paris recorded the first Night At The Playboy Mansion . That has got to be the perfect party mix given the time and setting.”

Such an amazing answer. If you had the same chance today, who and where would you choose?

EE: Same. Exact same. Have you ever listened to that?

LL: Hell yes I have.

EE: Dimitri From Paris, Night At The Playboy Mansion… just imagine, he recorded that live there, so imagine… imagine being there.

LL: Do you have a physical copy of that?

EE: Yeah, I’ve got a vinyl and CD copy. And the vinyl, it’s got the full-length version of The Originals – Down to Love Town , the full ten and a half minute Dim’s edit, and it’s fukkin’ mint. It’s so good. Just imagine bein’ there, like… swanky as fuck, loads of girls everywhere, it would be amazing.

LL: What is the most over-asked interview question?

EE: Do you eat everything?

LL: You get asked about food all day…

EE: It’s my own fault for choosing this stupid fucking name.. But creative journalism… like this is good. Creative journalism goes a long way.

“[Claude VonStroke]‘s the fuckin’ anti-christ… he just makes you write better music.”

LL: Your most recent Dirtybird release, “ Vertigo ”, is aptly titled to a condition that seemingly has become a large reality in your more recent life [7-8 years]. Can you explain the affect that this inner ear problem can have on your life as a touring DJ? Also if you could say a few words to those of us who suffer from attention deficit disorders, and how you’ve managed to still be productive and maintain your momentum from day to day?

EE: People assume Vertigo is a fear of heights, but it’s not. It’s actually gotten a lot better. Like, I’m still dizzy all the time, but… this tour I haven’t had vertigo at all.

LL: How’s flying?

EE: Flying’s fine. It’s when I get off the plane normally, that’s the problem. It’s the pressure, and readjusting, and it normally takes me ages. But I think as I get used to touring more, my ears are just getting used to it, so it’s good.

LL: Does it have any affect on your hearing?

EE: I wear earplugs everywhere; in the cinema, in the studio, because my hearing’s fucked. Like if I were in here [backstage] for twenty minutes, when I would leave, my ears would just be ringing uncontrollably.

LL: If the Hunger Games were to actually happen, and Dirtybird had to put forth their top contender, who would it be?

EE: Barclay [Claude VonStroke]. Definitely. He can just go for… I don’t know how he does it. It’s mental. He doesn’t take drugs, and he stays up for three days.

LL: (Laughs) hell yeah…

EE: And everyone else is just like, we’ve been smashing in everything under the sun, and then we’re all like “home time”, forty-eight hours later, and he’s like “you’re all fuckin’ pussies man… you all fucked off.”

LL: In one or two of your interviews, you’ve been asked “what’s your inspiration for this song?”, and you’ve actually answered: “Claude VonStroke”.

EE: Well, he’s not the inspiration… he’s the fuckin’ anti-christ. Says “no” to SO much stuff, that he just makes you write better music. But it’s not really.. I wouldn’t say he’s inspiring, he’s infuriating.

“I still do stupid shit, but no more eating a cactus.”

LL: In your sit-down with GBC Mag this summer, you were asked what’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten. And your retort was a very low-life one, that our readers would appreciate.

“A cactus. How can I put this… it was in my home town when I was about 15 and I’d done some acid and I ate a few teabags, some coffee, then a cactus. It was not good; I don’t recommend eating cooking or preparing cactus is any way. It was a really furry one as well…”

EE: It was a really furry one as well! It was fucking horrendous. It was one of those things where you’d just done acid, and you were like… I don’t know if you do acid or if you’ve done it, but when you do acid… things… seem like a good idea. And you’re like – ‘cause the tea was alright, and the coffee was okay, but the fucking cactus. It was one of the full on furry ones, and it was just in my tongue for hours like… in the bathroom mirror, because I was on acid it looked like my tongue was covered in it…

LL: (Laughs)Oh my god… You were then asked if it was anything like a cucumber? First of all, any comments on that hilarious question – “was it anything like a cucumber”?

EE: It was… it couldn’t be anything further from a cucumber. A cucumber is 85% water, with no spikes. A Cactus is made of spikes.

LL: Well, you ended up answering them: “No it was like a fucking spiky… horrible tasting cactus and I got loads of spikes in my tongue, it was horrendous!”

What I want to ask you, is if you’re still at the point in your life, where eating a tea bag here and there is still a possibility, or have you grown out of these experimental ways?

EE: (Laughs) no, depending on how you look at it, I’ve fortunately or unfortunately grown out of it. I’m too old… I’m 33 now. I’m too old to be eating cacti. It’s gone past the point. I still do stupid shit, but no more eating a cactus.

LL: Lastly, Oscar speech time. AKA Shoutouts-

EE: Uhmmm, I’d like to thank Justin Martin, for being… a fuckin’ balding idiot, I’d like to thank Claude VonStroke for being a bearded idiot, I’d like to thank my management for being really good – and a pair of twats, I’d like to thank my wife for being a wonderful, beautiful person, I’d like to thank Pete Tong for being fuckin’ so supportive, and taking me on this tour and just basically making my career what it is. If I didn’t have Pete Tong I wouldn’t be sitting here talking with you yeah? In fact, Pete Tong should be first on that list because he’s a fucking legend. And then I’d like to thank you for the interview.

LL: Man.. unbelievable. We look forward to being in your continent soon. Thank you for your time Dan.