The last 18 months have seen Bristol’s Eats Everything seemingly come from nowhere to land international success as a DJ and release a string of well-received productions on top labels such as Dirtybird and Pets Recordings. As he prepares to play at one of DJ Mag’s renowned Miami parties at WMC, he talks candidly about Transatlantic crowd-pleasing, his upcoming raft of collaborations and how his success has, in
truth, been anything but overnight... Words: IAN ROULLIER DJ pics: GARY BROWN
A DREAMS
While success may seem to have fallen into his lap, that couldn’t be further from the truth and Dan’s disbelief is borne out of many years of persistence, determination and sheer hard graft. “I’m fucking old, I’m 33,” he explains. “I’ve been DJing in Bristol since 1996 so I’ve been around a long time, I’m just a newcomer to the table, if you like. I got my first set of decks for Christmas of 1992 when I was 12. So this has been my dream for 20 years. “Most people don’t take as long as I have, most people get to where I am when they’re younger or they don’t start as early or whatever. I’m not saying I’m some sort of enigma, like I’m the first person that’s ever been 12 and not been professional until he was 32, but it seems like it’s quite a rare thing.”
Having modelled his DJing style on hardcore DJ Ellis Dee, he won a competition to be resident at DJ Easygroove’s house and speed garage night in 1996. He then went on to become a resident at Sundissential’s Bristol-based sister club, Scream, which led to a few years of playing in Europe. When this fizzled out, he became a builder and then a recruitment consultant, but never turned his back on DJing, and continued to hone his production skills. But his major step up was made possible by his now wife, who gave him a year to break through doing the one thing he loved. “She never told me to give it up, but I left my recruitment job and quit everything,”
“Most people don’t take as long as I have, most people get to where I am when they’re younger or they don’t start as early or
whatever. I’m not saying I’m some sort of enigma... but it seems like it’s quite a rare thing.”
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s the global EDM juggernaut continues to gather momentum, many European DJs and producers have given up everything to move to California and chase the bright lights and huge pay packets commanded by dance music’s elite. It’s a road similar to that travelled by Hollywood wannabes, but the allure of success and the money that comes with it is too much to resist for many. When we catch up with Dan Pearce, the man who’s better known as DJ and producer Eats Everything, it soon becomes clear he’s not going to be giving up life in his native Bristol to chase a champagne lifestyle over the pond anytime soon.
“Ibiza, San Francisco and Brighton are the only other places in the world I could probably see myself living, maybe New York,” he says. “But I don’t think I’ll ever live anywhere else permanently other than Bristol.”
UNSTOPPABLE MOMENTUM The fact is, he doesn’t need to sell his soul to crack the US as he’s already achieved global success on his own terms. Catz ‘N Dogz snapped up his bassy, retro-edged house cut ‘Entrance Song’ for their Pets Recordings label in the summer of 2011, and this was swiftly followed by the release of ‘The Size’, with its violin hooks and quirk- heavy percussion, on Claude VonStroke’s influential Dirtybird label. This momentum grew throughout 2012. On the production front, the full-force acid house of ‘Vertigo’ and the downtempo deep house of the ‘Slow For Me’ EP seemingly sat at opposing ends of the dance music spectrum, but both stirred dancefloors, and cemented Eats Everything’s reputation, worldwide. On the global DJ circuit, his bookings went through the roof, with appearances across the US and Continental Europe, as well as back home at Fabric and Secret Garden Party and in Ibiza, including playing last summer’s closing party at Pacha. He ended the year with another Essential Mix for Radio 1, which was entirely made up of his own edits, and to cap it all off, he then scooped DJ Mag’s Best DJ Of 2012 Best Of British award, adding to his Best Breakthrough Producer gong from the previous year. “It feels fucking weird,” he laughs when asked about his success. “People probably think it’s bullshit, but I still can’t believe it.”
he explains. “I was on the dole and worked and worked and on the 11th month, Catz ‘N Dogz signed me up! The thing was, I made ‘Entrance Song’ on the third month, in June 2010, and it didn’t get signed until March 2011 because people just didn’t want it. I really thought it was going to be the end, but somehow I pulled my finger out of my arse and it worked out!”
PIONEERING His talents as a DJ were quickly picked up on by Pioneer, who he now works regularly with. “Pioneer heard my Essential Mix and they were like, ‘Do you do that live? So you’re actually quite a good DJ then?’,” he says. “Then they lent me some decks and that’s how the relationship started. I basically get free stuff in return for doing videos and demos for them and shouting about their stuff, but I genuinely think Pioneer’s stuff is by far the best on the market,” he says. “I love Native Instruments’ synths and VSTs and the Maschine etc, but Traktor, I just don’t see the point in. It’s a fucking pain in the arse when someone’s setting up Traktor after you or before you! It’s the worst DJ etiquette. I’ve had USBs pulled out, cables pulled out, the crossfader.”
As with all DJs, production has formed a vital component of attaining any level of success. “Obviously, music production had to become a part of it but I always saw myself as a DJ before a producer. Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely proud of what I’ve done and my productions are doing really well but if I hadn’t had to do it, I wouldn’t have done it. Now I love it and wouldn’t change it.”
STATESIDE His productions have formed the launchpad for his DJing career and 2013 promises to be another fully booked year for Eats Everything, with an appearance during Miami Music Week at one of DJ Mag’s very own Miami parties, which are being held this year at Delano and their lounge club, FDR.
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