Before opening the photo attachment Eli sent me for this article, I was expecting the usual, a picture of some geezer looking cool buried beneath the decks listening intently (or at leat pretending to) his half mixed tunes. For a change this is not what I got. As the Jpeg materialised in my Photoshop, it was clear this boy wasn’t out for looking the coolest, or maybe he was – looking cool in disguise.

Reminds me of one time at band camp, picking up a copy of a music mag – I think a ‘Guitar Player’ which came out in about 1990, with James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet and Lars Ulrich on the front cover.

Back then (yes I have to say it) Metallica weren’t what they are today, partly a commoditised and contrived marketing juggernaut. They were refreshingly, a bunch of up for it idiots. All three of them looked like delinquent nerds pulling butt ugly faces with runny pizza and saliva pouring from their zit-ridden mouths. Anyway, the last thing they wanted to do was look cool and that got our respect. Maybe that was the marketing ploy but at least it was a change.

I’m rambling.back to Eli. When talking to Eli he seemed to have no pretentions, he was just very passionate about his music and was a super nice bloke to boot – this makes for very easy interrogation. So I prodded him with a couple of questions to find out why he is getting booked so much lately.

What makes Eli different to any other DJ playing, beats or drum and bass? For starters he plays out the widest selection of tunes and genres that anyone could possibly care to experience.

“I collect and play out many different forms and styles of music from d’n’b, garage, dubstep, nu-jazz, broken beat, hip hop and downtempo… although not afraid to lay down some solid 4/4 numbers as well! As well as these forms of electronic music I collect and play original jazz, funk, soul, dub and reggae. d’n’b wise I have been playing a lot more lately. In my d’n’b sets my tastes are always changing, I hate to be pigeonholed and like to play records by artists and on labels that are moving the music forward and pushing the boundaries of drum and bass.”

Amongst the list of DJs that influence him are Dj Spooky, Dj Rupture, Dj Shadow, Coldcut and the Ninja Tune gang, Ritchie Hawtin and Jeff Mills. As well as local dj’s Sub Bass Snarl, Shuey, Somatick, Phil Smart & Simon Caldwell.

When asked how he got into DJ’ing, Eli said it was through old time friend Stuart Tyson aka Bass Kleph of Floating Point, who suggested it was just as good a musical instrument as any other. It’s been about 4 and 1/2 years since then, but from his gig history and future booking schedule it would seem to indicate he’s been playing a lot longer.

There aren’t many DJs that can keep a club well filled and the dancefloor packed as it if was at say, 1am, for a 4am slot. In October last year Eli hit a deep and resonant chord in the drum and bass scene with his lush 4-6:30am DJ set at a soulful dnb night called Evolve. Since then he has been booked for almost every drum and bass major that is worth mentioning and his DJ moniker, which is simply his real name, has become something like a household name.

Possibly another reason behind his well-received sets is the diversity of his DJ experience. Despite being a resident for Lost in Jungle as well as playing regular slots at all the major dnb nights including Evolve, Moving Through Air, Protein, Momentum/Airbourne etc, he has supported countless Internationals gracing our shores, most recently London Electricity. He has also contributed to events such as Bellingen’s World Music Festival, Fuzzy’s recent dance behemoth 360 at the Horden Pavillion and Sublime.

With heaps of bookings coming this man’s way we can expect to see more of Eli, whether it be dnb, tech-house, dub or other electronic mutations stretching the definitions of leftfield. You can catch him this Friday, May 28th, at Evolve at Club 77. For more info check out ITM Whatson.