From a childhood in Wotton-Under-Edge to sell-out performances world-wide, Bristol DJ Eats Everything knows a thing or two about how to get a crowd going.
His career as a DJ and producer has seen him win both ‘Best British DJ’ and ‘Best British Producer’ in the DJ Mag ‘Best of British Awards’, play residencies in London and Ibiza, collaborate with electronic icons like Fatboy Slim, and gain, in the words of Resident Advisor, a global reputation as “one of the most in-demand artists around”.
Eats, real name Dan Pearce, has just released his latest album: We Lost Ourselves and Found a Family. We managed to steal a few moments of his time to ask him about the release, his love for Bristol, and what’s next, both for the scene and himself…
Q. Congratulations on the new album! Can you tell us a little bit about how the concept for the record came about?
A. The album started life in lockdown. I was playing a lot harder/techno type stuff before covid and obviously when there are no clubs, techno wasn’t all that appealing to me as a genre to make, so I set about making some actual music with melody and chords etc. Got in the studio with a very talented instrumentalist called Nigel Ipinson-Fleming and we sat and made LOADS and LOADS of music over the months. It then over the three-to-four years I’ve been working on it morphed and changed, but the idea was always to make a collection of songs that plot my journey through dance music, genre by genre.
Q. The album moves between and merges genres, from house to more bassy tracks like We Lost Ourselves and Found a Family, to garage in Side By Side. Was that a purposeful decision or did it just come naturally in the production process?
A. It was on purpose. I like everything, play everything and can make most styles of music (needed a bit of help on the DnB track with Unglued as I couldn’t quite nail it and he took it to the next level), so this was all orchestrated!
Q. Many of the tracks are collaborations, and you’ve got icons like Goldie, Kerri Chandler and Paul Oakenfold in the mix. How does it feel to be able to make music with artists that you’ve described as your own heroes?
A. It’s amazing! All those guys feature vocally and it was all done remotely, but it’s still absolutely unreal to have these guys that I’m genuinely a huge fan of and have massive respect for on the album.
Q. Were there particular people that you knew you wanted to collaborate with before you started working on the album? How did you decide who would be featured?
A. There weren’t any real dream collaborators to be honest. We came close with a few really big people like Charli XCX, Flowdan and Jacob Lusk from The Gabriel’s but they both started properly blowing up at the time of working with them, so it never materialised unfortunately. But I’m super happy with everyone I worked with on this project, it’s been an honour.
Q. You’re born and bred in Bristol, a city which is known for its music scene and for being a producer of DJs, artists and musicians. How much would you say that Bristol has shaped your relationship with making music and raving?
It’s absolutely 100% the reason I make what I make and I am the person I am. I wouldn’t be anywhere without Bristol, it’s the greatest city in the world for me. It’s got everything. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Q. You’re reaching legend status yourself, as a household name for anyone into dance music. WWhat was the transition from playing the Bristol circuit to performing internationally to such huge crowds?
A. It all changed for me in 2011 when I released Entrance Song and it blew up. It all happened pretty fast from that moment on and I still can’t really believe it in all honesty! It’s mad that this is my job!
Q. The dance scene is changing pretty rapidly in Bristol, with more and more clubs closing but also with new superclubs like The Underground, Prospect and Document opening up. What do you think about the changing landscape and the future of venues in the city, and how different is it to when you started out?
A. My theory on the current scene is that we have all these amazing big venues in Bristol but not enough ravers to fill them if they all have nights on the same night. So my hope is that they all start to work together to grow the scene or there will be an inevitable closing of some of these places. Bristol is an amazing place, loving and open and we are losing venues hand over fist the UK wide, so I would like to think that a ‘two heads is better than one’ type initiative is a sensible way to do things.
Q. You’ve covered a lot of ground, from your residencies at XOYO to playing to massive crowds at Glastonbury and regular gigs in Ibiza. What’s your favourite venue or festival that you’ve ever played, both in Bristol and globally?
A. In Bristol, it’s got to be my all-night-long sets at Lakota just because it’s the place I grew up clubbing when I was 15/16. So the memories are magical from that. Globally? It has to be Amnesia in Ibiza. Amazing place.
Q. Are there any tracks by other artists that are so good you wish you’d made them?
A. The Plump DJs remix of Elektronauts – Bumper is a masterpiece. As is Break – Whispers In Your Ear (Break Remix)!
Q. If Bristol was a track, what would it be?
A. I’m gonna say DJ Krust – Warhead. It’s got the Bristol, swagger, a touch of fun, a bit gnarly and ultimately a complete belter.
Q. What’s in the works?
A. I’d love to say to lie down in a dark room, play FIFA and not be bothered by anyone for six months, but that ain’t happening so it’s more music, music, music!
We Lost Ourselves and Found a Family is out now on all streaming platforms. eatseverything.com
