German DJ and producer ESKEI83 is legend in the space. After honing his skills and making a name for himself locally, he took the world by storm with a third place finish at Redbull 3Style in 2013 and then took home the world championship the following year. His DJ talents are highly respected and incredibly well documented. More recently he’s been making waves in the electronic and bass space as a producer. ‘Make The Record Skip’ is a staple in many major DJs’ sets nearly a year after its release, his edits are rinsed out everywhere and he has a massive new single on the way next week. The combination of incredible talent in both worlds made ESKEI83 an artist we’ve dreamt about having for our guest mix series for quite some time. The stars have finally aligned and today we are proud to present you with his stellar 30 minute mix and in-depth interview. The mix transcends genres and moves between mainstream and underground with incredible precision. The interview dives deep into his career, the impact 3Style has had on his success, tips for DJs, what’s next for ESKEI83 and much more. Jump in below.
Tell us a little bit about the mix you put together. What was the vibe you were going for with this?
I’m in the middle of the festival season so I had to put in some bangers 🤓 this 30min represents my sets that I play at live shows at the moment but also some brand new tracks, unreleased material that I want to present to your listeners. To be honest I didn’t think about it too much when I made it. I stepped on my set, recorded it and that’s what came out.
Germany is not really known for their future bass and bass music acts and with a few exceptions there’s not really a scene for it either. But that’s also a good thing somehow…
How’s Germany treating you? What do you enjoy most about where you live?
I’m from a small town in East Germany, born here and raised. Moved to Dresden when I was 19 and I’m here since then. I built my whole career from here and live here with my family now, so every time I’m here I enjoy it a lot and can relax from being on tour. Music-wise I’m not really sure if I’m in the right place to be honest. I have the feeling that the music that I make now is more a North American & Australian thing. Germany is not really known for their future bass and bass music acts and with a few exceptions there’s not really a scene for it either. But that’s also a good thing somehow because me and my people can be the first to really bring it up front here. We throw really good parties and bring in artists from all around the world. It’s really interesting to see how the scene is growing here and getting on more and more peoples’ radar.
DJing has taken you all around the world. Is there a specific place you’ve travelled to that is your hands down favorite?
I get that question so often and I think I give a different answer all the time. Most of the time it’s the last gig that I remember, the one that people are still talking about and you still get messages on IG with feedback to it or people asking about a live recording. I don’t really have a preference tbh as long as I get a positive reaction from the crowd and they’re open to see a DJ doing his show and playing some cool tunes, I will enjoy it and that will makes it “the best gig ever” for me. Since social media is so important now and we DJs have to go through footage of our shows after to see what we can post, etc, it almost feels like you lose all your personal memories and replace it with what you see on the footage. Maybe I’ve to go back in my IG stream and see what really pops out haha. What first comes to my mind was this crazy festival on a farm in north Germany with literally no rules, self-constructed stages, and no announced line up, people went so crazy on this one. One of the best gigs of the year so far.
Your new single ‘Back In The Days’ is dropping next week. What should we expect from this one?
This track has actually a long story. My friend Sterio sent me a demo almost 1.5 years ago and I liked it from the start and had an idea right away for the drop, I wrote it within 2 hours and also found a vocal sample from an old R&B acapella that was fitting the vibe of the track. I started to play it in my sets and it worked super well. I played it super often as my encore or last track of the set because the vibe is chill, but not too chill. The track is about reminiscing on the days where we partied all night, were the last people that didn’t went home, waiting for the sun come up to catch the first sun rays. Positive vibes & uplifting chords. In my opinion it’s perfect to end a set. The only problem I had with was the vocal I had to replace. But in a session earlier that year I finally found the perfect singer in Jinka and she wrote the hook for it.
Other DJs are always on the hunt for some gems to put in their sets and asking me “where did you get this edit?” or “where can I get this mix?” and I’m always like “I made it live, there’s no file or something…”
You’re well known for your edits, how do come up with ideas for edits?
I’m a DJ and I do this for a long time now, started on vinyl and was known for doing mash ups and unexpected mixes in my sets and on my mixes. Other DJs are always on the hunt for some gems to put in their sets and asking me “where did you get this edit?” or “where can i get this mix?” and I’m always like “I made it live, there’s no file or something. I just mix it live during my set with the original tunes or acapella”. That’s how I come up with ideas, just during sets or when I prep for sets or make new mixes. I first started putting out edits to “protect my work,” to put my name on a mix or mash up, because people started to take my ideas and made it an edit their-selves and put it out under their name. A couple years ago I made an edit for my live shows and gave it only to 3 other people but it was passed around and played by so many DJs, also on big festivals, one time even as an intro at EDC and I was blown away by that. I still kept it for me, no one really knew who made it, because I didn’t make it available to public, but in the meantime another DJ came and released an edit based on mine (without mentioning me of course) and it boosted his career like crazy. Since that I make all my edits available right from the start 🤣
For the crowd it doesn’t really make a difference no more if it’s pre-produced or live mixed. It’s more the idea that counts and the tracks being played together.
If there was a recipe to great DJing what would the key ingredients be?
Just come up with cool ideas and play cool music. Track selection is the key. I’m not even sure if the people in front of the DJs really understand what’s going on up there technically. Sometimes I read comments on posts where producers playing DJ sets and the people go crazy about a mix they made, but it’s actually just a mash up or edit and not mixed live. But for the crowd it doesn’t really make a difference no more if it’s pre-produced or live mixed. It’s more the idea that counts and the tracks being played together. Wuki tweeted a while ago that he wants to throw a party with the DJs that make the best edits and I was like “why you don’t make a party with the best DJs who can mix the craziest shit together live? 😂” but in the end, for the crowd it doesn’t make no difference no more. They go nuts about someone doing a rewind on a CDJ now 😂 no hate, it’s all cool, I think there’s less and less room for that old-school djing now because the crowd cannot relate to it no more. So that’s why I’m coming back to what I said first: the tracks you play are the key ingredients.
My 3style title means nothing in the world of bass music. You have to have tunes that other DJs play to get into that scene and that’s what I want to do now. That’s why I’m putting a lot of effort into my original tracks and remixes…
How impactful was winning Red Bull 3Style on your career? What has changed since then?
It was important for me to get known by more people. I think the 3rd place 2013 in Toronto already made a huge difference in popularity and coming back 2014 and winning just proved that I’m one of the best in the world. My fan base is growing constantly even if I changed a lot since then. I don’t consider too much as a 3style DJ no more, I mainly play bass music now. With all the edits and the influence 3style has on open format DJing, many DJs doing the stuff now that I did in 2013 – 2017. During that time I found new tracks all the time to put in my set and started playing around with it and had fun playing sets with all type of genres. But the more I produced own original music I wanted to play my tunes out and my tunes are not as big as Red Hot Chili Peppers ‘Can’t Stop’ or DMX ‘Party Up’ so I had to structure my set differently, add more tunes of the style my tracks are in to my set to make them work. I actually made my #djlife way harder than it was and also my manager told me that my sets are not as good as they where. Fact is that I played less hit records and more of my own tunes, what made it more special and more niche, but also felt for me to be the right direction, to get more acceptance in the scene I want to get into. My 3style title means nothing in the world of bass music. You have to have tunes that other DJs play to get into that scene and that’s what I want to do now. That’s why I’m putting a lot of effort into my original tracks and remixes yet. I still play 3style type of sets from time to time, because that’s easy for me. The music hasn’t really changed a lot in open format DJing.
How do you go about putting your sets together? Do you try to balance showcasing your technical skills and rocking the party? How do you find that balance?
It really depends on what kind of set it is. Sometimes I get booked to play a 3style set and I know many other DJs will be in the house to watch what I do. Then I start with some of my routines, go into more club friendly stuff after to make people have a party but sprinkle in little routines all the time and end the set most of the time with my own production. In between I just go with whatever comes to my mind and nothing is really planned, because I have so many routines to pick from. Important for me is to play my originals and make them fit with what the people already know. I always keep one routine as an encore, because at showcase gigs they will ask for it. If it’s a festival show I plan the show with my team upfront to sync lights and visuals perfectly and to make all my originals and remixes fit in that set. So there’s basically no space for improvising. You really need to nail a set like this, open great, end great and keep it flowing in between to have the crowd attention constantly. I have many technical parts in my festival set too where I scratch or mix mash ups live, but also parts where I let an edit play and interact with the crowd on the mix, stand on the table and tell them what to do like an aerobics teacher 🤣 also here it is very important to my to play all my latest originals and remixes.
I have many technical parts in my festival set too where I scratch or mix mash ups live, but also parts where I let an edit play and interact with the crowd on the mix, stand on the table and tell them what to do like an aerobics teacher 🤣
Are there any new skills or DJing tricks you’ve learned or are working on lately that have you excited?
I work more on production and ableton tricks at the moment 😎 I don’t want to say that my turntables collecting dust, but I’m not on it as often as I was 5 years ago. I work daily on my new tracks and only when I’m preparing for a new mix I’m back on my turntables. I’m practicing on CDJs from time to time now, because the change over on festivals are a nightmare when you’re the only guy on it and they have to change the whole setup all the time. I’ve also read a comment on one of my posts that turntables look a bit ancient for the music I play and tbh I think that’s true. You can basically do all the cool stuff on turntables and CDJs. It really doesn’t matter. So why stick with old technology just for the sake of it? I love to play with turntables and also when the crowd and I #MakeTheRecordSkip but I’m also open for other options and show everyone that I can kill it “turntablist-style” on CDJs as well.
What are you most looking forward to for the rest of 2019?
To release new music. I had a really great start this year with remixes to ‘Make The Record Skip’ and ‘Move Dem Body,’ my remix for Marten Hørger & SkiiTour ‘Redlight’ is played everywhere and ‘Back In The Days’ is coming up next. I have 7 more original tracks already waiting after that, from Dubstep, Hybrid, more Future Bass but also 100 BPM “Bass Music x Hip Hop” influenced banger and 2 radio singles. I also plan to release the edits of my festival sets over the next months. And of course I will be on tour almost every weekend till end of the year.
Tracklist
Donkong – Hello World
Eskei83 – Make The Record Skip – Karol Tip Remix feat Sam King
Eskei83 – Make The Record Skip – Teez Remix
Eskei83 – Fire feat Bunji Garlin – Frizzo Remix
Justice – We Are Your Friends (Acapella)
Doctor P x Marshmello – Tetris x One Thing Right (ATrip Remix) (Eskei83 Edit)
Travis Scott – Sicko Mode
Kanye West – All of The Lights
Eskei83 & Sterio – Back In The Days
Marten Hørger & SkiiTour – Redlight (Eskei83 Remix)
Marten Hørger – Gonna Be Me
Marten Hørger & Karol Tip – Wild
Habstrakt – Infinite
Kid Cudi – Day N Nite (Moksi Switch Up)
Fisher – Losing It – Yvng Jalapeño Remix (Eskei83 Edit)
Wuki – NYC 2 LA (Karol Tip Remix)
Earth, Wind & Fire – September
Skrillex & Damian Marley – Make It Bun Dem x Mumbai Power (Eskei83 Edit)
DJ Snake & Zomboy – Quiet Storm
Eskei83 – G Shit feat Sam King
Alison Wonderland x Eskei83 & Drunken Masters – Cry x Rave (Eskei83 Blend)
RL Grime – Feel Free (Eskei83 Remix)
