Entertainment Magazine
Gottwood Presents 018 - eLDOKO by Gottwood Festival on Mixcloud
This week's Gottwood Presents podcast and interview comes courtesy of none other than eLDOKO, one of the main men behind Gottwood, whose forward thinking, jazz and swing infused house music has seen him break through in the last 18 months. With releases on Germany's What! What! records and well received remixes of the likes of James Blake, Monkey Safari and Graphics, the future looks bright for eLDOKO. He took some time out of his frantic schedule for a quick interview...
What's been keeping you busy lately?
At the moment its Gottwood we’re two weeks away now and it’s pretty hectic! Juggling it with a full time job as well as trying to get some production work done is pretty tough… it is hugely rewarding though!
Tell us a bit about your Gottwood Presents mix...
This mix is actually for a new EP I have coming out on Freshly Squeezed. I play a really wide variety of music but this really showcases the more swing and jazz influenced sound that I have been pushing for a few years now, you’ll hear towards the end that’s there’s some deeper stuff coming in which might lead you to where I’m heading in my next few releases… a deep, organic, fun, sampled filled sound.
How and when did you first get into DJing?
I’ve been in bands and involved with music since a young age, so when I moved to university and got into going out and clubbing it seemed like a natural move. I actually sold a guitar and bought some decks in my second year and jumped straight in at the deep end and put together a mix on Ableton without really knowing what I was doing!
I then got booked to play 2 gigs of the back of it, it was a pretty steep learning curve as I was determined not to be an Ableton DJ… 5 years down the line though now and I’m pretty sure I picked it up OK.
Woodworm Blues by eLDOKO
And how long have you been producing for? How long was it before you were happy with the tracks you were making?
Me and my best mate used to attempt to produce our bands records, whenever we went into a ‘proper’ studio we used to be those weird kids that we’re really interested in what the engineer was doing. I picked up a pretty good grounding from this and then when I discovered Ableton I was like a kid in a sweet shop, as it’s a lot more user friendly than pro tools.
Producing dance music is really different to bands though, there is the infamous sub in there that bands just don’t have! It took me ages to get my head around this and I don’t even think now I’m fully happy with where my production is at, but it’s at a level where I can get away with it and get my ideas down.
How would you describe your musical style right now? And have your tastes changed much over time?
Right now I’m really into this deeper more organic Chicago esq sound coming through, it great as it’s a little bit slower and has such a better groove to it than other styles. You’ll hear it in my new EP’s that are going to be surfacing towards the end of the year and remixes in between them.
What's your approach in the studio, do you have rules or a typical process?
Well I sample a lot, be old swing records old blues or anything with a bit of colour and character too. I usually put a simple beat together and layer from there and then work backwards to create the finished tune. I’m not afraid to say I use sample packs either, but what I don’t do is just lay them straight out into a track, I break them down and re program them in order to make them my own.
Your Woodworm Blues EP on What! What! records got some big support, and your James Blake remix was all over the blogosphere, what else do you have lined up for the future?
I’ve got my Run For The Trees coming out this month and also a couple of remixes, one is for George Vala & Audio Prophecy which I’m really happy with, I’m really looking forward to hearing the master. In the future I want to get a couple more Ep’s out and just keep pushing my sound, I’ve got so much ready but there’s just not enough hours in the day to get them finished at the moment!
James Blake - CMYK (eLDOKO Remix) by eLDOKO
You're one of the brains behind Gottwood, what's the story, how did the concept first originate? And what was it like making it reality?
Well it started in Berlin of all places! We were all at a Villalobos party and the vibe was just insane, on the way back we just decided we had to do something like it in the UK and decided to give birth to Gottwood!
It started out as a small family and friends affair and just escalated form there really, last year we secured our main site license and we’re just learning as we go now, it’s amazing fun and we’re so grateful for the reception it has received.
What does the future hold for Gottwood?
We want to maintain the intimate party vibes we had last year, and hopefully are due to have this year. There are a lot of people that say they don’t want to sell out and then do, but honestly we all have other jobs and Gottwood is a hobby, all we want to do is keep this amazing vibe up without becoming a big corporate monster, with branding everywhere and the same line-ups as everyone else.
Who would be your dream Gottwood headliners?
That’s a bit of a hard one for me to answer without giving our ideas away for next year, we really want to make sure we get all our favourite artist overs though! This year we’ve ticked quite a few boxes with who we’ve got on board.
What are your tips for 2011?
Artist(s): Wattie Green
Label: Flapjack & Upon.You.Records
Club: Mint - Leeds
Blog: You Can Call Me Pelski
And the killer question...If you had to be stranded in the woods, what items could you not leave home without?
1: Friends
2: 12 pack of Weston’s
3: A guitar
4: A tent
Catch eLDOKO playing the Pelski Gott Ice Cream Truck this Sunday @ Glade Festival!
