Interview: Eliot Lipp talks electro

You lived in Tacoma, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco… So do you think NY is more inspirational?

I get different things from different cities. Moving means I get to listen to music in a different way. I never listened to Chicago house until I moved to Chicago. There people were teaching me why Chicago house is awesome. I used to listen to it before and just say "Ah, this is whack, turn it off". It's like hearing Chop and Screwed in the south instead of in France, you know. It makes total sense. In LA I was around a lot of other producers, mesmerized. Your roommates are making music, people are coming and going. I felt a sense of community in the arts scene which was stronger in LA than anywhere else. It was friendly competition, people feeding off from each other.

What did you produce in LA at the time?

That's when I did Tacoma Mockingbird for Hefty Records.

That album has a special meaning for you…

Yeah, I had done my first album which was stylistically all over the place and all sample-based. Tacoma was when I wanted to zoom in and see what I wanted to bring to the table as a producer. Give myself an identity and bring out all of those melodies that I had in my head. For Tacoma I was writing all the chord progressions, bass lines and the beats. It was a lot more "me".

So no more sampling?

Now I'm trying to bridge the gap. Find a way of incorporating sampling with synthesizers and everything else I do. It's hard. I think '’ve been successful at times and failed in others.

And how would you describe your style now?

On my last album, 'Peace Love Weed 3D', I mixed all the different styles I've been listening to: disco, electro and dance music from the 80s, which makes the sound more uptempo. I've just been true to what I felt like making. It's an experimental process, I’ll record a sketch of a song then resample it, chop it, de-tune it… That's how I end up with some songs which have an electro or techno feel sometimes. I wanna be able to push boundaries while at the same time I am drawn to melodies which sound pop-ey. I always want my style to be more intricate and more simple, more hi-fi and lo-fi looking for something that I can't necessarily have.

And to finish this up… what is your impression of China so far?

I don't know what to think. Everyone that I talked to said they had a great time here and that the crowd was really receptive too. It seems like a place that doesn't have a (comparatively) thriving scene. At least it's definitely not oversaturated.

What's your set gonna be like?

I’m gonna play a mixture of songs from all of my records and some new stuff too. The only thing is that I'm not gonna have all my keyboards with me. But I always change my set in a way where I can improvise and consider what the crowd is responding to.