Red Bull Champion ESKEI83 Wants "Everyone Raging and Bumping" at Jan 19 Set

Kyle Mullin | Jan 16, 2019 10:11 am | Add a comment | 367 reads

Some DJs take great pains to create a perfect set. But 2014 World Red Bull Thre3style champion ESKEI83 isn't afraid to have his performance thrown off. In fact, his biggest song, “Make the Record Skip” is inspired by his dream to get clubgoers moving so enthusiastically that they jostle the booth and make his turntables scratch.

Now that the Dresden, Germany DJ's fantasy has very much become a reality, playing close to 150 shows annually. Despite that hectic schedule, ESKEI83 found some time to speak to us ahead of his Jan 19 set at Play House.

Are you looking forward to your set here in Beijing?
Yes, I always love coming to China; it’s one of my favorite countries to DJ in.

Really? Why's that?
I first came here five years ago, and ever since 2016 I’ve tried to come back every year. I love that there’s so much energy in China. The people in the clubs go crazy. Everyone had ridiculous reactions to what I was doing. I travel a lot and play festivals and clubs worldwide but China is top notch in this regard.

People in China knew me from performance battles. I thought, because of my Red Bull championship win, that they’d know I was technical, and that they’d want to see me scratch. But I was also happy that many of them knew my tracks.

You weren't expecting that?
No, because they don't use Spotify or other Western platforms that much. They have their own music platforms, and I don’t know how to access them, so I wasn’t sure I’d have an audience here. That they were familiar with me on the production side made me so happy.

Speaking of your songs, one of the most popular has to be “Make the Record Skip”. Tell us about working on that track.
Actually, I came up with the concept for that track during my China tour in 2017. I was hanging out with a producer named Brills, and we were talking about how to combine two things we love: old school record sounds like scratches with totally up to date EDM and bass.

My main goal was to make the crowd go so crazy that it’d make the needle on the record skip. I wanted to have everyone raging and bumping the DJ table and going crazy!

What was it like to win the Red Bull championship in Baku, Azerbaijan?
I was amazed when I first heard about it. As a DJ from Germany, where all the styles and scenes are very separated, I was excited to hear about a competition where you can play all kinds of music. Being free to combine classic rock samples with hip-hop, R&B, and anything else is not typical for German clubs. I just wanted to mix everything together and be more creative.

So I worked hard and was won the German Red Bull championship. I then competed in the world championship in Toronto but only got third place. But then I tried again and won in Azerbaijan.

How did you get over that hurdle?
For a lot of DJs, the first time they play a set for an audience is on the night of battle. That is exactly what I did not do. I was playing routines at clubs for a whole year. I’d make new sets every week, practice the transitions and sequencing, try them in the club, and see how they were working.

So when I played at the world finals, I had everything mapped out very carefully. So I was very confident and chill and prepared.

What are you working on next?
I’ve been in the studio all week doing a remix EP with a rapper named Sam King. He will help me make a rap version of “Make the Record Skip”.

In fact, I have a lot of new music coming up! And I’ll be playing a lot of festivals this spring and summer. And, of course, I can’t wait to return to China and have another amazing tour.