The Beach Album
There is no party in sight but it's been a creative time for New York nightlife hero Eli Escobar, with 3 albums under his belt just this year. The ‘City Boy’ just returned to Manhattan this Fall, after spending most of the lockdown in The Rockaways, right by the beach. Did the Ocean bring some healing? Nope, but his new music is a trip.
NOUVEAU YORK: Crazy times, right? How have you been?
EE: I don’t think this question has ever been harder to answer than it is right now [laughs]. To be honest, I’m completely worried about my mental health and totally stressed most of the time. There’s no release anymore. I was talking to someone and they said “You know I’m really enjoying this time off from being out all night and loud music and all that.” Not me. I was missing it achingly after the first week of lockdown! I haven’t gone one week without being in a club since 1990. This shit sucks.
NY: You’ve left Manhattan during the lockdown and settled in The Rockaways. How would you describe your Rockaways state of mind? Did the ocean have some sort of influence?
EE: I have always loved the beach. My mom would take me to Fire Island every summer when I was growing up in the 80’s. I’m good at it. I like to lay out and listen to the radio and stuff [laughs]. Get a tan. Usually my family stays out there a good portion of the summer and I am touring so much that I miss a lot of that time. So, it was nice to actually be around. But spending 6 months somewhere where there’s very little to do and mostly just houses and bungalows... it started to feel claustrophobic. That’s ironic right? Most people would assume that the city would be the more oppressive of the two places! But, no. I’m a city boy and I need to be around stuff! I did enjoy the ocean air, being able to actually see sunsets and not always wearing shoes but I’m very happy to be back in Manhattan.
“People are always talking about me as a disco person and I’m not really sure why.”
NY: You said you’ve been very creative during the lockdown and you released a mini-album ‘Night Class’ at the end of August. The mood is a bit darker, more hypnotic and melancholic than your previous music and it fits you very well. Is there another side of Eli Escobar (the producer) taking shape?
EE: That mini album was really a spur of the moment sort of thing. In the last 7-8 months, I’ve finished 3 albums. One with Nomi Ruiz, one with Luke Solomon and another solo album. Also, a couple of singles coming. So after completing all of this, I had some leftover tracks. As you noted, they were a bit different than my usual stuff. I was pretty much set on just leaving them alone but one night I made a playlist with those 5 songs – I thought they worked well together and decided to put them out on Bandcamp right away as a new release. Just to see if anyone would like it. I wasn’t even sure if I liked it. But it’s one of my favorite releases of mine now. I totally sold those tracks short! It was sort of a cool experiment to just throw some music out without it being a major statement or well planned out thing. I know people are always talking about me as a disco person and I’m not really sure why cause my music and DJ sets have always been pretty all over the place! My new album – I think it’s gonna be called The Beach Album – is really quite varied and the album I did with Nomi is essentially a pop album. I love it and can’t wait for people to hear it!
“There’s no way around it, there is a huge gap in my life now.”
NY: As a DJ, you used to play at least 3/4 nights a week and that’s just in New York! Do you think not playing in clubs for so long will have an impact on the way you DJ?
EE: Well, I’ve done a good amount of those streaming sets and it’s interesting because you have no human beings around to feed off of. So you just play good music and hope that whoever is listening is into it but you really have no idea. I think there are plenty of DJ’s who would play for themselves anyways, even at the club — and if the crowd gets into it then that’s just a bonus. But I’ve never been one of those types. I am fully invested in connecting with the crowd and sharing an experience. On special occasions it can be the best feeling in the world. I use my sensibilities and my musical tastes as a starting point and then see where the dance floor is going to lead me from there. I don’t know what it is going to feel like to actually be able to start playing music for people again but I imagine it will be euphoric. So I feel like I may have a new perspective on just how important the release we get from music and dancing is and maybe I’ll play like my life depends on it. Or maybe things will feel a little bit scary and everyone will be tense and I’ll feed off of that. Maybe the first parties will be outdoors and that can also affect the way I play. It’s hard to really imagine any of this being real... it all feels so abstract.
NY: I sometimes wonder what kind of wise (and fun) words Blu Jemz would have said about the whole pandemic mess. How such a social animal would have dealt with it. Do you have some ideas?
EE: I wish he was here. He was great at looking at any situation, even his health, with a sense of humor. He was a very social person, and I think it would’ve been hard for him to stay put [laughs]. But he was also very comfortable in his own skin and knew who he was. I think that helps when you have to be alone with yourself for an extended period of time. I think he would’ve been excited to use this time to get more projects going on our label. When he wasn’t distracted by partying and being out at night, he was super focused. I bet he would’ve really liked this new release.
“The subway was right above us and it felt so New York.”
NY: You told Love Injection “Nightlife lifers like us find nightlife for a reason (...) I’m just dying to leave the normal world behind.” It seems the normal world caught us up! Did you find new ways to escape?
EE: No, not really. Making music helps, but I do that in very short bursts of creative energy. So it’s not a constant thing. Whereas I can DJ every night and be totally happy. When I was younger I was very into art – painting and drawing, but it hasn’t come back to me much. There’s no way around it, there is a huge gap in my life now.
NY: What will it take to be a New Yorker in 2021?
EE: Oh god I don’t know! I hope you don’t have to be rich and you’re excited to be here for reasons that don’t have to do with a hedge fund job. Those of us who have stayed here throughout this whole thing are going to come out of it even more committed to our city and I think we’ll all relate to each other a bit more because of that. The ones who left probably were going to move to Connecticut eventually anyway! As for the people who had no choice but to leave because of rent or job loss, I really hope they come back and pick up where they left off. It may not be realistic but I want them to have another chance. I’m hoping for more of a sense of community here. More kindness and more people willing to help each other.
NY: Just found this old flyer of a Tiki Disco party in The Rockaways in 2013! Can you tell us something inspiring about that party?
EE: That was a FUN night! We only did our party there once. They were completely unprepared for us. There’s only one bathroom there and the line was insane. I felt so bad for everyone! I think people just started peeing outside. So gross. I remember playing “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac and seeing all these people dancing the night away, singing along, and thinking we had really created something truly magical. It was cool too cause the subway was right above us and it felt so New York. Every party we did in the Rockaways was absolutely epic. Then Hurricane Sandy came and ruined everything. It’s always something, right?
Eli Escobar
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