This week i interviewed Eby Le Beatz, a name that has been featured on Metalectro a few times with his tracks. Eby Le Beatz is based in Milan, Italy and during 2011 he released around 15 originals and remixes and a couple of EPs, including the great “Ready To Rock” EP. Just recently he came up with the great freebie original track “Hot In The CIty” and so I thought I’d try to get hold of him for an interview and find out what his plans are for 2012.
01. Hi Alberto! Would you mind introducing yourself?
Hello everyone! This is Eby Le Beatz, i’m from Italy and i love to produce music.
02. How long have you been producing as Eby Le Beatz and how did it all start for you?
I’ve been doing this project since around the summer of 2010, so almost two years now. I really don’t know when my passion for music begun though. When i was 12 i played the piano for three years and then i did singing lessons for about four years. I decided to start producing electronic music in the spring of 2010, after a few Logic 9 free lessons at the Apple store in my town. Everything started just for fun really, it was like a game to me.
03. You released a couple of EPs in 2011, with “Ready To Rock” being a really great release and climbing high in the Beatport charts as well. Are you happy with how 2011 turned out for you and what would you have done differently if you could?
I’m really proud of this, “Ready To Rock” is the best track i ever done so far and i got a lot of good feedback from many producers i really really respect and admire! I think i’m quite happy how 2011 turned out, yeah! If i could go back and change somethingthough, i would have released more free music, to get more feedback and hype.
04. What would you say are Eby Le Beatz’s main influences that defined the “electro-rock” sound & style as you like to call it?
Well… i think it’s a kind of mixture between rock music and electronic music. I love rock music, I’ve always listened to it in my life, since i was a child and then in 2006 i discovered electro (maximal) music, with the first pioneers of this genre like Cyberpunkers, Bloody Beetroots, Felix Cartal and Justice to name a few.
05. Did you ever play in a rock/metal band or did you get straight into producing electronic music?
Like i said before, i did play the piano and sang for a few years but i never played in a band.
06. You’ve been coming up with many good remixes as well as originals, do you prefer one more than the other and if yes why?
I’ve done more remixes and only two/three originals. I think that doing remixes is certainly easier than making original music but i prefer writing originals because you can fully express your skills and feelings through them.
07. What would you say is your biggest music achievement/highlight so far?
“Ready To Rock” for sure if you’re referring to the Beatport charts but i think that i got more hype with my last free Justice remix. It reached position n.10 in the Hype Machine’s “most popular” chart so…
08. Whom would you dream of collaborating with and which would the perfect gig line-up for you to be part of?
There’re a lot of producers i respect and admire but i think at the moment I’d like to do a song with the French (not sure if he’s really from France) producer Shook, he’s just amazing! As for my ideal line-up, I don’t know… I guess the most important thing is to play in front of as many people as possible.
09. Do you prefer working only with computers/sequencers or do you get your hands dirty playing and recording instruments?
Well, i like to do both. For the guitar parts in my songs i actually do record a guitar, played by a friend of mine.
10. Do you use samples and what’s your opinion on sampling and copyright?
I don’t use many samples no… the only ones i use are those for the drums. I don’t know what to say about copyright really but i think that a good producer should be creating his own sounds to try to become more recognizable and distinct as possible from the rest.
11. If your studio was on fire, what would be the first thing to save?
Myself and my Macbook of course!
12. So, what is music for you and what do you think about the way the music industry is changing?
Music is something that i use to transmit and express my feelings. I don’t know how music industry will evolve in the future but i think that at the moment people do not give much importance to listening to a song and the quality, especially on Beatport, is having a decline. There are a lot of “bedroom” producers that aren’t “real musicians”. They just make music with samples and without feelings.
13. What do you think about today’s mainstream music? Do you agree with Haezer’s “Commercial Music is Dead”?
I have to say that unfortunately, commercial music is not dead at all… at least not in Italy. There is a lot of shit music coming from the radio stations. Ignorance is everywhere, especially in the new generations.
14. Do you believe that an electronic music artist can earn his/her living from music nowadays?
Definitely not from the proceeds of the musical productions but certainly yes from the money he/she can make from gigs!
15. What should we expect from you in 2012? Do you have any releases planned? Give the readers something to look forward too… (live shows, release, remix etc)
A lot of FREE music!!! I’ll release some new originals/remixes for free 😉 At the moment I haven’t got any release plans but i’m talking with a very good label so maybe… I also was going to play a gig in Kiev on March 31 but unfortunately everything has been postponed to a later date, so stay tuned!
16. What are you listening to lately? Any tracks/artists you recommend?
As i said before, i prefer to listen to rock music than electronic music. For example i really love the new album coming from The Black Keys , the new Justice album is simply amazing and i’m always looking for newly found tunes coming from the past (rock from the 60s/70s/80s). There are a lot of good producers out there but if I had to recommend a few, I would say Shook, my buddies Hoaxx from UK and Eumig & Chinon!
17. How does Eby Le Beatz like to spend his time when not in the studio?
I like to watch war themed movies, play football and go out to have a drink with friends. Really normal things…
18. Since 2011 is still kind of fresh in our memories, what were the biggest surprises and some of Eby Le Beatz’s favorite tracks or releases of the year would you say?
Well, i’m not a dubstep fan but the biggest surprise for me in 2011 was the rise of Skrillex, simply amazing… And of course the discovery of Madeon, the young electro producer from France.
19. What do you think about the Metalectro blog and the music featured on it?
Very nice, we need real blogs like this! Serious and professional…
20. Anything else you’d like to mention and we forgot to ask?
I want some AC/DC on this blog!