Eliot Lipp Talks Album Release And What It Takes To Be A Producer In iEDM Exclusive

About to release his his 10th album, Eliot Lipp played Bonnaroo for the first time. He took the silent disco by surprise playing his 2 hour set with all vinyl. 

He finds his inspirations in many places, which is needed to put out that much music. That's not all it takes. iEDM got the chance to sit down with him to talk about his music journey. 

iEDM: How do you feel about your Silent Disco set?

Eliot Lipp: Great! Yeah it was super fun. This was my first Bonnaroo.

iEDM: What’s been your favorite part of Bonnaroo so far?

Elliot Lipp: I’d say the Super Jam. Seeing different performers like Chance doing "Nuthin' but a G Thang" and "Hey Ya.”

iEDM: What was your favorite part about your sets here at Roo?

Eliot Lipp: Well, I played vinyl. I brought records and it was a little more difficult, but it just made it more fun because it felt more intimate. With records, it wasn't like I played a lot of different styles. There was some funk, hip hop, and a lot of old school stuff.

U2 and my silent disco was the only thing going on in the entire festival for like 2 hours.

iEDM: What sparked your passion for EDM?

Eliot Lipp: Probably my love for synthesizers and creating my own sounds using software and keyboards. I started making beats for rappers and then after doing that for a few years, I started to fall in love with dance music. So, I started playing on Friday and Saturday nights, wanting to make more high energy stuff. As a producer, I’m passionate about studying how to create weirder and weirder sounds. It got me into electronic music.

iEDM: How does it feel to put out your ninth album "Come To Life" and now about to release your tenth album?

Eliot Lipp: It's always exciting! I think that after having this much material out I feel like I can be more experimental because there is less pressure to try to prove myself as a producer now. I guess that I’m more confident.

I feel like I've established a catalog. I've done a lot of different styles. So, now I want to try and create something more unique, even if I'm risking maybe alienating a few people that might only like some of my older stuff.

iEDM: Is this album like any other one that you have done?

Eliot Lipp: This new one is definitely different. It's in a weird space because it's a little bit more up-tempo than my funk beats, and it's a little bit slower than house music, so it's in a weird in-between. And musically, it's like I'm combining a lot of different moods. Like some of it is real cheery and happy but some of it is darker. So, it's an attempt to fuse them together. It's all instrumental too. There are no lyrics or vocalists on my new record.

iEDM: Where do you find your most inspiration before producing an album?

Eliot Lipp: I think it's a combination of touring, playing out on the road a lot gives me inspiration to make more music but also just spacing out. Going out into the woods and hiking. Going outdoors also kind fuels my desire to create stuff. It gives me ideas.

iEDM: What's the shortest amount of time it's taken you to produce an album?

Eliot Lipp: I usually go at least a full year between each album. I've never been able to make one in less than a year. It's not that it takes me that much time. I work on music all the time, but I always want to have a certain direction for each record. I'll have a batch of songs that I like and then I'll spend weeks, and weeks and weeks trying to get them to where I'm happy enough to put them out.

iEDM: How did you end up working with Pretty Lights Music?

Eliot Lipp: I can't remember when it started but I became friends with them early on. So, when Derek started the Pretty Lights music label, I put a couple records on his label and worked with him. I loved working with him. Now I'm with this Detroit label, Young Heavy Souls. That's what my last record was on and what the new one will be on.

One thing I really liked about working with Pretty Lights Music was Derek's input on the albums. He really helps the artists make creative decisions on their music. He was extremely helpful, and very cool to work with.

iEDM: What's been your most surreal moment so far?

Eliot Lipp: I toured China for two weeks. That whole thing was really surreal! There were these promoters that would bring different artists from the US on a little run. We did, Shanghai and there was a couple of towns that were that felt more western. The big cities felt like any other, but then we got out into the rest of the country. Some places, I've never seen or heard of.

iEDM: What's necessary to get to where you are today?

Eliot Lipp: Hard work and perseverance, working everyday on music, and talent. You have to have skill. It's really competitive especially nowadays. When I first started there wasn't as many people doing electronic music and now there are so many people doing it. That makes it harder to get attention for what you are doing.

iEDM: I heard the saying "anybody can be a DJ." Do you think that that's true?

Eliot Lipp: If you think about DJing in terms of having good taste in music and having a great playlist, even if you just plug in your phone and people keep dancing you're a good DJ. I think the technical aspect of blending the music together and all that is overrated. It's not that hard to figure out. So, yes.

It’s one thing to be good DJ but then to be an artist is another. You have to brand yourself as a band would do. A cool thing about that is your most valuable thing you have being your own individuality. Being yourself is the best way to promote your brand whoever you are.

iEDM: Are you working on any singles at the moment?

Eliot Lipp: Yeah, we put out the first one, called "Reflection," out a few weeks ago and there's an Emancipator remix that also came out like two weeks ago. So, we've been putting out singles. This artist Emancipator, he's from Portland. He's one of my favorite producers and I had a track on my last record that sounded like him.  I showed it to him and was like, "Does this sound like you?" He said he loved it and asked to remix it.

iEDM: Do you have anymore tour announcements or even album announcements?

Eliot Lipp: On June 23rd this month I'm playing at Empire in Austin, Texas for my album release party. We are bringing out an artist from L.A. named Yung Bae, who is one of my favorites right now! He's so good, but is not that big yet. Yung Bae samples a lot of old 70s and 80s music and puts a house beat to it. Reminds me of early Daft Punk but a little more upbeat.

I’ll also be playing there every month.

Thanks for chatting with us Eliot! Don't miss his release party at Empire. We can't wait to hear the new album and all of the new music you plan to give us. To check out his website, click HEREe. Or, visit his sound cloud for new music.