In Conversation with Eli Brown

Eli Brown is one of those names you need on your radar, since 2016, he’s been crafting a unique sound that’s both intense and full of depth. Drawing from his hometown of Bristol’s rich musical heritage, he’s forging his own distinctive path in modern techno.

Curious to know what goes into making beats that hit that hard? Stick around. Brown dives into his journey—from those gritty underground Bristol days to his rise as a go-to producer and DJ. He also speaks on the ever-evolving electronic scene from the perspective of someone who’s been through it all. And true to his roots, he’s launched his label, Arcane, to lift up fresh talent still looking to find their sound.

How are you today? 

I’m great! I’m getting ready for a show in Croatia this weekend, then diving straight into a packed week at ADE – I’m also super excited about the Arcane x Hilomatik pop-up coming up with you guys! Oh, and the release of my new track next Friday, “Escape From Planet Monday”, where I collab with LUSU and invited Sarah De Warren to join the track. It’s all about bringing the energy everywhere!

We love your signature sound and have seen it be described as a blend of house, techno and full-bodied electronica. How do you go about curating this special mix? 

My sound at its core is peak time, driving techno. I’ve always been devoted to making music that I personally believe in and enjoy, so really it’s never been about fitting into a specific category. I don’t really consciously make decisions about the commercial viability of my music when I’m making it, I simply make music that makes me want to dance and evokes a certain feeling inside, you know? I hope it has the same effect on the listener. Throughout my career, I learned a lot about what I like and what I don’t, which has been crucial to both the constant evolution of my sound and the signature production elements that keep audiences coming back for more. I don’t compromise on my own style, but I definitely do make music having the dancefloor in mind. 

We love that! What’s your main source of inspiration? 

Ultimately, it’s always been that dark and driving, almost sinister sound from the underground where I first started. It continues to pull me in and drive my obsession. Back when I started, I was really inspired by the cassettes and tapes my older sister would bring home from raves – the energy of drum and bass and groove of jungle music drew me in. Later on down the road, it was Carl Cox who really turned my ears on when I saw him at Glastonbury and then I started incorporating some more tech-house stuff into my sets and tracks. Now I’m just writing all the time – I get inspired by so much, sometimes I’ll be watching a film or listening to the radio and something sparks me, and other times I just like to go down these massive rabbit holes. 

You mentioned your sister bringing tapes from raves, do you find yourself then inspired by your home town of Bristol and its “signature electronic sound”? 

My hometown and roots have majorly impacted my life, to be honest. Massive Attack and Portishead were super popular when I was growing up, but when Roni Size (a drum and bass producer from Bristol) won the Mercury Music Prize this sent shockwaves through the city. I remember everyone was into drum and bass in that moment and it was all my friends wanted to listen to and go raving to, that’s when I bought a set of turntables and started DJing. I became completely obsessed!

You’ve started to answer this already, but how did you go into DJing more? 

I mean I’ve been into music for as long as I can remember. My father was always into music so whether we were in the car or at home, something was always playing.  He first bought me the Leftfield Leftism album when I was very young and that was kind of what first turned me on to electronic music. I think when I first started DJing in my bedroom I was around the age of 16/17. When I went to uni that’s when I started to play local club nights, but soon realised that to progress I would need to write and produce my own music.  I was lucky that I moved in with a guy who had a small studio set up and so he taught me the basics. From there I kind of spent every waking hour trying to figure out for myself how to make tracks. It took about a year or so of trial and error then I started getting music signed to some pretty well-known labels which then led to DJ gigs outside of my city and also internationally!

Are there any other DJs or music artists that you look up to or you find inspire you the most? 

So many of them have inspired me throughout my life – I think from a DJ perspective it again has to be the king, Carl Cox. Now in terms of production, I wanna say the Chemical Brothers over the years have inspired me most heavily, the fact they continue to be relevant without compromising on their sound is really inspiring to me and I want to be able to do that for myself.

Dream b2b/collab?  

That’s a difficult one haha, however, it would have to be like the Prodigy, Chemical Brothers or Leftfield, who have all massively shaped my musical taste throughout the years and have been hugely influential on electronic music as a whole.

Also, you founded your label, Arcane, as a vessel to support upcoming talent. Can you share what inspired you to create it? 

I initially started the label to support my own productions and those of like-minded artists. My music didn’t always fit into specific genres, which made it quite tough to get signed to a label. I’m into everything from the harder side of tech to house, and I wanted the label to reflect that. As my profile has grown over the last couple of years, I’ve been lucky to receive some incredible music! I love playing them in my sets and getting those artists to sign to the label. It doesn’t matter who they are, if they are a new or established artist – as long as I’m hammering the tune in my sets, I’m all in.

If you could change anything about the industry what would it be? Since you’re a well-seasoned DJ, you’ve been on the scene since 2016, right?

I’m definitely well-seasoned haha. I’ve been fortunate enough to be around for more than two decades and I think if I could change anything, it would be for the same reason I started Arcane – it’s the boxes. I’m not a fan of conformity, in fact, I find it quite boring.  A lot of people get into writing because they like the genre, and they want to fit into this super specific mould. I wish more artists would just make music they like and that they’re really excited about – you can hear the difference between something that is manufactured for others and something that is made because you’re so excited by it that you just have to share it with the world.

In these two decades that you’ve been around, what has been your biggest accomplishment thus far? 

That is such a hard question to answer, I never expected the level of success that I’m enjoying at present, so I’m still kind of continuously surprised by how things have progressed for me. I never take this career or any moment of it for granted, I feel so lucky to be doing this as a job and travelling the world. That said, being the first techno artist to play Rockefeller Center this August was huge for me and another one that I can think of would be launching my first streetwear label – 92 Thing

Yeah, that must’ve been incredible, and do you have a favourite song at the moment?  

I’m going to have to be a little biassed here and go for my new track “Escape from Planet Monday”, it’s been in my DJ sets for some time now and I can’t wait to release it next week!

What do you like to do before your set to get in the mood?  

This will be quite a boring answer, to be honest, I get super nervous before I play, so I like to chill for as long as possible in my hotel room and arrive at the club about 5 minutes before I play so I can just jump straight in as soon as I hear the music.

What message do you hope to convey through your music to your listeners? 

Hard to say really as that’s ever-changing for me.  I’d say at the moment I want my music to reach as many people as possible, and make as many people dance as possible. I’d also like to visit new places and play to new audiences and hopefully turn them on to my sound, the Eli Brown sound.

Lastly before we leave, what’s on the horizon for you? After ADE, I’ve got another epic takeover planned in Los Angeles with a massive show at The Shrine on Nov. 30. I mean there’s a few more surprises coming before the end of the year but I can’t give too much away yet! 

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us!

Thank you!