Electric Zoo wrapped up last weekend and some of the best electronic acts in the industry came out to perform on Randall’s Island for over 85,000 attendees over the course of three days. Each day a different record label would host certain stages. On Friday we saw the Anjunadeep label taking over Sunday School for the entire day. On second day of Electric Zoo, Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak label hosted the Riverside stage to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Dim Mak signees ETC!ETC!, Rain Man, 3LAU, Watch The Duck, and SBCR would perform over the course of the day. Headliner Steve Aoki would close out the stage and drop all his bangers as well as a bevy of Dim Mak classics.
Right after his set, ETC!ETC! was nice enough to speak to RaverRafting about his work with Dim Mak, Mad Decent, and how the name ETC!ETC! came to be. We also made sure to touch on the crucial issue of Starbucks vs. Dunkin Donuts. If you missed out on his memorable Ezoo performance, be sure to keep your eyes open to see if he is touring near you soon. Without further ado, here’s our exclusive interview with Dim Mak signee, ETC!ETC!.
Where does the name ETC!ETC! come from?
ETC!ETC!: I was making music and one of my friends was like, you want to make some money? I obviously said yes and he told me I would have to DJ and that my name would have to be put on a flyer. He then asked me what I wanted my name to be and I thought to myself, well I definitely don’t want my name to be DJ Jose. I knew I could play some dubstep, electro, etc etc. That’s when I realized I was going to use ETC ETC and I threw some exclamation points in there. Then after the show he hit me up the next week and asked me if I wanted to DJ again and I went under the same name so that’s how it began.
How’s it been releasing tracks on Mad Decent?
ETC!ETC! It’s been great man, I love Mad Decent. Diplo is the best, but lately I’ve been releasing a lot on Dim Mak. I have a new single coming out on Dim Mak with Petey Pablo so I’m super stoked about that.
Based on what type of track you produce, does that decide whether it goes out on Mad Decent or Dim Mak?
ETC!ETC!: What happens is, I produce a song and I finish it then my manager and the team decide what they want to do with it and what to release it on. What I would do before I had a manager I would finish a song and put it out, but they have a structure and there are ways it need to be done. I love my manager, he’s the best, he does Flosstradamus as well.
In your releases do you go for a particular sound, or do you producer whatever you feel?
ETC!ETC!: I produce whatever I want. Ultimately when I sit in the studio I don’t know what the BPM of the track is going to be or what the genre is going to be, so I just go with it. That’s how I’ve always gone about it. I started out doing EDM, 128 BPM stuff. Whatever I feel the tune will be better for me producing wise, that’s the way I go.
You’ve produced a little bit of everything in your releases?
ETC!ETC!: As a producer yes. But as a producer you should be able to produce whatever type of music you want. I’ll produce anything so my main goal when I’m in the studio is to not worry about what genre it is. I don’t want to be pigeon holed in my productions.
That was basically my next question, do you think genres should define an artist?
ETC!ETC!: Not necessarily. We’re in a time where people succeed off what they do. Like Getter for example, he’s made dubstep and succeeded at what he’s done. But he can also make a great song of a different genre. People bash him and they shouldn’t because he’s a great producer all around. And as a producer that’s what you should be able to do, make any genre. When I started making music I didn’t know I was going to make EDM, I was in bands. I was writing music just to write music because that’s what I loved.
ETC!ETC!: It happened that I got into the scene and fortunately its been real good, but you shouldn’t be limited or pigeon holed. You could be better at something else that people don’t even know about, like Getter is again my best example. He’s blown up and he’s just an amazing producer. I love everything he does and people give him a hard time when he switches genres, but they shouldn’t because as a producer you should be able to do whatever you want.
Will you throw down any genre during your live sets?
ETC!ETC! Yeah definitely, you should be able to read the crowd and play to your strongest force. If you want people to go hard, you play a certain type of music, that’s what I do at least.
You seem to be drenched in sweat right now, were you going pretty hard up there?
ETC!ETC!: Literally sweating like crazy, I’m Mexican bro. I sweat a lot.
How do you like NYC, do you have a favorite spot to perform at?
ETC!ETC!: I love NYC, I come here all the time. I’m constantly playing at Webster. Actually, the last time I came here I did a private UFC event. I was so pumped for it but when we got there we were in a gym and I felt like I had ringworm. My manager told me my set was going to be an hour and a half. After an hour an a half they wanted me to play more so I ended up playing for three hours.
Do you prefer playing at clubs or in festival atmosphere?
ETC!ETC!: I love playing festivals, but clubs are great as well. My thing with my agent is that I’d rather play festivals more than anything. The reason is because I was in bands so I went to the first Coachella ever and I would go there to just watch bands. I would go see the bands I wanted to see, then I would go to other stages and see the bands I didn’t know about. My thinking is that people go to see Carnage or NGHTMRE, or Steve Aoki and they’ll just happen to be at the stage that !ETC!ETC is playing and they’ll realize this guy’s music is kinda cool. If you go to a festival, more people who didn’t know who you were will follow you and I’d rather do that.
What productions are you working on right now?
ETC!ETC!: I have two moombahton songs coming out on Bro Safari’s EP. I also have a song on Dim Mak with Petey Pablo, so it’s definitely going to be good. I have like another ten songs that I need to wrap up as well.
Is it harder to produce music when you’re touring?
ETC!ETC!: No, it’s actually easier for me. I’m married with two kids so when I’m at home I have all this stuff to do with my family, so for me it’s easier to write music on the road and finish it when I’m at home.
Last question is a big one, Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks coffee?
ETC!ETC!: Oh man. Well, there’s no Dunkin Donuts out in LA, they don’t exist. So, I’ve done Starbucks the whole time. I can’t give a 100% answer until I actually try Dunkin’s though. But on the West Coast there is literally no Dunkin Donuts.
Connect with !ETC!ETC:
https://www.facebook.com/DJETCETC
https://twitter.com/iametc
https://www.instagram.com/iametc
https://soundcloud.com/etc-etc
Share On
