Eli & Fur Talk "High West," Social Media, and South West Four

Eli & Fur stopped by to chat about the origin of their latest track “High West,” playing to their home crowd in London, and plenty more!

When it comes to dark, emotive music London’s own Eli & Fur are a duo that immediately comes to mind. Producing some of the most soul-touching tunes in the realm of house and techno, they’ve continued to impress with release after release while also carrying listeners on a journey with their sets and mixes as well.

Last year saw the duo release the Into The Night EP on Anjunadeep along with “Wall To Wall” on Simplicity Is Key Records that were both stunners. This year they’ve already been firing off with “She’s Just A Wanderer” on Crosstown Rebels and most recently graced Armada Electronic Elements with “High West.”

Riding the wave of success from their recent releases and with an appearance at South West Four in London this August in the cards, we caught up with Eli & Fur for a quality chat. Check out their recent mix for BBC Radio 1 below and read on for some extra insight into their world.

Stream BBC Radio 1 Wind Down Mix with Anjunadeep on SoundCloud:

Hi Eli & Fur, thanks for chatting with us today. You’ve become well known for dark emotive tones in tracks like “Night Blooming Jasmine,” how do you get yourselves into that state of mind in the studio when producing music?

Our more vocal-based tracks, we always start writing over chords or just on the guitar. Often these tracks come pretty quickly song-wise. Either of us will just feel like we need to get something down and once we have the lyrics and melody we are always inspired to finish creating. We love the song aspect in production, tracks like this are what really excite us.

Last month saw the release of your latest track “High West” on Armada Electronic Elements that is dripping with melodic techno grooves. What was the production process like on the track and where did the vocal come from?

The whole track started with the vocal which came from an old sample pack we had. We also took our own vocal and made a driving sample sounding vocal with that. We then built everything up around those vocal ideas. We love to start with some sort of melodic element and then get a groove in the drums, a structure we feel will work club wise. Then we just jam back and forth to come up with other elements to build into the track.

There are a number of festivals on the horizon for both of you this summer including South West Four in London. Having played the festival over the past three years and returning for another round, can you share what you love most about this specific event?

London is home for is so it’s always amazing to get to play for a home crowd. We have always loved playing there, the crowd is full of energy, it’s summer, where London is the best place to be. We always make a day of it, head down with friends and just enjoy the party. Can’t wait to be back!

What is it like playing in front of your fans in your home town? Is there ever a sense of extra nervousness when taking the stage in London?

Not really actually, I think feeling more at home helps. And the UK is always quite a specific crowd, they know their music and they are dedicated to it. That’s enjoyable to play for.

Your sets, whether they’re at large festivals or small clubs, have become renowned for taking crowds on a journey. What’s your preparation process like? Do you have a loose plan or find yourself playing on the fly?

We usually have a loose plan as we want to play as many of our own tracks as possible so those live elements are often rehearsed. However other than that we just like to go into it with tracks we love, both old and new, take risks, see what the vibe is and make it as organic as possible.

One aspect of being an artist in the current era of the dance music scene is having some sort of presence on social media. How has this affected your own careers? Do you feel that it helps or hurts your creativity?

It’s definitely easy to hate social media as a lot of it is so inauthentic but I think in this day and age it’s important to take the good parts of it. Being able to share your thoughts and feelings and interact with the people who support your music and come to shows. We think if you use it right, it’s an invaluable tool that brings people together. We are seeing that even more now in the world’s current state.

Another impact on the music industry lately is mental health. More artists are opening up to their mental needs such as taking a break from touring. How do you both stay “mentally fit” despite a rigorous schedule and a career that doesn’t always slow down?

It can be extremely hard, we have faced health problems, being exhausted, missing family and friends but we have a healthy balance for ourselves. We both feel that’s really important. We want to share music with the world and we want to travel as much as we can but we also need to make sure we look after our minds so we don’t burn out and can stay creative.

If you could offer up three tips to artists who are looking to break into the scene, what would they be?

Stay true to yourself, whatever you feel most passionate about is usually what you are best at and will connect the most.
Everyone loves to have an opinion, take everything with a pinch of salt.
It might take 6 months or 6 years to get where you want to be but persistence pays off.