Artist to Artist: Nomi Ruiz & Eli Escobar

The album is a dedication to the city that they love and somehow feel they have lost a little. Loss is a theme throughout this album journey of raw and soulful rhythms rooted in grief, resilience and that killer NYC underground spirit.

NOMI TO ELI

I feel like you and I have similar trajectories as far as our love for R&B and Hip-Hop somehow lead us into dance music. Can you remember a specific moment when that shift clicked for you creatively?

Oh yes. When I was done with school and I started DJing and living downtown, I realized that – as a DJ- I had to be able to play house music and disco in addition to hip hop, rnb and reggae. I was also hanging out with Bobbito (from the Stretch and Bobbito radio show) and he took me to places like Dance Trax and 8 Ball and I started to get really into house music. I had done a few indie hip hop releases, but I wasn’t so enamoured by that scene.

When I would go to clubs like Vinyl and see the dance music community and how they responded/got down to the music, I just fell in love. So, I started to make the shift in my own music as well and Bob really encouraged me. My first house release was a bootleg he put out of Angie Stone’s “I Wish I Didn’t Miss You.” After that I really never looked back.

One of my favorite parts of our album and a lot of your productions is the way you blend these beautiful piano parts with synth soundscapes. What is your process for writing piano melodies? What are your influences for them as well?

That’s something that feels very natural to me. A piano in electronic music is very early 90s house. People like David Morales and Frankie Knuckles really brought that into the music so I think that’s the inspiration, but I can also point to a lot of sophisticated pop albums that I love. For example, Behaviour by the Pet Shop Boys – I consider it a masterpiece and it’s completely electronic but has such beautiful natural sounding piano intertwined throughout.

I know you are a huge Madonna fan as am I. What is your favorite Madonna era and if you were going to remix one song from her entire catalog, what would it be?

For some reason I really love True Blue which I feel like literally no one would rate as their favorite era haha. But it has Live To Tell and La Isla Bonita and Open Your Heart. Those songs have the best vibe – sorta dark and also, a lot of Latin influences. Right before True Blue, she dropped Crazy For You and Into The Groove too. I feel like she was untouchable at that moment!

How does DJing influence your work as a producer?

I’m not sure! I don’t think it does. I really make music whenever I feel inspired and I never have any idea what it’s gonna sound like. With DJing, I’m constantly collecting and buying music and very intentional about my sets. I make playlists constantly and prepare for each set. I also never play my own music – it feels weird to me. I’m not that kind of DJ who does a one-hour set filled with my own songs. I find that whole thing so unappealing.

As native New Yorkers we are constantly dealing with the trauma of all our favorite places and scenes dying and being replaced. Name one club/party, one restaurant and one bar that is no longer with us that you would resurrect.

I would bring back Tunnel ‘cause I only went there twice!

For a restaurant I would bring back Mary’s Fish Camp which was my family’s fave neighborhood place, and they got pushed out by a greedy landlord and now there’s some shitty sandwich chain place there and I wanna cry every time I pass it.
For bar I would bring back Cafe Tabac in the East Village. I loved that place and it’s one of the first places I ever DJ’d.

ELI TO NOMI

When I was in high school, I started to discover nightlife. It began with me going to shows at the Ritz and Roseland and then clubbing at places like Limelight. I never had a fake ID, and I just don’t remember it being an issue. Things have definitely changed! Did you have a similar experience? What are your first nightlife memory, and did you feel connected to it right away?

I was totally a baby up in the club! I remember there was always this pressure to get in which is what would make me dress up in some insane way. I knew that would get me in. I went to Fashion Industries and would make my outfits. Was usually a shiny spandex catsuit. That seemed to always get me in. The first club I ever went to was the Palladium. I remember seeing one of my teachers on the dance floor. It felt so inappropriate! I loved it lol

You really surprised me by rapping on “Juice.” Was that your first time rhyming on a record?

I actually first rhymed on a mixtape series I released called Borough Gypsy. It was this blend of Hip-hop, and folk and I did one that was all over J-Dilla beats. I found that rapping allowed me to write and say things I couldn’t while singing. Something about singing feels so fragile and with rapping you can cut a bit harder and deeper with words and rhythms. When I first started rapping, I would pitch my vocals up like Quasimoto cause I was too embarrassed to use my natural voice. I created a character named Apollonia. But the more I listened it sounded more genuine with my natural voice. James (Blu Jemz) was such a fan of my mixtapes, he actually told me “You have to do this record with Eli, and you have to rap on it.”  I squeezed it in there for him.

Our first song we ever recorded (Desire) we finished and released before we ever met in person. I’m really glad that since then, we’ve recorded music together, in the same room, writing and arranging together. Do you feel like something is lost when people create music in such an isolated way – sending files back and forth?

So crazy to think about! I don’t necessarily think that something is lost. I guess because that’s the way I learned to make music. I would loop hip-hop instrumentals and write over them, so it feels very natural to me. I think that’s what contributes to our sound, we both have very distinct styles that cut through. It’s a whole other beast to write in a room with musicians like with bands. There’s way more of a meshing of styles. I find that even when I’m writing together in a room at some point I need to go off and sit alone to really dig deep and do my thing.

What’s your perfect summer in NYC day?

I think NYC summers are best when you have no plans and just walk around and see what you get into. I love Puerto Rican day in Bushwick. That’s always a perfect NYC day for me. Walking around people watching, walking into random groups of people partying outside, street food, nutcrackers, fire hydrants, house parties. It’s really the best day of the summer for me.

One of my favorite memories is when we went on tour together for a month in an actual tour bus with Holy Ghost! and your group at the time – Jessica 6. I remember you discovered Mad Men and literally no one saw you for two days while you binge watched it in your bunk. Do you have a comfort show that you go back to over and over? Mine is Sex and the City lol.

That was a wild time! When I tell people about that tour they are like “What? All ya’ll on a bus??!” haha. The only show I’ve rewatched over again is The Sopranos. I’ve also started watching Broad City again. I feel like it’s funnier now for some reason. I rewatch Sex in the City on airplanes.