Laundry List: Eric The Tutor x East Dane
Laundry List: Eric The Tutor x East Dane
New Year new Laundry List continuing with EastDane.com. We’re launching the year off with Eric The Tutor who’s 6 hour hip hop mixes are sure to get you through the long winter months. Tutor-cum-DJ Eric landed in Toronto via Montréal just a couple years ago and already has the party circuit on lock. He tutored stats to commerce students at McGill and realized it was time to make life what he wanted. Perfect story for the January resolutions, non?
We met up at Moog Audio in downtown Toronto, where we had a photo shoot and then walked to visit some of his friends at Sauvage then off for a bite and a chat at Come and Get It. Where we talked hip hop, corn rows and Prince.
For real though subscribe to his Youtube it’s major!
When did you start dJing?
2007 I’d been teaching for 8 or 9 years and I was bored out of my mind. I always wanted to be a DJ since I was a little kid and I figured if I wasn’t going to do it at 27 then I was never going to do it. I stopped teaching.
Like, cold turkey?
There was a little bit of a transition, cause you can’t just get out of something that you’re doing full time. It was great, I used to work 6 months of the year make a lot of money and travel all over the place. But I didn’t love what I was doing it wasn’t fun it wasn’t exciting. It wasn’t what I wanted to do and I always loved music and I knew I never wanted to sit in an office. I went to business school…
I know, we all end up in weird places, right?
My parents just told me “we’ll pay for your school just go and when you figure something else out, do that.”
What kind of music did you grow up with?
I grew up listening to hip hop, reggae, anything I could get my hands on at the time that was urban music. My parents’ listened to pop music.
Like Adult Contemp?
My dad loved Depeche mode, that was his one claim to fame.
That’s pretty rad.
As far as my parents go… He liked Peter Gabriel, Depeche Mode, The Cure so his taste was not bad. That carried with me a little bit. My mom just listens to whatever’s on the radio so we don’t see eye-to-eye about that.
But there’s some good radio music now, pop music is having a time.
I don’t think I agree.
Excuse me, Taylor Swift?
Disagree, total disagree. You really?! No, terrible. Terrible.
There’s that new one, Blank Space.
Terrible.
Fine, Bruno Mars?
Acceptable.
Thank you.
At some points, the latest song is terrible but Grenade is pretty good and that other track that sounds like Prince wrote it, Uptown Funk is good.
Oh my god, Prince at the Golden Globes last night?
I didn’t see it.
He walked out like a boss. And then I just wanted him to start by saying “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”
Laughs, yeah yeah yeah yeah. He’s amazing. Have you seen the video it’s him James Brown and Michael Jackson, they all perform.
Is this on Youtube?
Yeah, it’s a James Brown concert and he calls up Michael, Michael sings and then he calls up Prince and he just goes off cause he’s high as a kite. But kills it. I was a hip hop kid all the way.
What did you dress like?
Super baggy clothing.
Pendants?
No pendants. (laughs) I had a phase where I had corn rows.
No you didn’t, Sean da Paul!
I wish I had pictures, I think there’s one somewhere. I grew up with a lot of Haitian people so I thought it was acceptable, but it really wasn’t.
Someone forced you into it?
No, not at all.
How long was your hair?
Long enough and I think they used wool pieces as extensions. And I wouldn’t wash my hair for three weeks while I had my corn rows in, if not they would just come out. And when I’d undo them my hair was like a baby fro.
Your head must have stunk. Were you at that age that boys just like, smell?
I might or might not have been twenty.
So, past that point, that’s even more embarrassing. You know better at twenty.
I don’t know what you know at twenty!
You’re right, you’re a complete asshole at twenty.
You’re a kid, you don’t know what’s up from what’s down.
It’s that time when you’re trying on all these different looks, and people, and figuring out who and what you can be. What was the hip hop scene like in Montreal?
It was big we would go to these basement parties all the time. We’d get kicked out of all the places. My friends were not exactly the nicest people at the time. But I was a super nerdy kid and they took me in as the funny, quirky shining light. They were counting on me to do the right thing when we fuck it up. It was all dancehall parties and grimy hip hop which I loved. We’re still family today. And I still listen to the old stuff all the time. There’s grimy music today but I feel like it sounds particularly uneducated.
Because it’s so far removed at this point, it’s just not new anymore.
It was new then, it was underground. They told a story back then. All through university it was like grimy hip hop clubs at night and class during the day. You didn’t need to sleep at that age. I mean I taught at McGill with cornrows and baggy pants, I can’t believe they let me into a classroom to teach people stats. I ended up tutoring a third of the commerce students, which is a lot of students. I was making really good money and did that for the next like eight years and traveled, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, swam with great white sharks in Cape Town, hang glided in Rio…
Just a few incredible things, Xtreme!
Not that extreme, like controlled. I swam with great whites but I was in a cage. They are big and scary, you jumped into the cage from the side of the boat and they throw tuna heads and fish oils to attract the sharks.
I would pee myself.
I almost did.
Ok, but how does fashion play into being a dj?
It’s flash and look and you have to dress up properly, you get a better response from people. I like being the clean-cut guy at the hip hop event. I don’t mind being underestimated because people instantly assume that I DJ techno or EDM. Then when real hip hop heads come to hear my play it’s eye opening, I like that sneak attack.
What’s your go to look?
This is pretty much it, button down shirt, trousers and mismatched socks. But if you’d seen me six months ago I wasn’t like this. When I first came to Toronto I had to kind of start from scratch and the first year was pretty tough.
How long have you been here?
Two and a half years. And now most of my work is on King West so I feel like it’s a bit of a show a bit of a shmancy place. I feel I dress kind of chic hipstery, is that a thing?
Sure why not?! Montreal vs Toronto in fashion?
Oh, Montreal! Toronto is much more business driven and Montreal is far more European.
Were you ever a sneakerhead?
No! Absolutely not. I want to look cool but to have a Jordan because it’s a Jordan, no. I don’t get it.
Where do you feel men’s fashion is going?
It’s definitely smarter than it used to be, especially in hip hop it’s gotten tighter, more fitted than it used to be. Men are more conscious of labels and brands I think. I think fashion can really help to sell an image for artists. as much as i want to be recognized for my skill as a dj, being recognized for a certain fashion niche can also go a long way towards increasing brand value.
Thanks Eric!
Clockwise from top left: Sperry Top-Sider; CWST Mohawk Shirt; Gant Rugger The Rua Crue Sweater; Soulland Krusty T-Shirt; CWST Topcoat; Reigning Champ Heavyweight Sweatpants; Swim-Ology Square Dot Print Swim Trunks; Marc by Marc Jacobs Camden Jersey Backed Pants; Under Parker Boxer Briefs; Rag & Bone Derby Backpack.
xx @textstyles
Laundry List(s) Archives:
Grant Van Gameren
Parambir Singh Keila
Joseph of Mercury
Martin Aldorsson
Jesse Mermuys
Brian A. Richards
Daniel Faria
