DJ EKO - Record Spinning For The Mind, Body and Soul

“I’m a technophobe.” That’s not exactly what you’d expect to hear from one of Santa Cruz’s busiest deejays. But when she first dipped her needle into the live music scene, DJ Eko admits it was a shaky start. “For the first three months, I’d go over to grab the needle and I could see my hand trembling.”

She recently opened for Wu-Tang Clan’s GZA at Moe’s Alley. Needless to say, she’s come a long way.

In only three years, DJ Eko, known to unassuming acquaintances as Erica Olsen, has not only conquered those early nerves, she’s honed some deft turntable maneuvers and performed alongside such hip hop maestros as Talib Kweli, ?uestlove, DJ Language, Breakestra, J-Boogie and Sake-1 to name a few.

Like a true renaissance woman, Eko’s been a respected figure in both our local and national hip hop scene as a decade-long host of KZSC’s “Hip Hop Ethics 101” radio show, a member of national hip hop panels, and a writer for Urb Magazine. But for now, such alter egos have been put on hold with her record-spinning duties taking center stage. And wanting respect as a performer is what drives her to confront that aforementioned technophobia. “I take the technical part very seriously because I don’t want to be interpreted as simply a girl playing records,” says the in-demand DJ of her reluctance to be either favored or cast aside because she’s a female tackling the turntables. “I want to have people acknowledge and recognize that I know what I’m doing.”

With two well-received DJ residencies in Santa Cruz clubs—“The Kiss” at The Red and “Beat Generation” at a word-of-mouth spot off the grid—as well as offers to spin throughout the country and calls to play art galleries, fashion shows and parties, she’s been getting a nod for her beat matching talents just fine.

Though her reputation as a purveyor of hip hop and soul is what she’s most known for, Eko explores Brazilian downtempo beats on the recently released Sol Du Brasil, contemporary neo soul on Nouveaux Soul, and finally electro-freestyle, baile funk and dancehall rhythms at 115 BPMs on Turbo—due later this year. Calling herself “a bit of a maverick who likes to break rules,” she not only incorporates the spectrum of genres outside of hip hop, but also hopes to push it beyond its mainstream parameters that have many choking on an unhealthy diet of bling.

“My whole music career has been about selecting underrepresented urban music that doesn’t talk about drugs and sex,” the DJ explains. “I try to put quality, positive, intellectually poetic lyrics up on a pedestal.” Of that mass media version of hip hop (which she’s dubbed “Strip Hop” for its fascination with stripper themes), Eko says, “You can hear it on the radio, on MTV and on Pacific Avenue. You can’t hear it where I’m playing.”

When it comes to her song selection, sequencing, juxtaposition of instrumentals and a cappella samples, Eko combines her objective to convey “the dynamic of love, optimism and critical thinking about your environment” with groovy undertones. “I try to put out a balanced type of music where there is that yin and yang.”

That said, her own balanced versatility can be seen and heard in her repertoire and the contrasting forums in which she presents them. Though audiences may only witness a flick of the wrists and a turning of knobs when it comes to DJ mixing, Eko quickly defends the unseen artistry involved. “They’re like surgeons,” she says excitedly of skilled turntablists and producers. “It’s seriously a physical and mental ability that takes a lot of training and practice … You have to catch so many nuances and sounds on a record it’s indescribable!” Exemplifying that art of DJing herself, Eko approaches skeptics in the long argued debate over the use of electronics and the definition of DJs as musicians with a calm rationale. “The commonality between DJs and traditional bands is that we’re both moving and connecting people,” she says matter-of-factly. “I’m providing a soundscape to feed people’s minds and souls just like a band. If someone’s spirit has been moved then we’re accomplishing the same thing.”

Just as skillfully as any conventional songwriter might put it, DJ Eko sums it up in one poetic comparison. “If the strings of the guitar make the notes and melodies of a song, then each of the songs in my set make the overall woven fabric of my sound.”

-Good Times (Santa Cruz)