Dylan Eiland, known to fans as Le Castle
Vania got into music early. As a teenager, he played in bands and found electronic music at raves in his Atlanta
hometown. His remixes quickly got into the right hands and he has
made a career out of playing and producing music since. Having just
flown into the states from a tour in Italy and France, Le Castle
Vania is ready to take on Orange County at the Yost Theater in the
downtown Santa Ana Art District tonight. I caught up with Dylan for
an interview about how he got started as a DJ, how his music has
changed over the years and what we should expect from his upcoming
album.
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“A big part of it came from wanting
to go to parties and not being able to get in. Somehow I got it in my
head that if I was a DJ I would get hooked up at all the clubs,” he
says. He threw a giant
warehouse party when he was just 16 years old, reaching out to a bunch
of DJs in town. That was his first big “in” to the EDM scene. “After that I knew a few heads, people would let me
DJ their events, and it just went from there,” he explains.
Today Dylan throws a monthly event in
Atlanta called F*CK YESSS which sells out to 1,200 fans a month.
It's quite the step up from his first party–and it's growing every month. “The
biggest change is that today music is my full time job. It just grew
and evolved naturally over the past five to six years and I even
launched my own label,” he says. His sound is
also evolving and growing as his tastes change. “A lot of DJs are
trying to attach themselves to whatever is popular at the moment. I
try not to follow too many trends. I like to develop my own natural
sound,” he says.
Le Castle Vania's music is highly
influenced by rock and indie rock with a high energy electro sound. His sets are usually aggressive and filled with banging electronic music. He has also developed something great that isn't necessarily the cliche
current sound with his new original track “The Light.” This song
fills an important void in the EDM scene right now with its classic
house sound. “My goal is to create an album I am excited about. I
am really taking my time to make a statement of who I am as an
artist. Most of my work up to this point has been remixes with a
handful of singles and original songs. I feel it's time I release my
own album and write an entire body of work on my own.”
The album, which he hopes will be
finished this month, is based on a lot of songs written with vocals in
mind. Working with composer Tyler Bates, he's learned to
think about music in new ways. “I've got a tons of new music to preview at the Yost,” he says, adding, “I love Orange County.” And why not? Eiland says, “The people are
down to party–and for a DJ you can't ask for more than that. For me it's about creating a good atmosphere with
good vibes. I want people to come to my shows to cut loose and get
buck wild!”
