Born Elliot Gleave, his pseudonym arose due to his initials being e.g. His current album, Won’t Go Quietly, peaked in the UK charts at number four this year and last month he achieved his highest ever position in the official UK singles chart, when Kickstarts came in at number three.
Where are you now? What’s been happening for you lately?
‘I’ve just got back from the gym. I’ve had a bit of time off lately now all the madness surrounding the album has died down. When I say time off I do actually mean I get a few hours a day to myself which I use mostly for exercise.’
What first inspired you to make music?
‘The reason I started rapping at school was to avoid being bullied and wanting to feel like I belonged to a particular group, but after a while I realised I didn’t belong. Not many people like Jay-Z, Wu-Tang, Blur, Nirvana and UK Garage. Then what inspired me to do it as a career was the fear of a 9-5 office job.’
How has your career come together since then?
‘Well it’s been a lot of hard work. Over 400 gigs, 12 music videos, countless meetings and days spent in the studio. Now I have my own sound and a strong idea of where I want to go in the next few years.’
You’ve played in Jersey before, at the MASS festival – how did the gig go? What makes you want to come back to the Island?
‘MASS was a lot of fun. After my set I got drunk and ended up MCing on some other DJs’ sets – Nero and Pendulum, I think. I go where people book me to play, it’s quite simple.’
Who or what inspires you musically?
‘Too many people! The key act when I was growing up was Michael Jackson.
‘My parents also educated me on The Rolling Stones and The Kinks. My favourite rapper is Slick Rick. A Tribe Called Quest were important to me too.
‘Then I went though a Garage MCing stage. Now I listen mostly to dubstep and drum’n’ bass and my favourite band in the world is Kasabian. Whether or not you can hear all those influences in my music is down to the individual listening to me.’
What are you into at the moment? What can we expect to hear from you?
‘As I said, I’m not into any one genre. I’m working on my next album. It’s gonna be harder and rockier than this one. Electro Grunge, I’m gonna call it.’
At which point in your career so far did you feel you had made a breakthrough?
‘No single moment stands out. When I got my free Nandos card I felt like I’d arrived.’
What have been your career highlights so far?
‘Glastonbury. On both occasions. Free clothes. Meeting Diana Vickers.’
How do approach a DJ set as opposed to a live set?
‘Well it’s more of a mash-up. You get all the biggest tracks live but then they’re mashed up with the big remixes and classic rave tracks too.
‘More freedom. Easily accessible even if you’re not an Example fan.’
What are your plans for the rest of the summer?
‘Few more trips to Ibiza. V festival, Bestival. UK tour starts at the end of September. I want to have a few new album tracks in the bag.’
What are your long-term ambitions? What’s the future?
‘To travel the world and meet interesting people.’
What do you get up to when you’re not working?
‘Cinema. Exercise – lots of running. And eating lots of meat. Good meat.’
