Le Castle Vania: From nothing to something

Dylan Eiland sits in a conference room at his manager’s office, dressed in typically colorful gear: a bright-green allover-print hoodie, a fluorescent-orange T-shirt, ripped jeans, and strangely fluorescent Reebok pumps. His hair is dyed platinum blond with black highlight streaks, and a large bang drifts over his right eye.

“I just dress weird because I’m a funny kid,” says the 24-year-old Eiland cheerfully. Yes, he looks like he used to be in the ’80s new wave band Flock of Seagulls. For the people who go to MJQ on Saturdays, he’s just the guy with the funny haircut who calls himself DJ DJ Dylan and spins dance music in the side room.

But Eiland takes his music seriously. Last spring, when local indie-rock band Snowden prepared for the release of Anti-Anti, Eiland offered to remix a track. “It’s funny, ‘cause they had actually got a bunch of people to do remixes for them, and actually paid people. And they just kind of sent it to me, like, ‘Whatever, we’ll see what Dylan can do.’”

Snowden’s “Black Eyes (Le Castle Vania remix)” turned out to be a winner. Eiland set the original song against a snug four-on-the-floor beat, and added slight synthesizer noises that heightened the band’s moody, atmospheric track without upstaging it. The band leaked the remix online, and DJs around the world began playing it. “I was getting e-mails from DJs around the world, like Australia and stuff, saying they were rocking it out,” says Eiland.

Eiland’s calling card is an electro/house/pop style often associated with the Parisian dance scene (home to labels such as Ed Banger and Kitsune Maison). As a DJ, Eiland champions new tracks by Van She, Soulwax, the Black Ghosts and Justice. As a musician, however, he pre-dates the current taste for electro-powered beats, having worked on tracks since his teens.

But after years of DJing at MJQ and working odd jobs, Eiland finally managed to get his tracks out to the public. There was the “Black Eyes” remix, and then his Troubletron EP, where he collaborated with former Atlanta DJ Factory Aire. He started getting out-of-town bookings, including a gig in Phoenix. While there, he decided to travel to Los Angeles on a whim.

“I had no idea where I was going to sleep or where I was going to DJ or anything. I just had this ticket to L.A.,” he says. Before he arrived in town, he managed to connect with DJ Paparazzi, who holds down the Le Disko party at Avalon. “He ended up getting me booked [around town] every single night [of the week],” says Eiland. By March 2007, Eiland was spinning records during hotly tipped parties at SXSW, the biggest conference in the music industry, as well as this year’s Coachella Festival.

Thanks to his L.A. adventures, Eiland is in talks with several indie and major labels to issue an album of his own and to remix several major recording artists. When he’s in town, he still spins at MJQ on Saturdays. He launched a new company, AlwaysNever Media, and is presenting a free 18-and-over party called Fuck Yesss. Scheduled for the first Thursday of every month at MJQ, the June 7 premiere features Eiland and DJ/producer Treasure Fingers as the resident DJs; and a guest set from Blake Miller, lead singer of Moving Units.

Still, with all the West Coast hype he’s generated, a lot of people wonder if Eiland will abandon Atlanta for L.A. “I don’t know if I’d move away or not. I’ve bought a house, so I’m grounded for right now,” he says. “I think it’s cool that I’m coming from Atlanta.”