Edru (born Edward Rubio) is the beat-making half of the two-man Low Eyes crew. Mista Valdez is his mic wielding counterpart. Both of them are from Texas but they didn't hook up until 2005 in Hollywood, CA. They have been making music ever since. This December they will release their first album, "WARNING: May Cause Low Eyes!" Don't sleep. The album will be available on iTunes, a few Texas area record stores and of course, Myspace.
MVRemix: alright then first question, the generic one: tell me about low eyes
Edru: Low Eyes is the name that myself and Mr. Valdez go under when working together. He's my MC, I'm his producer. We are just two guys with something to say for the most part. He's had a life already at age 20 so he's getting that shit off his chest. We met randomly through a common friend. He's from San Antonio, I from Austin, but we didn't meet until we were both in LA. So yeah after we moved in together, we both started to throw ideas back and forth. He had been writing since the age of 12, so he had a lot of practice and rhymes. So it kinda just worked out.
MVRemix: when did you decide to make an album together?
Edru: Pretty much after we made our first track together. We liked how our styles blended, we worked well together.
MVRemix: so what's this album going to be like?
Edru: Hard to say…it's hip-hop, with a bit of downtempo influence. It's kinda black and white too. Either the tracks are pretty angry and serious, or light hearted and funny. Overall it's about life and our views on things. We both looked at life/subjects/politics the same way. Our views were damn near identical on everything. So it's not like I'm just making beats for him, or he's writing for me, we actually do it together.
MVRemix: I think your beats are sexy. Do you think it could be good make out music?
Edru: I've been told that before by some girls.
MVRemix: Have you ever made out to it?
Edru: Not to my knowledge, but its possible something came on while iTunes was on shuffle. I think that would be kind of weird…making out to my own music doesn't seem normal, I don't know why. I leave the music to Barry White or something. Maybe I would focus on it too much and it would take my mind off the girl. Which wouldn't be good... in that situation.
MVRemix: Start thinking about how that sample might've been better played 1 second longer.
Edru: Exactly. Or how a snare drum might be too loud. I don't really just listen to my own music. I'm always analyzing it, seeing where the smallest improvement could be made.
MVRemix: Where will people be able to get your CD?
Edru: definitely off iTunes, and most major pay for mp3 sites. I'm talking to a couple local spots around Austin to get it shopped there, and Valdez is speaking to a couple places out in LA. We have no distribution deal or anything like that. It's our first CD and we are pretty much doing everything ourselves all out of our own pocket.
MVRemix: How do you get a CD on iTunes? Is it hard? Is there a panel of judges who decides?
Edru: There are some services out there that you can pay to get it out. One in particular, I forget the name now, you can pay 15 bucks too for a year. And they will put it on every online mp3 store and they don't keep anything, they just want that 15 bucks. And you can always peep Myspace. We will be selling it there as well…just snail mailing it out on our own.
MVRemix: you went to music school. There are so many kids out there paying a shitload of money to go to music school...in your opinion is it worth it?
Edru: Yes and no. It really depends on the person. I was in Audio Engineering school. I had the opportunity to learn/use equipment that I would never have been able to use on my own. So that was definitely worth it. I would book studio time every weekend to polish up skills. In class I would always been the one working the boards. Everyone else just sat back and treated it like typical school, so more for me. Waste of their money. I knew kids that came out of school going on to record some of the biggest names in the industry. And I knew other kids that went on to never touch the equipment again.
MVRemix: Why in the world did you move back to Texas when you're on the verge of releasing a CD? Isn't Los Angeles better for that?
Edru: It depends on how you look at it. LA is definitely better for connections and everything. But it's also a huge ocean. You are flooded with actors/musicians and a lot of people automatically make assumptions on you and 99% of the time brush you off. So I'm back in Austin, might move off to Houston in about 6 months or so. Then Atlanta or NYC after that.
MVRemix: Ever see any celebrities in LA?
Edru: Yeah Scarlett Johansson almost hit me in her car off of Hollywood and Highland. Then we saw Alicia Silverstone driving around. Valdez wanted to follow her to try to fulfill some childhood dreams but I wouldn't let him. I saw Madlib at a club my friend managed, but then again he and all of Stones Throw was there every Sunday so that wasn't really a surprise.
