Eris Drew
A Chicago raver who heard the “Motherbeat” in 1994, a Smartbar resident and co-founder of T4T LUV NRG with Octo Octa: the story behind Quivering in Time.
- Chicago DJ and producer, known as the “high priestess of the Motherbeat”.
- Former Smartbar resident; runs the label T4T LUV NRG with her partner Octo Octa.
- Debut solo EP Fluids of Emotion (2020); debut album Quivering in Time (2021).
Eris Drew has been DJing since 1990s Chicago, often against the grain of the city’s smooth-mixing style. Recognition beyond Chicago came late, in her forties, and her records sound like her sets: breakbeats, samples, scratches and big, euphoric synth lines.
Chicago raves and the Motherbeat
Drew grew up in Midwestern towns, including Glen Ellyn outside Chicago, and moved to the city in 1994. She worked a corporate job and studied law while raving and making music. That year, after an acid-fuelled party, she heard what she calls the Motherbeat in the hum of an air conditioner — a healing force in rhythm that became the centre of her music. She describes herself as part “weed-smoking hippie spiritualist”, part believer in science.
Her ear was formed early: as a child she listened on tape to Information Society and the first 808 State record. Through the late 1990s and 2000s she played breaks, garage and bassline, a long way from Chicago’s tracky house and smooth mixing. Her mixes, with titles such as “Raving Disco Breaks” and “Ecstatic Bass Transmission”, are full of scratching, birdsong and vocal drops.
Smartbar, Detroit and a new name
She held a residency at Smartbar in Chicago and threw the Dada-inspired Hugo Ball parties. In 2015 she came out as a trans woman and took the name Eris. In 2017 a set at Club Toilet in Detroit became a turning point in her career.
T4T LUV NRG with Octo Octa
Drew’s partner is Maya Bouldry-Morrison, better known as Octo Octa. Together they run T4T LUV NRG, which released Drew’s mixtape Raving Disco Breaks Vol. 1 in 2019. Her debut solo EP, Fluids of Emotion, came out on Detroit’s Interdimensional Transmissions on 14 February 2020. The label had asked for a record about the power of transition. She recorded its three tracks — “Fluids of Emotion”, “Transcendental Access Point” and “So Much Love to Give” — at her parents’ home in Chicago, and mixed them in Detroit. From September 2020 the couple also held a monthly residency on BBC Radio 1. Drew spent the 2020 lockdown in New Hampshire.
Quivering in Time
Her first album arrived on T4T LUV NRG on 29 October 2021: nine songs built from old and new samples, plus her own keyboards and guitar, made largely at a pair of Pioneer PLX-1000 turntables. “Ride Free” samples Terence McKenna. DJ Mag named it Album of the Month, The Guardian’s review headline called it “divinely powerful and euphoric house”, and Resident Advisor heard it as closer to a DJ mix than a typical electronic album. That autumn she was back on UK dance floors after 18 months away.
For more DJs who carry the rave spirit into house, keep digging with Octo Octa and Honey Dijon.
FAQ
What is the Motherbeat?
Eris Drew’s name for the healing force she hears in rhythmic music. She first sensed it in 1994, after a party in Chicago.
What label do Eris Drew and Octo Octa run?
T4T LUV NRG. It released Drew’s 2019 mixtape Raving Disco Breaks Vol. 1 and her 2021 album Quivering in Time.
When did Quivering in Time come out?
On 29 October 2021, on T4T LUV NRG. It is her first album.
