We were lucky to catch up with Eli Flores recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Eli thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

Hard work, sacrifice and risk will always be key factors for those that wish to do something bigger than the everyday norm. For example,When I first started organizing and performing at events. Everything was an Incredibly high risk situation. With practically no money, zero experience ,zero following, and a vast amount of odds stacked against us. It seemed as though the risks Far outweighed the benefits. However we had a vision and my team believed in me. so we continue forward. There were many setbacks ,many losses and several differences of opinion but eventually the risk did pay off and we began to form a bit of a following or community. This brought the risk level down quite a bit and eventually lead to a successful outcome. Personally, I believe that risk is the line that divides those meant for a certain path,and those that are not. If you are not willing to take risks, it is possible that certain path may not be for you. Put simply ,You can not be great unless you dare to be great

Eli, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I run a Dallas based collective by the name of TWO:TONE (drum&bass). We house Producers,DJs,turntablist’s, visual artists, performance artist, mcs and some of the best tech people in Dallas. Our sole mission is to bring real drum & bass music to the city of Dallas Texas. As such We have facilitated local ,regional and international drum & bass acts for a decade and a half now. It can be a very challenging field so this is a huge accomplishment for us. this year marks 15 years of T:T but this also marks the beginning of a new chapter for us. Equipped with new talent and developed strategies, we hold a new vision for drum & bass events in DTX . this mindset along with a few familiar elements,we hope to give birth to a new level of Dnb for our great city. There will be more to tell in the months to come so please keep an eye on our social media pages.
TT is my primary focus,however I also dabble in a few other areas. Audio engineering, music production,camera work, grip, lighting, consultation and AV work to name a few. You can see some of my work on Instagram under these handles:
I curate and provide art to collectors under the name KOLLEKTtheELEPHANTS.
I am a turntablist/portablist under the name
DESTRUCTIVEme .
I make art under the name
173(and Destructive me)
I make small engine motorcycles under the name
ELEPHANT 24 minibikes
And of course I along with my team organize Dnb events under the name TWOTONEDRUM&BASS (TWOTONEDNB.com)

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Set backs, obstacles, wrong doings,mistakes and bad decisions are an every day part of life. How a person handles them is truly what defines them as a leader, or even as a person. When things run smoothly,life is easy. When plans derail and challenges are presented,true character is brought to the surface. Some choose right and some choose wrong but true character is always revealed in a difficult situation. In my experience preparation , adaptation and resilience are the most important factors and key components to winning any war, weather it be business,personal relationships or just every day interactions. For example when I first started organizing events for twotone. Our following was not the strongest . Preparation , Adaptation, and resilience played key factors in helping us maintain a steady course. Eventually our following grew , which allowed us to maintain rather than build. These factors play an even bigger role now that public events have made a come back. Twotone is once again building and preparing for the Future of Dallas drum and Bass.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Creativity is the fuel for development and progress. Society as a whole needs to nurture creativity, with out it there Is no movement. However, it all begins at the face-to-face level. Support all creatives , anyone that wants to be different or change the world for the better. Without these people the world would stay the same and I think that sounds rather boring.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://twotonednb.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destructiveme?utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twotonednb/
• Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/TWOTONE_dnb
• Other: https://instagram.com/twotonednb?utm_medium=copy_link https://www.instagram.com/destructiveme?utm_source=qr https://www.instagram.com/kollekttheelephants?utm_source=qr https://www.instagram.com/elephant24minibikes?utm_source=qr https://www.facebook.com/DestructiveME http://twotonednb.com/ https://mobile.twitter.com/TWOTONE_dnb

Image Credits
DTOX IZK JOSH PUEBLA 173 Priest TD