Eyedress Insists He’s ‘Just a Regular Dude,’ But He’s So Much More 

Assist: Vin Stratton, @ladyluckmedia

Sophia Carrasco @vsl.strat

Special thanks: @heyalexjohn @elviacaridad

Eyedress isn’t afraid to admit he gets nervous every time he performs. But that doesn’t stop him from launching off the stage to crowd surf.

The Filipino singer-songwriter and producer, born Idris Vicuna, has generated buzz on the internet for his genre-blending, nostalgic music. His psychedelic sound features moody lyrics and fuses genres such as lo-fi hip-hop, post-punk and shoegaze. Eyedress’ relaxed beats and gentle vocals have captivated audiences from around the globe, resulting in him selling out practically every show he hosts.

“[My music is] like a synthy indie rock/surf punk on ketamine, molly, acid, DMT, mushrooms and lots of weed,” Eyedress says. “My music feels like a collage to me. A collage of all the different styles of music I like, morphed into one project.”

Eyedress has come a long way from playing in punk bands and making beats on his laptop from his bedroom, but he’s still the same indie rebel. You know the type: chill, emo and slightly stoned. The laid-back, tatted artist is seldom without his signature slick black sunglasses. Despite his stage fright, his live performances are known for their energy and intimacy. Recently, Eyedress has been especially cautious to not let his fans down.

“I’ve gotten so serious about performing lately, that I don’t even drink or smoke until after I perform,” he reveals. “So, I’ll be performing completely sober, and the adrenaline alone gets me high. I’m also just trying to be more focused and professional about my performances now. So many things on the line, I feel like I can’t let myself even come close to disappointing any of the people who attend my shows.”

Even when Eyedress isn’t high, his music is still trippy. His hazy, narcotic sound is often complemented by equally woozy visual storytelling. His dreamlike music videos consist of striking visuals, including frogs smoking pipes, coffee mugs with human legs and claymation alien invaders.

Eyedress prioritizes good vibes, especially at his concerts. He just wants his audience “to have fun and have a good time and to forget about the seriousness that is life sometimes.” 

“We all know how life gets, so I try to make the show feel like an escape as much as possible,” he says. “I hope my music takes people to places mentally, even if it’s just for 50-60 minutes.”

In the midst of tour rehearsals and mixtape recordings in March, Eyedress searches for moments of solitude on his crammed tour bus to answer my questions. Nowadays, peace and quiet is rare for the Los Angeles-based artist. Nonstop practicing and performing has resulted in a “crazy” schedule, according to RCA Records’ Senior Director of Publicity, Alex John. Eyedress agrees that “things have been insane lately.” However, he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“I went so hard for this dream of mine, everything about it is all I could ever ask for,” he says. “To ask for more feels gluttonous.”

Touring with his friends and family, including his wife, Elvia, and their son, Boaty, has been “a dream come true” for Eyedress. He was especially excited to end his West Coast tour in Phoenix because he grew up there, so it felt like “a full circle moment.” He’s ready for his journey to continue.

“I’m just excited for it all, to be honest,” he says. “Some of these states I’ve never been to, so it all feels surreal and new to me.” 

Eyedress’ West Coast tour, “The Eyedress Tour Bus,” consumed March. But his schedule didn’t slow down after that. His East Coast tour, “Hey Eyedress,” kicked off in April and finished in May. He was joined by hip-hop duo Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, hip-hop group El Michels Affair and rapper Na-Kel Smith for a few performances. He now has music festivals to prepare for — Splendour in the Grass and Fuji Rock Festival in July, Lollapalooza and All Points East in August, and Austin City Limits Music Festival in October, to name a few. Eyedress is also opening for Glass Animals on their “Tour of Earth,” which begins in August and ends in September.

But most exciting for Eyedress was releasing his new mixtape, “Vampire in Beverly Hills,” in April. The mixtape has more than 25 features, including: Cuco, Pearl & The Oysters, Dent May, Daryl Johns, Horse Morrison, Elvia, Wild Nothing, Trit95, John Maus, Rico Nasty, N8NOFACE, Sy Chio, Razy, Bb trickz, Yung Kazi, Buddy, HOMESHAKE, DaM-FunK, Richie Griner, Jay Ughh, Bee Eyes, Penny, Jesse Jo Stark, Zeroh, Vex Ruffin, Slayboots, TrentTruce and Provoker.

Eyedress’ team says to expect even more music from him later this year.

Looking Back and Moving Forward

Over the past decade, Eyedress has worked hard to make a name for himself. He struggles to gain respect as a person of color and an immigrant, but has overcome many of the challenges he’s faced in the music industry by surrounding himself with people who match his energy.

“Ever since I got rid of all the lames in my life, everything started improving,” he says. “Not just the music, but also the business side. I stopped fucking with people who weren’t really gonna ride or die for me and surrounded myself with more solid individuals. That and not having any ‘yes men’ around has kept me grounded.”

He finally caught mainstream attention when his 2019 single “Jealous” became a viral success on TikTok. It currently has almost 800 million listens on Spotify. Similarly, Eyedress’ song “Romantic Lover” from his 2020 album “Let’s Skip to the Wedding” as well as his song “Something About You” from his 2021 album “Mulholland Drive” have each acquired more than 400 million streams on Spotify. So, it’s no surprise that Eyedress has been widely recognized as a breakthrough artist to watch.

It’s hard to imagine any musician as popular yet underrated as Eyedress. Last year, he signed with RCA Records and collaborated with Mac DeMarco on two songs, “The Dark Prince” and “My Simple Jeep,” as well as The Marias on two songs, “Separate Ways” and “A Room Up In The Sky.” But Eyedress hasn’t let the fame get to him. He’s tapped into the underground, having worked with names like Cartier God, Cashcache!, Marcy Mane, Lofty305, 10kdunkin, RealYungPhil, BoofPaxkMooky, Slimesito and many more. 

“I like to collaborate with people I’m already a fan of, but that’s a matter of luck sometimes like when I get to collaborate with artists like Mac DeMarco or The Mari­as, but I’m the same when I work with someone who is just doing this for the first time or someone who’s been doing it forever,” Eyedress says. “I try not to interfere in the creative process of whoever I’m collaborating with, and I just let them do their thing and try to work my way around that. I’m very hands off and never force anything and only do what feels good.”

If his baggy fits and long hair weren’t clues, I’ll state the obvious — Eyedress is a skater. He was inspired to create music by the skateboarding videos he used to buy on VHS when he was a kid, which explains why his sound is rooted in skate culture.

“All of my favorite skaters were either punk or into some gangster rap shit or both, but yeah, skate videos like Misled Youth, Baker 2G, Fulfill the Dream, etc. all have inspired me and my taste for music,” the Manila-born artist says.

Despite making music for a while now, Eyedress doesn’t think his sound has changed other than in quality.

“The process has always been the same, I just use nicer gear now, but I still try to make things sound shitty after running it through a bunch of expensive gear by running onto a very nice cassette recorder,” Eyedress laughs. “Then I clean it up with a denoise plug in, so it sounds like a good mix of clean and gritty.”

Now, Eyedress is having a metamorphosis. Having been booked and busy all year, he’s on track to becoming one of the largest names in alternative music. His new mixtape has the same dreamy sound but differs from previous projects due to “years of experience and having knowledge about music, life and growing up.” In honor of Eyedress’ 34th birthday this year, his mixtape is 34 tracks long, and showcases his personal and artistic growth.

Ahead of the mixtape’s release, Eyedress couldn’t choose just one song he was excited for listeners to hear. He wants fans to enjoy them all.

“I hope people still listen to my music in whole and not just through 15 second loops sped up or slowed down on social media apps, but I ain’t mad at that either,” he says. “I just wanted to make something like ‘The Headphone Masterpiece’ by Cody Chesnutt. It’s a 38-track album that he recorded onto a 4-track cassette recorder and it shows all these different vibes and a man with a well-rounded personality and taste for music. It’s not a blatant rip-off of that, but it’s just one album that I love that is long and has a bunch of gems in it.”

Eyedress wants people to feel inspired after hearing his mixtape.

“I want people to take from this mixtape what I felt when I first listened to that Cody Chesnutt album,” he continues. “That feeling of inspiration after hearing that album really got me dreaming as big as I can and with that as my blueprint, I was trying to come at this mixtape with that kind of energy. I always think big and I’m a very generous and giving person if you ask anyone who knows me that’s just how I am, so with that being said, that’s what you will get fucking with an artist like me, because I create a lot. It’s what I love to do and I won’t stop until I’m gone.”

Eyedress says people would be surprised to learn that he’s “not fussy” and “just a regular dude who listens to weird music,” but after learning his journey, it’s safe to say that he’s far from regular and has so much more in store for himself and the world.

“I’m just grateful that I get to do this for a living. It feels like the industry is becoming more inclusive and for someone like me to be doing this at the level I’m doing it at feels surreal to me. I’m very grateful for everything and just hope I can inspire anyone else that sees my journey as something they can work toward.” 

“Vampire in Beverly Hills” is out now, and new music is on the way.