Eyedress

File:Eyedress by Edwin Monico.png

2018 photo of Eyedress by Edwin Monico

Eyedress
Birth name	Idris Vicuña
Also known as	Eyedress
Born	(1990-05-28) 28 May 1990
Origin	Makati City, Philippines
Genres	Punk rock noise rock shoegazing dream pop indie rock synthpop avant-pop chillwave electronic Italo Disco garage rock psychedelic indietronica R&B/Soul Hip hop lo-fi
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instrument(s)	Bass, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, drums, vocals
Years active	2008-present
Labels	Lex Records, XL Recordings, Babe Slayer Records, Headcount Records, Number Line Records, OffShore Music

Idris Vicuña (born May 28, 1990), known by his stage name Eyedress, is a Filipino musician, songwriter and producer based in Manila. He is the first Filipino musician from Manila to be signed to a major indie label in the United Kingdom.

Life and career

Eyedress is the alias of Filipino artist Idris Vicuña. Born on May 28, 1990 in the city of Makati, Philippines, Vicuña relocated with his family to the United States at the age of 6 and was raised in Phoenix, Arizona before moving to San Clemente, California at the age of 13, where he started playing bass in a Crass-influenced crust punk band called The Liberal Underground and indie rock band Claud Winters.

In 2005, Vicuña moved back to Manila where he met Julius Valledor (vocals/rhythm guitar) and Diego Abad (bass) on MySpace then later formed the band Bee Eyes, where he first played the drums then after several line-up changes started playing lead guitar and eventually vocals. The band name is a reference to someone's mother accused them of being a "B.I." (a Filipino term for being a "bad influence.") Bee Eyes self released a couple of EPs and music videos. Eventually, their bassist decided to leave the band to pursue his studies, which left Vicuña with lots of downtime to pursue his own solo project which would eventually become Eyedress.

The first physical releases of his solo project came out on underground French indie-pop/shoegaze label “Beko” and his first ever record titled “Hearing Colors” came out as a collaboration between Beko and Berlin based label “Mater Suspiria Vision/Phantasma Disques.” After its release, blogs started to pick up Vicuña's music and eventually found him his first official record deal with XL Recordings imprint Abeano. They re-released “Hearing Colors” as a free mixtape via WeTransfer and released a 12-inch EP titled “Supernatural” which was praised by major publications such as The Guardian and NME.

After he was dropped from XL Recordings, he followed up with his second full length titled “Shapeshifter” which was self released through his own label, Babe Slayer Records. Limited copies were re-released on pink vinyl through independent UK label Headcount Records. Shapeshifter's opening track featured XL's own King Krule under his Edgar The Breathtaker alias, as well as several underground artists including North London rapper Oscar Worldpeace and LA rapper Pyramid Vritra. Eyedress’ music was eventually discovered by hip hop producer Prefuse73 who got him a record deal with his current label, London-based Lex Records.

Under Lex Records, he released his third full-length record titled “Manila Ice” which was originally coined by Josh from the band Jungle when he jokingly told Idris while he was touring the UK with them as their supporting act that he should call his next album that. Years later, he named his debut record on Lex Records “Manila Ice” and it has slowly grown popular among fellow underground musicians and gained support from The Fader, Hypebeast, Pigeons and Planes, and I-D.

His next record titled “Sensitive G” is scheduled to drop in November 2018 on Lex Records and features a track with dream pop singer/songwriter Fazerdaze.

He was also featured in King Krule's 2017 album "The Ooz" on the track "The Cadet Leaps" where he recites a poem in his native Filipino language (Tagalog) written by King Krule and translated by artist/painter Jeona Zoleta.

In 2018, Vicuña assaulted visual artist Dex Fernandez, who sustained multiple facial fractures. Vicuña moved to Los Angeles shortly after.

Discography

EPs

• Half Japanese (Number Line Records, 2012)
• Supernatural (Abano, 2 December 2013)
• Halloween Freak (Babe Slayer, 2016)
• Gwapo ko Galing Sa'Yo (OffShore Music, 8 April 2018)

LPs

• Nature Trips (Abeano, 2 December 2013)
• Shapeshifter (Headcount Records & Babe Slayer Records, 31 October 2015)
• Manila Ice (Lex Records, 12 May 2017)
• Sensitive G (Lex Records, 16 November 2018)

Singles

• "Nature Trips" (2013)
• "Teen Spirits" (2014)
• "My Hologram" (2014)
• "When I'm Gone" (2014)
• "Where My Girl At?" (2015)
• "Sofia Coppola" (2016)
• "Halloween Freak" (2016)
• "Separation Anxiety" (2017)
• "No Love in the City" (2018)
• "Gwapo Ko Galing Sa'yo (2018)
• "Toxic Masculinity" (2018)
• "Be a Better Friend" (2018)

Collaborations

• "Hearing Colors" with Skint Eastwood (LP; Phantasma Disques, 18 February 2013)
• "Moisture" with Lofty305 (LP; Posh Plasma, 11 May 2017)
• "The Cadet Leaps" with King Krule off the album "The Ooz" (LP; XL Recordings, 13 October 2017)