Eddie Piller was born into the mod scene (his mother was head of a fan club for the mod band "Small Faces") and came early in contact with soul music. He began with djing in the early 80's (time of the punk initiated mod revival) combining soul, mod, ska and punk in his sets.
In 1987, after running the record labels Countdown and Re-Elect The President, he founded together with Gilles Peterson, at that time DJ at Radio London, the legendary Acid Jazz label. Before he created with him the style "Acid Jazz" playing together in clubs a mix between Psychedelic Jazz, 70's Funk, Hip Hop and Soul. The name was the result of a joke about the big acid house boom in England at this time. Someone asked: "What music is this?" He answered: "Acid Jazz".