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 | BIO: Quentin Harris - Production Dynamo |
Born and raised in Detroit, Quentin Harris came of age inspired by many of the legends of his hometown. Motown, Prince, P-Funk and of course, early techno instilled in Harris, a love of all forms of music. Today, he is recognized as one of the leaders in the field of deep house. It has been said that his work re-vitalized what had become a saturated and tired genre.
“I love experimenting with music and I’ll try anything to see if it works” says Quentin Harris on a rare break from the studio. He’s one of the busiest men in the industry but if he didn’t have to sleep he’d probably make music 24 hours a day. “It’s like I just can’t stop it,” laughs Quentin. “It’s strange but it makes me happy.”
It’s a combination of this drive and an innate talent - honed by a musical upbringing - that has led to Quentin’s critical and international recognition as a leader in the field of House music, but success hasn’t gone to Quentin’s head. “The fame and the wealth…it’s fine but if it didn’t even exist I would still be doing it,” he says. “I don’t think I’m any different from when I was growing up in Detroit.”
Quentin may not feel different in himself but his career has exploded over the seven years up to his debut album, No Politics, released on Strictly Rhythm. The album contains some of his House Classics but Quentin refuses to stick only to his best known work. “I have this thing – give people what they weren’t expecting. If you challenge the listener in a good way from the beginning, you’ll be able to experiment more and they’ll go with you - if it’s good.” And with Quentin it usually is.
But what makes him so distinctive? Take a look at any crowd at a Quentin Harris club night and you’ll get a clue. “It’s very mixed – gay, straight, it’s everything – club kids, people who come in costumes.” Harris’ music appeals to an incredibly diverse market. “I feel music is something that brings people together; my work comes from all of the different musical backgrounds I have.” Growing up in Detroit, Quentin coped constantly with the divide between Hip-Hop and House music, (both of which he loved) so you can understand why he wants his music to be a unifying force. “My main thing is to have people go in their classic direction but mesh what they’re doing; bring two worlds together.”
House music is not typically known for carrying a message but the title of Quentin’s album, ‘No Politics’, reflects a desire to rid music of niches, divides and genre boundaries: “I have this analogy – and this belief – that nothing is new. Everything’s been done before – we’re not re-inventing the wheel - I just like all music and what I make just so happens to sound like what it sounds like.” But despite his desire for music to be politics-free Quentin cites his own album as an example of the trouble. “There were disagreements between the American record label and Japan,” he explains. “It’s complicated but it became very political; that’s when I decided the album should be called, ‘No Politics’.””
Ask Quentin how he got into remix work and the depth of his 15-plus years experience in the industry becomes apparent. “When I was doing hip-hop I would always get acapellas and do my own mixes to them,” he says. “It was like a form of practice, like practicing the piano; you don’t get better unless you keep doing it.” Practice makes perfect and when one of his remixes reached the ears of House legend (and long-term idol of Quentin) Timmy Regisford Quentin’s career took off in a big way. “When Timmy played, it was almost like he loved the music so much that you knew that the record was going to be good; it was just like non-stop energy.” It was artists like Timmy - and others in the early 90’s New York club scene that drew Quentin into the Dance scene but his influences are not exclusively from that world. “Prince is a very big influence,” he says. “I was listening to a record by Prince the other day called ‘Hello’ and, because there are some musical similarities to my record ‘Can’t Stop’; I was like, ‘Oh my God! I subconsciously channelled him when I made that record!’”
Quentin has been a regular at the legendary Club Shelter for 6 years and it has become a second home to him, but in recent years he’s been experimenting with parties of his own. “Recently I started a party called Kiss My Black Ass… You laugh – that’s what that name was intended to do! I think people take themselves too seriously in music. I just wanted to create a night where people could come as they are; you hear it all the time, ‘Come as you are!’ But no, people were coming to my party really as they were; some girl had a lamp-shade on her head, I was like, ‘Oh, fine.’ I’ve always been the kind of person who’s very adaptable, I can have fun in a cardboard box.”
But club nights, remixes, production and original works make Quentin a very busy boy. “I work on planes, a lot of it’s amazing; I did a Mika remix in my hotel room for ‘Happy Endings’ and thought of the basic idea for ‘What Goes Around Comes Around’ for Justin Timberlake on a plane on the way back from Italy.” But hard work has paid off and amongst Quentin’s highlights from his recent years have been his two Underground Archive awards as re-mixer of the year, “Those have been really important because those are you’re peers voting,” he says.
But don’t think he’s being pigeon-holed by those awards. “I’ve really been experimenting with rock as of late,” he says, out of nowhere. “Rock in the sense of very stripped down, punk/funk rock with my spin on it: I’m constantly trying to evolve. I think people will be able to use this album to get a glimpse of what’s to come. The Reason for Love record has all these screaming, ringing rock guitars at the end but it’s like a techno track.” And he’s changing the industry in other ways, focussing on albums like the new Colton Ford. “One little problem with the scene at the moment is there are not enough faces,” he explains. “It’s very DJ driven. I’ll be the first person to say it, even though I benefit from it.”
He’s a man with a heart, is Quentin, not something you could say about everyone on the dance scene. And he’s a man who sees a bit deeper. “The one thing that touched me the most since I’ve been doing this was when I did an album release party in Japan in 2005,” he says as we wind up. “This girl came up to me and said that, Let’s Be Young had stopped her from committing suicide! What do you say after someone says that to you? I was speechless; I couldn’t say anything. I was a bumbling idiot.”
Introducing the most genius bumbling idiot in the business!
http://www.quentinharris.com
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Posted on January 27, 2010
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