Harvey, if someone does an internet search with your name, he opens a whole can of worms. On internet forums like djhistory.com, you achieved a god-like status as cult leader numero uno for all the odd ones out there. How do you feel about that reputation and the need of your fans to have every single song and track on your numerous mixes identified that are floating around?
Yeh it’s definitely crazy and flattering, I don’t really check any of them out I’m not that computer friendly though I do like to cruise e-bay – I think it’s great that people are interested enough to want to find out what the tracks I play are, I play some pretty crazy shit – Get ready for the next, I’m going to do my own label - things will fall out every once in a while, I always thought once someone finally got all the tracks it’d be time to do another – I’m not sure anyone has yet though.
You moved, when exactly by the way, from London to Los Angeles. What were your main reasons, apart from the better weather?
I’ve been out of the UK for quite a few years now though I spend my time between upstate NY where Thomas and I record, LA and Hawaii – I try to spend two weeks a month there at my gallery/club. It was time for a change more than anything I was doing really well in Europe and some people thought it was suicide but it’s been a creative rebirth it’s always good to change it up.
How is the scene in LA at the moment. Speaking from internet experience there seem to be some nice things going on. Especially, if one looks to San Diego and the Lounge Candela’s thing. What is the story about that one?
LA is a strange beast, I get my jollys but as far as regular goes it’s almost best to not play there too often, it’s crazy there are literally millions of people in LA but the scene can be really small – there’s a bit of a driftwood mentality there too as in if someone is successful they kick anyone off their bit of wood that shows interest or is perceived as a threat. The positives of LA far outweigh any negatives, our annual beach party at Zuma is pretty hard to beat, I’m pretty sure there is nothing like it anywhere in the world, SF has some great parties Candelas is small and oh so good, LA is great for the one offs and the crazy Hollywood scene. There’s great radio in America too – I see myself organising so many more things out here – Hawaii will turn into a destination and I’d like to get some kind of once a year happening together there.
You also have something going on in Hawaii. Could you please elaborate a little bit on that one? Hawaii seems to be the perfect place for having a party in this world!
A space in Hawaii is a dream come true made possible by other people for me to just turn up and lord over really, Right now we are trying to get some sound system sponsorship to beef it up and we are finally in a position to invite guests to come and play. We are a gallery space and showcase great cutting edge art, often overlooked in Hawaii – Christmas and NYE is a big time for us and we plan to have a great exhibition up for that period as well as some great nights planned I would advise anyone thinking of taking a break at that time to come to Oahu. You can check it out at HYPERLINK "http://
Could you please describe a little bit of your musical background? Id est, what were your first steps as a DJ or musician, what were your favourite artists and djs and how did the whole dance music thing start for you?
My mom used to play great records to me as a kid – I’m lucky I am surrounded by friends and experiences that constantly inspire me, I was a drummer in punk bands from a really young age John Peel played our stuff on the radio when I was 13. Then I took the same route most people my age did getting a pair of decks and cutting up breaks – I was a crews DJ which is really how the whole Tonka thing came about, I was a better DJ than a breaker or graffiti artist.
What was the Tonka Sound System?
We were a collective of alternative types DJ’s musicians, set designers, sound people and we put things together purely for the love of playing – It was almost like a cult ha ha– with lots of cute small girls running around as I remember… Myself Chocci and Rev were the main DJ’s and we spawned a whole generation of DJ’s like The Idjuts, Garth and Markie. We would haul those big yellow speakers all over the UK. We played the Zap in Brighton once a month then afterwards we’d haul the speakers onto the beach at Black Rock and party till the sun came up and beyond and nobody bothered us. David Sims took some great photos of the Tonka crew I’d like to get my hands on.
Nights like “Moist”, “New hard Left” or your tenure at the Ministry Of Sound are legendary and seem to have had a huge impact on a whole generation of British selectors. What was your point with those nights, what were the legendary happenings and did you always like to mix things up and serve a different meal than your counter peers?
Heidi was really the brain and the balls behind those things, she always sees really well what’s happening next, we would talk about people like Larry and Francois and she would say lets find em and get em to play – they are artists all they want to do is show their craft and be appreciated. Then she would be out all over the place spreading the word to the fashion freaks she associated with. Believe it or not at the time it wasn’t an easy sell for any of those nights, we were putting DJ’s on all night long when you could go to a club round the corner and see one an hour for 6 hours – we had to destroy a lot of peoples perceptions and she convinced the clubs it was a good way to keep evolving. She’s doing her thing now in LA she had Madlib, Peanut Butter Wolf and Jay Rock play a grammy party she organised – they tore the house down and it was one of the best nights LA has seen this year, you had the likes of Quinten Tarrentino, Jay Z, Mos Def, Tony Alva at one end of the room and friends from London like Frank Tope and Basement Jaxx at the other all going crazy for these guys. Usher and RZA were freestyling through the headphone’s at one point – Yeh that girl really does know how to throw a party.
Together with Gerry Rooney and your Black Cock joint venture, you were also at the forefront of the whole editmania. At least, in Europe. What do you think about the whole edit business nowadays? “Edit” here and “edit” there, seems to be all the rage since the mouse substituted the razor blade.
I was aware of the whole edit thing that came out of the US and paradise garage scene and there were tracks I would play two copies of or record them to the reel to mess around with as I was Djing and re-editing for me was just an extension of that. When you have a residency you are playing records week after week breaking new stuff and it’s a way to keep things fresh and exciting and put your personality on the music that people are getting to know, I was into disco loops at that time and funnily enough some stuff I had made for myself was made into actual tunes that were released – I was never comfortable doing that, so much of that stuff got put out credited not to the original artists but the DJ some producers made quite nice careers out of it.
What are current producers, musicians or disc jockeys you fancy listening to?
I always have a great time hanging out and listening to Thomas and Eric. I’d more like to hang out with some buddies more than anything people like Ivan S and Romain, the mad crew in Norway, Oslo. Gerry and I could play records to each other for weeks and still not get through em all. We’re trying to get hold of a bunch of people to come and play with me out in Hawaii, when they’re stateside I know people out there would love to hear the likes of those guys and people like Giles, Norman, Francois.
What is the story with your new project “Map Of Africa”? Which label will it be on and when can we expect something that is not “white label”?
It’s myself and DJ Thomas. It’s our band we have finished an album and are just putting the sparkle on it. I sing, the first 12" is just out on Whatever We Want records and it’s really just a hand to hand thing. The next single everyone tells us is great and then the album will follow that. You can go to www.whateverwewantrecords.com to find out more. We’ve been asked to do live gigs and we will do a few next year, we had a few rehearsals with our band in NY and it’s pretty exciting stuff. It’s a family affair Carlos who owns the label is a great friend I designed the artwork Michael K of Stussy is getting the merchandising together – I designed a great t shirt. We’re really pretty fucking dangerous musically and well in everything really. I wouldn’t want to be our tour manager.
You have been deejaying for quite some years now. Have you ever reached that point, wehre you were so fed up with the whole circus that you wanted to become a Carthusian monk?
I always avoid the circus, I’ve been on the brink of it a few times but then I always disappear off up my arse. I live a pretty nice life I get to do what I like, when I like, how I like if there’s no waves in Hawaii and the guest DJ’s have it taken care of I can go to New York, when I’ve damaged my liver partying in NY I can head off to LA. I’m constantly running off.
As one of the recent pioneers of the genre, why did the “Balearic” thing come back so heavily? Are people tired of the same old, same old 4/4 patterns?
I never stopped playing so called balearic music – I play so much of that stuff in LA and California people really dig it out there – it goes so well with the feel and climate of the place. At the annual beach party I always have a moment where I think this is what people think Ibiza will be like, all beautiful people dancing on the beach, amazing chilled out tunes but then you have perfect waves out in front of you with dolphins swimming around. I play Balearic music the world over in fact they really get into it in NYC too but there you have to mix it up with the ugliest heaviest shit anyone ever heard – you know it’s the light and the dark and I like to push it all the way both ways, ha ha.
That’s all for now and thanks for the reading (and answering) those silly questions!
Yeh it’s definitely crazy and flattering, I don’t really check any of them out I’m not that computer friendly though I do like to cruise e-bay – I think it’s great that people are interested enough to want to find out what the tracks I play are, I play some pretty crazy shit – Get ready for the next, I’m going to do my own label - things will fall out every once in a while, I always thought once someone finally got all the tracks it’d be time to do another – I’m not sure anyone has yet though.
You moved, when exactly by the way, from London to Los Angeles. What were your main reasons, apart from the better weather?
I’ve been out of the UK for quite a few years now though I spend my time between upstate NY where Thomas and I record, LA and Hawaii – I try to spend two weeks a month there at my gallery/club. It was time for a change more than anything I was doing really well in Europe and some people thought it was suicide but it’s been a creative rebirth it’s always good to change it up.
How is the scene in LA at the moment. Speaking from internet experience there seem to be some nice things going on. Especially, if one looks to San Diego and the Lounge Candela’s thing. What is the story about that one?
LA is a strange beast, I get my jollys but as far as regular goes it’s almost best to not play there too often, it’s crazy there are literally millions of people in LA but the scene can be really small – there’s a bit of a driftwood mentality there too as in if someone is successful they kick anyone off their bit of wood that shows interest or is perceived as a threat. The positives of LA far outweigh any negatives, our annual beach party at Zuma is pretty hard to beat, I’m pretty sure there is nothing like it anywhere in the world, SF has some great parties Candelas is small and oh so good, LA is great for the one offs and the crazy Hollywood scene. There’s great radio in America too – I see myself organising so many more things out here – Hawaii will turn into a destination and I’d like to get some kind of once a year happening together there.
You also have something going on in Hawaii. Could you please elaborate a little bit on that one? Hawaii seems to be the perfect place for having a party in this world!
A space in Hawaii is a dream come true made possible by other people for me to just turn up and lord over really, Right now we are trying to get some sound system sponsorship to beef it up and we are finally in a position to invite guests to come and play. We are a gallery space and showcase great cutting edge art, often overlooked in Hawaii – Christmas and NYE is a big time for us and we plan to have a great exhibition up for that period as well as some great nights planned I would advise anyone thinking of taking a break at that time to come to Oahu. You can check it out at HYPERLINK "http://
Could you please describe a little bit of your musical background? Id est, what were your first steps as a DJ or musician, what were your favourite artists and djs and how did the whole dance music thing start for you?
My mom used to play great records to me as a kid – I’m lucky I am surrounded by friends and experiences that constantly inspire me, I was a drummer in punk bands from a really young age John Peel played our stuff on the radio when I was 13. Then I took the same route most people my age did getting a pair of decks and cutting up breaks – I was a crews DJ which is really how the whole Tonka thing came about, I was a better DJ than a breaker or graffiti artist.
What was the Tonka Sound System?
We were a collective of alternative types DJ’s musicians, set designers, sound people and we put things together purely for the love of playing – It was almost like a cult ha ha– with lots of cute small girls running around as I remember… Myself Chocci and Rev were the main DJ’s and we spawned a whole generation of DJ’s like The Idjuts, Garth and Markie. We would haul those big yellow speakers all over the UK. We played the Zap in Brighton once a month then afterwards we’d haul the speakers onto the beach at Black Rock and party till the sun came up and beyond and nobody bothered us. David Sims took some great photos of the Tonka crew I’d like to get my hands on.
Nights like “Moist”, “New hard Left” or your tenure at the Ministry Of Sound are legendary and seem to have had a huge impact on a whole generation of British selectors. What was your point with those nights, what were the legendary happenings and did you always like to mix things up and serve a different meal than your counter peers?
Heidi was really the brain and the balls behind those things, she always sees really well what’s happening next, we would talk about people like Larry and Francois and she would say lets find em and get em to play – they are artists all they want to do is show their craft and be appreciated. Then she would be out all over the place spreading the word to the fashion freaks she associated with. Believe it or not at the time it wasn’t an easy sell for any of those nights, we were putting DJ’s on all night long when you could go to a club round the corner and see one an hour for 6 hours – we had to destroy a lot of peoples perceptions and she convinced the clubs it was a good way to keep evolving. She’s doing her thing now in LA she had Madlib, Peanut Butter Wolf and Jay Rock play a grammy party she organised – they tore the house down and it was one of the best nights LA has seen this year, you had the likes of Quinten Tarrentino, Jay Z, Mos Def, Tony Alva at one end of the room and friends from London like Frank Tope and Basement Jaxx at the other all going crazy for these guys. Usher and RZA were freestyling through the headphone’s at one point – Yeh that girl really does know how to throw a party.
Together with Gerry Rooney and your Black Cock joint venture, you were also at the forefront of the whole editmania. At least, in Europe. What do you think about the whole edit business nowadays? “Edit” here and “edit” there, seems to be all the rage since the mouse substituted the razor blade.
I was aware of the whole edit thing that came out of the US and paradise garage scene and there were tracks I would play two copies of or record them to the reel to mess around with as I was Djing and re-editing for me was just an extension of that. When you have a residency you are playing records week after week breaking new stuff and it’s a way to keep things fresh and exciting and put your personality on the music that people are getting to know, I was into disco loops at that time and funnily enough some stuff I had made for myself was made into actual tunes that were released – I was never comfortable doing that, so much of that stuff got put out credited not to the original artists but the DJ some producers made quite nice careers out of it.
What are current producers, musicians or disc jockeys you fancy listening to?
I always have a great time hanging out and listening to Thomas and Eric. I’d more like to hang out with some buddies more than anything people like Ivan S and Romain, the mad crew in Norway, Oslo. Gerry and I could play records to each other for weeks and still not get through em all. We’re trying to get hold of a bunch of people to come and play with me out in Hawaii, when they’re stateside I know people out there would love to hear the likes of those guys and people like Giles, Norman, Francois.
What is the story with your new project “Map Of Africa”? Which label will it be on and when can we expect something that is not “white label”?
It’s myself and DJ Thomas. It’s our band we have finished an album and are just putting the sparkle on it. I sing, the first 12" is just out on Whatever We Want records and it’s really just a hand to hand thing. The next single everyone tells us is great and then the album will follow that. You can go to www.whateverwewantrecords.com to find out more. We’ve been asked to do live gigs and we will do a few next year, we had a few rehearsals with our band in NY and it’s pretty exciting stuff. It’s a family affair Carlos who owns the label is a great friend I designed the artwork Michael K of Stussy is getting the merchandising together – I designed a great t shirt. We’re really pretty fucking dangerous musically and well in everything really. I wouldn’t want to be our tour manager.
You have been deejaying for quite some years now. Have you ever reached that point, wehre you were so fed up with the whole circus that you wanted to become a Carthusian monk?
I always avoid the circus, I’ve been on the brink of it a few times but then I always disappear off up my arse. I live a pretty nice life I get to do what I like, when I like, how I like if there’s no waves in Hawaii and the guest DJ’s have it taken care of I can go to New York, when I’ve damaged my liver partying in NY I can head off to LA. I’m constantly running off.
As one of the recent pioneers of the genre, why did the “Balearic” thing come back so heavily? Are people tired of the same old, same old 4/4 patterns?
I never stopped playing so called balearic music – I play so much of that stuff in LA and California people really dig it out there – it goes so well with the feel and climate of the place. At the annual beach party I always have a moment where I think this is what people think Ibiza will be like, all beautiful people dancing on the beach, amazing chilled out tunes but then you have perfect waves out in front of you with dolphins swimming around. I play Balearic music the world over in fact they really get into it in NYC too but there you have to mix it up with the ugliest heaviest shit anyone ever heard – you know it’s the light and the dark and I like to push it all the way both ways, ha ha.
That’s all for now and thanks for the reading (and answering) those silly questions!
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