David Harrow (born 29 June London) is a record producer, DJ, and multimedia artist living and working in Los Angeles.
Early life
In the early 80’s, David Harrow could be found as a fledging performer in art school, various squats in London and the
Warehouse Theatre
The Warehouse Theatre was a professional producing theatre in the centre of Croydon, England. Based in an oak-beamed Victorian former cement warehouse, it had 100 seats. The theatre closed in 2012 following withdrawal of funding and the disco ...
in East Croydon. It was there that the young keyboardist met poet
Anne Clark after one of her performances. He wrote the music and produced tracks on her next album, ''Changing Places,'' and would continue to write and produce a number of influential songs that have since been considered milestones of that musical era.
Career
In 1982, David Harrow wrote and produced his first solo album, ''The Succession''. He soon began performing live with
Psychic TV, a psychedelic/punk video art and music group. From then on, touring extensively in Europe, performing both as a solo artist and with
Anne Clark as well. In 1983 he wrote and produced music for her album ''Joined Up Writing'', and then relocated to Berlin, where he met his lifelong friend Mike Vamp of the
Märtini Brös
Märtini Brös (aka Maertini Broes) is a German indietronic dance musical duo from Berlin, who have toured extensively throughout Europe and overseas. The project is a collaboration between DJ Clé (born in East Berlin) and Mike Vamp (born in ...
. Harrow produced Vamp's record ''Desperado'', and followed that up in 1984 with another 12" of his own, called ''No Easy Targets''.
In 1985 he released ''Sufferhead EP'' with British vocalist Peter Hope and ''Bite the Hand that Feeds You'' with singer Pinkie Maclure.
His remixes of Anne Clark's tracks "Sleeper in Metropolis" and "Our Darkness" were released in Germany, and Harrow started producing for German music groups LeningradSandwich and Fougorki.
After working for six months in San Francisco at the request of seminal dance label
Razormaid, as in-house musician/co-producer for acts such as Debora and Sylvester, then relocating to Holland and began working with
Jah Wobble Live and recording their album ''Without Judgement''.
In 1987 it was back to London at the height of the
acid house
Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...
movement, and Harrow recorded his final album with Anne Clark, ''Hopeless Cases''. He began performing with "Rubber" Ron Elliston from Black Britain at acid house events around the UK, including the Shoom at London Bridge and Oranges at the Astoria.
The following year, Harrow started working with
ONU as one of the many groups signed to the label, and began touring as ONU Soundsystem along with Barmy Army, African Headcharge, Strange Parcels, Dub Syndicate, Jesse Rae and vocalist
Gary Clail
Gary Clail (born 1956) is an English singer and record producer, and the founder of the Gary Clail Sound System. He was part of On-U Sound Records (and also the On-U Sound System) and led Gary Clail's Tackhead Sound System. They had a big hit in ...
. Harrow wrote recorded and co-produced tracks for artists such as
Lee "Scratch" Perry
Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...
, Bim Sherman and
Mark Stewart, and performed worldwide with all of the above.
Harrow wrote and co-produced Clail's two big hits, "
Human Nature
Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
" and "Who Pays the Piper", and in 1989 released Radio Morocco as PULSE8 on Nation Records. In 1990 Harrow remixed Depeche Mode’s "Enjoy the Silence" and
Candi Staton
Canzetta Maria "Candi" Staton (, ) (born March 13, 1940) is an American singer–songwriter, best known in the United States for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's " Stand by Your Man" and her 1976 disco chart-topper "Young Hearts Run Free". In E ...
’s "You Got the Love" to further critical acclaim.
In 1991, Harrow began working with
Andrew Weatherall
Andrew James Weatherall (6 April 1963 – 17 February 2020) was an English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer. His career took him from being one of the key DJs in the acid house movement of the late 1980s to being a remixer of trac ...
under the name Bloodsugar; the duo released both remixes (notably of
The Orb
The Orb are an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. Known for their psychedelic sound, the Orb developed a cult following among clubbers "coming down" from drug-induced highs. Their influential 19 ...
’s "
Toxygene
"Toxygene" is a single by electronic music artist the Orb. It was released in 1997 as the first single from the album ''Orblivion''. The song was originally commissioned as a remix of Jean-Michel Jarre's "Oxygène 8" from '' Oxygène 7–13''. H ...
") and original material on Audio Emissions/Sabres of Paradise and secretly under the name Deanne Day (D and A).
1992, as a producer for many artists: Caligula,
Headless Chickens
The Headless Chickens was a New Zealand band. Going against the grain of the Dunedin sound that dominated the Flying Nun Records roster at the time, the Headless Chickens made extensive use of electronic instruments in their music.
History
...
, ATR,
Salmonella Dub
Salmonella Dub is a dub/ drum n bass/reggae/ roots band from New Zealand. The band was formed in 1992 by Andrew Penman, Dave Deakins, and Mark Tyler. The band has toured extensively throughout New Zealand, Australia, and Europe, including the UK ...
Soon Harrow was signed to Weatherall’s label Sabres of Paradise under the moniker Technova, where he released the epic 12" "Tantra," followed by the albums Tantric Steps and Transcience. That same year (1993), he performed a legendary party at the London club Blood Sugar, complete with naked dancers, fire eaters and body modification artists. Harrow also found time to collaborate with performance artist Ron Athey and throughout 1994 was still touring widely with ONU Soundsystem.
In 1995, Harrow wrote
Billie Ray Martin
Birgit Dieckmann, known professionally as Billie Ray Martin, is a German singer and songwriter, known for her single "Your Loving Arms", which reached the top 10 of both the UK Singles Chart (#6) and the Irish Singles Chart (#8) in 1995, and re ...
's worldwide hit, "
Your Loving Arms
"Your Loving Arms" is a song by German singer Billie Ray Martin, the former lead singer of Electribe 101. It was released in October 1994 as the first single from her debut solo album, ''Deadline for My Memories'' (1995). Written by Martin and D ...
", and began secretly working under the names "James Hardway" and "Magnetic". The following year, he released the first record as "James Hardway", ''Wider Deeper Smoother Shit'', and began touring nonstop as "James Hardway", which he would continue to do for the next four years.
In 1997 Harrow signed to U.S. label Shadow Records as Magnetic, and in 1998 he released Hardway albums ''Welcome to the Neon Lounge'' on Hydrogen Dukebox and ''Easy Is a Four Letter Word'' on Shadow Records. The album "A Positive Sweat" followed on label Recordings of Substance in 1999.
In 2000, Harrow relocated to Havana, Cuba and Kingston, Jamaica to begin work on the album ''Moors and Christians'' (Hydrogen Dukebox). A total departure from the jazzy drum and bass of his previous release, this new endeavor saw Harrow recording
Santería
Santería (), also known as Regla de Ocha, Regla Lucumí, or Lucumí, is an African diaspora religions, African diasporic religion that developed in Cuba during the late 19th century. It arose through a process of syncretism between the tradit ...
n priests calling the
Orisha
Orishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. T ...
s to life as well as legendary vocalists such as
Congo Ashanti Roy.
In 2001, after the death of his close friend Bim Sherman, Harrow headed back to the West Coast of the United States, this time landing in Los Angeles. He soon released ''Straight from the Fridge'' as James Hardway, and began building a brand new studio for his new label Workhouse. In 2003 Harrow began scoring music for television and film, including ''
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
'', ''Sex Lives in LA'' and ''The Loaner'', and in 2005 Harrow signed to Lunaticworks and released ''Over Easy'' as the James Hardway Collective.
In 2006, Harrow established the online label "Workhouse Digital", initially to release his back catalogue. Workhouse soon became a showcase for his new recordings and fresh collaborations.
Still in demand as a collaborator, in 2007 Harrow produced Salmonella Dub's album ''
Heal Me'' for Virgin Records. Harrow and rapper Lord Zen from LA crew
The Visionaries
Visionaries is an underground hip hop crew from Los Angeles, California. The crew formed in 1995, and have since released four full-length albums on Up Above Records, and their fifth album "V" on their newly re-formed label Visionaries Crew, In ...
worked together to become LVX Collective; the duo released ''50.50.10'' on Pressure Sound Records later that year. Turning the other direction, Harrow released ''Frozen Poetry,'' an ambient experimental work released under the name "Numb and Number".
In 2008, he released ''LA Instrumental'' as "James Hardway" on Ubiquity Records, followed by ''Wolf in the Machine'' on his own Workhouse label with
Mirai Kawashima in a collaboration known as Kotodama Network. The following year, Harrow released the second LVX Collective album, ''LVXDeluxe'', as well as the last "James Hardway" album ''Snake Eyes'' (Workhouse).
After his visual projection work at a UCLA’s Summer Nights at Hammer Museum party lead to a large crowd response, Harrow began branching further into multimedia work and the new and exciting realm of video mapping. OICHO.tv was born, a form of spatial media, video mapping projects mutating images, shining hallucinations and brilliant displays of color for a thrilling multidimensional experience of digital art. Not only a moniker for the visual realm, Harrow has also released several albums and EPs as Oicho.
2010 Harrow really began to revisit his early analogue Electronic roots. with a return to modular electronic music construction at his WORKHOUSE studio in East Los Angeles. Performing live beat heavy modular Dub sets at the now defunct
Low End Theory
Low End Theory was a weekly experimental hip hop and electronic music club night that took place every Wednesday from 2006 to 2018 at The Airliner in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California.
History
"The Low End Theory" is the second studio albu ...
as well as more improvised ambient settings outside by the LA river fo
modular-on-the-spotcollective. More recent performances include a modular electronic version of Terry Reilly's in the human resource centre/UCLA accompanying
Ron Athey
Ron Athey (born December 16, 1961) is an American performance artist associated with body art and with extreme performance art. He has performed in the U.S. and internationally (especially in the UK and Europe). Athey's work explores challenging ...
at the Hammer museum, and live ambient music and theremin at the Broad museum
In 2015 he started Teaching electronic music production and sound design at Point Blanks LA music school and continuing to perform, produce and release music, via
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
and his own labe
Workhousedigital
In 2020, Harrow studied for three years at Middlesex, University of London and graduated in 2020 with a first-class BA honours degree in Music production .
Discography
s DAVID HARROW
ALBUMS:
*The Succession (Himalaya) 1983
*Technova (Addiction Records) 1994
*A Darker Frame (Workhouse) 2014
SINGLES/EP:
*Our Little Girl (Red Flame) 1983
*No Easy Targets (Ink Records) 1984
*Sleeper in Metropolis (with Anne Clark) (Ink Records) 1985
*Sufferhead EP (with Peter Hope) (Ink Records) 1985
*Bite the Hand that Feeds You (with Pinkie Maclure) (Ink Records) 1985
ith Anne Clark
*Changing Places (Red Flame) 1984
*Joined Up & Writing (Red Flame) 1984
*Sleeper in Metropolis (Ink Records) 1984
*Our Darkness (Red Flame) 1985
*Pressure Points (Red Flame & Virgin) 1985
*Wallies (10 Records) 1985
*Sleeper in Metropolis (Ink Records) 1987
*Wallies (Ink Records) 1988
*Hope Road (Ink Records) 1991
s JAMES HARDWAY
ALBUMS:
*Deeper, Wider, Smoother Shit (Recordings of Substance) 1996
*Welcome to the Neon Lounge (Recordings of Substance) 1997
*Welcome to the Neon Lounge / All You Can Eat (Recordings of Substance) 1997
*Reshuffle and Spin Again (Recordings of Substance) 1998
*Easy is a Four Letter Word (Shadow Records) 1998
*A Positive Sweat (Recordings of Substance) 1999
*Moors + Christians (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2000
*Straight From the Fridge (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2001
*Big Casino (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2003
*L.A. Instrumental (Ubiquity) 2008
*Snake Eyes (Workhouse) 2009
SINGLES/EP:
*Cool Jazz Motherfucker EP (Recordings of Substance) 1996
*Bastard Son of Swing (Recordings of Substance) 1996
*Theo Steps In (Recordings of Substance) 1997
*Illustrated Man (Recordings of Substance) 1997
*Grow / Sleep Tonight (Recordings of Substance) 1998
*Grow The Remixes (StreetBeat Records) 1999
*Go On - Single (Recordings of Substance) 1999
*Choco Blanco (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2000
*Movin’ On (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2000
*Pranksters Present: Infused 12 (w/Ian O’Brien) (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2001
*Speak Softly (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2002
*Feel in Love (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2003
s TECHNOVA
ALBUMS:
*Tantric Steps (Sabres of Paradise) 1994
*Transcience (Sabres of Paradise) 1995
*Dirty Secrets (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2002
*Electrosexual (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2004
SINGLES:
*Tantra (Sabres of Paradise) 1994
*Transcience Remixes (Emissions Audio Output) 1995
*Boxinglove (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2002
*I Could Have Sex (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2004
*Sing and Play Joy Division (with A1 People) (Hydrogen Dukebox) 2004
*Prozak (Workhouse) 2009
s MAGNETIC
ALBUMS:
*A La Magnetica (Recordings of Substance) 1998
*Fastlife (Shadow Records) 2000
*Lo Culture (Shadow Records) 2002
SINGLES:
*Bull Roaring / Cheap Detective (Recordings of Substance) 1998
s HIGH STEPPER
SINGLE:
*Liebeziet / Step Up (Save the Vinyl) 1996
s OICHO
ALBUMS:
*Universal Hum (Workhouse) 2009
*Downtime (Workhouse) 2010
*Scent (Workhouse) 2011
EP:
*Oicho (Workhouse) 2009
*Yeah What (Workhouse) 2010
REMIXES:
*The Crackdown (Billie Rae Martin) - Oicho Remix (Disco Activisto) 2010
References
External links
workhouse.usoicho
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrow, David
British multimedia artists
English record producers