Harvey William Bassett, known by his stage name, DJ Harvey is an English DJ. He was an early exponent of the US

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

/garage/house sound in the UK.

Career

Ersatz and transition to DJing (1978–1991)

At age 13, he became a drummer for a Cambridge punk band, Ersatz. The band formed an

indie label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

, Leisure Sounds, releasing the single "Smile in Shadow", which was broadcast on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. Ersatz released records with Harvey on drums from 1978 to 1983. On a trip to New York City in 1985, Harvey was inspired by the emerging hip-hop movement. He felt that "cutting up" breaks was an extension of drumming and so purchased his first pair of Technics, brought them home and practised. He was a

graffiti artist Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

and member of the group TDK ( Tone Deaf Crew), which was later renamed TONKA Hi Fi. The group threw weekend-long parties in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, London and on the festival circuit. The Brighton parties continued for five years, from 1988 to 1993, to

The Zap The Zap was a beach-front nightclub and performance arts venue, in Brighton, England that became known in the late 1980s and early 1990s particularly for its acid house nights. It has been described as an "influential ... club which pulled togeth ...

Club, and, after the club closed at 2 am, on the beach at Black Rock. His focus moved from hip hop, electro and

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

and

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

, and he began playing more parties in London with the US DJs Francois Kevorkian and Kenny Carpenter, playing at clubs including

Solaris Solaris may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature, television and film * ''Solaris'' (novel), a 1961 science fiction novel by Stanisław Lem ** ''Solaris'' (1968 film), directed by Boris Nirenburg ** ''Solaris'' (1972 film), directed by ...

and

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

. In 1991, Harvey was a full-time DJ with his own weekly night "Moist" at the Gardening Club in London. He brought over DJs from New York City and other US cities including

Larry Levan Larry Levan (; born Lawrence Philpot, July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992) was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern da ...

, and

François Kevorkian François Kevorkian (born 10 January 1954), also known by the stage name François K, is a French-born, U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner of Armenian descent, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage an ...

He held six-hour mixes of disco, house, garage and rock records, a sound he has carried through to later residencies, including at the Hard Left at the Blue Note.

Ministry of Sound, collaborations and other projects (1990s—present)

After Moist ended, Harvey began a residency at London's

Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publishing business and fitness studio. James ...

. Harvey's association with Ministry of Sound resulted in a 1996 mix album, ''Late Night Sessions''. He played for clubs including

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

in Liverpool and Back to Basics in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, and in Ibiza. Late night sessions launched many copy cat laid back compilations series since and is among the labels most successful release. He is one half of the duo behind the BC record label, on which he has recreated edits of disco records by house music artists including friend

and

Ron Hardy Ron Hardy (May 8, 1958 – March 2, 1992) was an American, Chicago, Illinois-based DJ and record producer of early house music. He is well known for playing records at the Muzic Box, a Chicago house music club. Decades after his death, he is re ...

. Harvey was married in Hawaii where he resided and founded a successful gallery and nightclub thirtyninehotel in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

,he custom built the sound and purchased some RLA audio speakers as well as being gifted some components from a famous defunct NY club. He played at the club exclusively inviting guests such as David Mancuso to join him. He realized the business partnership and marriage was exploitative and destructive and left, his ex wife resurfaced some years later reselling his audio equipment on eBay. He relocated to Los Angeles, and performed around the US with a bi-monthly residency at Santos in New York. Around this time he collaborated with Thomas Bullock (of Rub'N'Tug and

A.R.E. Weapons A.R.E. Weapons is a band from New York City. Formed in 1999 by Matthew McAuley, Brain F. McPeck, and Ryan Noel, A.R.E. Weapons has been described as "hardcore" and "electro-rock". Early reviewers placed them in the no wave category. Their live ...

) on the disco rock project

Map of Africa Indigenous maps Whereas most known early maps of Africa were prepared in the framework of the colonial enterprise, some indigenous maps have been recently uncovered, particularly in West Africa and Ethiopia. Earliest European maps The earliest ...

. His debut tour of Australia and first trip out of the US ended in him destroying a few thousand dollars worth of DJ gear in a rumored homage to an idol and after discovering his set was being recorded without authorization. He replaced and paid for repairs on all, some loaned from a local DJ friend. He was closing out the sunrise set at the

Meredith Music Festival The Meredith Music Festival (otherwise known simply as Meredith or MMF) is a three-day outdoor music festival held every December at the "Supernatural Amphitheatre", a natural amphitheatre located on private farmland near the town of Meredith i ...

. In 2012 he played alongside DJ James Murphy of

LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, co-founder of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals, various instruments), Nancy Whang (synthesizer, keyboards, vocals), Pat Mahoney (dr ...

at MOCA, as well as PS1 NY for

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

and

FYF Fest FYF Fest (short for "Fuck Yeah Fest Fest") was an annual three-day music festival held at the Los Angeles Exposition Park in Los Angeles, California. It was founded by Sean Carlson in 2004 and is now solely produced by Goldenvoice, a subsidiary o ...

. His electronic recording project is as Locussolus, released on International Feel Recordings. He released singles in 2012 and later a full album featuring vocals by Tara Selleck (niece of actor

Tom Selleck Thomas William Selleck (; born January 29, 1945) is an American actor. His breakout role was playing private investigator Thomas Magnum in the television series ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988), for which he received five Emmy Award nominations f ...

), actress Sam Fox, and DJ Heidi Lawden (credited under a pseudonym of Lusardi)who also co produced. In 2013, Harvey opened an online store "Harvey's General Store" (HGS) with his son Harley, where he sells various merchandise as well as music both new and old and his highly regarded and successful Mercury Rising compilation series. HGS has collaborated with Wacko Maria, Neighborhood, Stussy Virgil Abloh is a fan and frequently photographed in HGS original designs and collaborations. In the summer of 2014, he released an album with a new band, Wildest Dreams, on

Smalltown Supersound Smalltown Supersound is an independent record label, founded in Flekkefjord in 1993 and now based in Oslo, Norway. It is dedicated to new forms of jazz, rock and electronic music. Their catalog features albums by Kelly Lee Owens, Deathprod, Nene ...

. The album was well received. At the

DJ Awards DJ Awards is a celebration of electronic music, and aims to recognise and honour DJs and individuals who have influenced electronic dance music worldwide. Held annually in Ibiza at the end of the summer season, DJ Awards has retained the same et ...

in Ibiza, Harvey was the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Award, in recognition of his body of work and influence within the electronic music industry. he has an on island residency every summer Mercury Rising at

Pikes Hotel Pikes Hotel, now known as Pikes Ibiza, is a luxury hotel in Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It is located in the countryside, to the northeast of the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and to the northwest of Ibiza Town. A 15th-century ...

in Freddie Mercury’s old hotel suite converted into a club. He tours the world extensively playing clubs and festivals while being based in Los Angeles In 2018, he appeared in a scene as himself in the movie '' Mission: Impossible – Fallout''. Harvey composed the score for the 2022

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

''Bad Acid''. He is currently recording a new album under the name The Dreams and co music supervising (with Mary Ramos) inc scoring Greatest Hits movie to be released via Searchlight in 2023 He is rumored to have a role in the movie as well as a character based on his conversations with the director. He has appeared in high end publications including GQ, Vogue The New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Kaleidoscope for which he graced their cover he’s also had cover features incdance music publications DJ Magazine, Mixmag in multiple territories.

References

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-25-djs-that-rule-the-earth-154377/ https://smalltownsupersound.com/news/dj-harvey-in-dj-magazine/ https://www.kaleidoscope.media/shop/magazine/kaleidoscope-41-fw22-dj-harvey https://record-magazine.com/

External links

* – official site * *http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/the-25-djs-that-rule-the-earth-20121109/dj-harvey-19691231 *https://web.archive.org/web/20130117162318/http://fyffest.com/artists/dj-harvey *http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/245653 *http://www.deepspacenyc.com/static_content/harvey_bio.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, DJ English DJs Living people Musicians from Cambridge Remixers Electronic dance music DJs 1967 births