DJ Harvey (born Harvey Bassett) is a DJ born in Cambridge, England. He was an early exponent of the US disco/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, ...

by John Peel. 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 College town, 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. Cam ...

, Brighton, London and on the festival circuit. The Brighton parties continued for five years, from 1988 to 1993, to The Zap Club, and, after the club closed at 2 am, on the beach at Black Rock. His focus moved from hip hop, electro and disco to house music 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 and Freedom. 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 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. 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 popula ...

, and in Ibiza. He is one half of the duo behind the Black Cock record label, on which he has recreated edits of disco records by house music artists including

and Ron Hardy. Harvey was married in Hawaii where he resided and founded a 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 ...

, Oahu with his ex-wife, and played at the club exclusively. He has also collaborated with Thomas Bullock (of Rub'N'Tug and A.R.E. Weapons) on the disco rock project Map of Africa. He relocated to Los Angeles, and performed around the US with a bi-monthly residency at Santos in New York. His debut tour of Australia ended in him destroying $15,000 worth of DJ gear in a rumoured homage to his idol Jimi Hendrix as he played 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 at MOCA, as well as PS1 NY for Kraftwerk 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 new recording project is as Locussolus, a project released on International Feel Recordings. He released singles in 2012, 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 ...

), actress Sam Fox, and DJ Heidi Lusardi. In 2013, Harvey opened an online store "Harvey's General Store" with his son Harley, where he sells various merchandise as well as music both new and old. 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, Ne ...

. The album was well received. In 2014, 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. 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''.

References

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 Year of birth missing (living people) People from Cambridge Musicians from Cambridgeshire Remixers Electronic dance music DJs