 Chloé Harris was immersed in music as a child and began working in her local record shops from the age of 14. Eventually she ended up working for Groovetech, an online internet record store and radio station in her hometown of Seattle, Washington. Here she launched her first radio show, Further. Her weekly two hour show proved to be very popular with over a thousand regular listeners. When she left Groovetech in 2002, the ever-expanding and sparkly new Proton Radio took the opportunity to snap her up and give her a new show. B-Sides is based on the idea of doing something different and exploring unusual sounds within the electronic spectrum and has featured some fantastic guests like Sean Cusick, Ellen Allien, Marco Carola, DJ Three, Lusine to the more unknown producers like c79, Turkish, SCD and Darius Bassiray.
While working hard for B-Sides she is also highly involved with news portal Progressive-Sounds, where she produces Sound Bytes, 30 minutes of music, as well as doing record reviews and interviews. She's also been a respected member of the Balance Record Pool since 2004, where some of the best DJ's from around the world review new and upfront tunes.
Chloé's sound can be hard to pinpoint as she regularly oozes through different genre's incorporating all sorts of sounds. Melting dubby house with techno, progressive with electro, deep house with minimal, she is able to alternate seamlessly between styles, adapting to the crowd and the time of night with ease.
She first caught the attention of John Digweed when he asked her to do a guest mix for his weekly KISS 100 radio show in March 2004. This led to a slot at Bedrock's 6th Birthday in London, and then a repeat performance the following summer at Herbal. Most recently he asked her to join him as his warm up DJ on part of his Transitions Tour in America. As for touring with John, Ministry Of Sound took notice and had her play at their Baltic Sea Sessions. Her International profile has grown with regular gigs around the world, as well as keeping a residency with one of Canada's best club nights, Focus at the Lotus in Vancouver, BC.
Chloé has also stepped into the world of production with originals and remixes. Her remix of Petter's Freak & Love with Canadian production partner Deeburn gained the attention of James Zabiela and Anthony Pappa, while John Digweed played thier remix of Crossing Oceans by Pole Folder, on his Transitions radio show in June 2007. With her debut release Skooch already being caned by Hernan Cattaneo, coming soon on Mashtronic Records with a legendary remix by Oliver Lieb, her impact on the dance scene is soon to be felt on a larger scale.
As well as creating dance music and finishing remixes, Chloe's electronic music project Raica will debut on her own label, Further Music. As with her DJ sets, her own music doesn't fit well inside one genre and takes in influences from dub to idm and everything in-between.
For additional information on
Chloé Harris and to catch her famous SoundBytes series visit ProgressiveSounds.com.
Chloé is set to return to John Digweed's Transitions show this Friday July 7th, 2007. Be sure to catch the show. If you miss this weeks show you can always visit John Digweed's website to listen to the recent shows.
Productions
Petter - Freak 'N Love (Chloé Harris & Deeburn Mix) - Deep Focus (Beats Me) Out Now!
Chloé Harris - Skooch (Including Oliver Lieb Remix) - Mashtronic Records Released in August 2007
Pole Folder - Crossing Oceans (Chloé Harris & Deeburn Remix) - Restart Records Released in late August 2007
Interview with Chloé Harris
Your musical interests are quite versatile ranging from downtempo, tech-house, minimal house, to the more upfront sounds. Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the amount of music being released today? How much time each week do you devote to listening to new material deciding what is usable for your radio shows and gigs?
It does seem to take a lot longer to find good music these days, but I'm very glad there's so much output. There are producers and artists popping up all over the world and I think its just making music more interesting as a whole. New genre's and old genre's colliding together to make new styles. Its all very exciting. I generally wake up around 9ish and listen to music until I sleep. Sometimes I listen to all the Balance Record Pool stuff, sometimes I'm hunting for tunes, and sometimes just playing on music toys. I'd be a horrible roommate if you hated beats. hehe.
Being selected to appear on John Digweed's elite Transitions show is considered quite an honor. How has this experience influenced your career in the music industry?
Well for sure its helped me reach a wider audience. Being able to be on a show like his is quite special. He has done great things with Transitions and has always pushed the music he believes in no matter what genre or style.
You have been touring with John Digweed on his recent Transitions Tour is select cities. How has the tour been for you? Any special or interesting moments that you would like to share?
Touring with John on the first Transitions Tour was a humbling experience. He is such a masterful DJ and being able to watch him control a crowd the way he does helped me learn so much. Our date in Washington DC really stands out to me as it was one of the closing nights of Buzz and there was a really amazing vibey energy there. People were just ecstatic the moment the came in the door. The club was packed to the brim and the sound was just incredible. John played for many hours ending around 9 am with classics. We Are Connected was really a brilliant drop and I think it set the whole room on fire. On top of that, just being able to see how he changes up his sets for the various cities was inspiring.
You have spent a fair amount of time in London over the last 3 years. Do you feel that you have access to more resources, as it relates to music, in the UK versus here in the states? Do you miss Seattle at times?
I love London and Seattle. They are both great cities with so much to offer. Seattle is simply one of the most gorgeous places in the world. It's a living rainforest built around lakes and mountains and its just a skip away from lovely Vancouver, BC. I highly recommend people to visit. We have some amazing food, views and DJs, bands and artists. London is a great place to push yourself. I think there is a challenge here that I love. The music people are clued in and know their stuff well, so as a DJ I think you have to push yourself harder to be better and find music. It's also a good place to be for traveling to other European cities.
This year has seen a few production projects and remixes from Chloé Harris. Who or what major influences do you pull from, if any, when working on projects?
I've had quite a varied musical background and I think its all had an impact on me in some way. Skinny Puppy made me realize you don't always have to be perfect to make something beautiful. Oliver Lieb and his effects and style is just so subdued and unique, I aspire to make beats as amazing as he does. Charlie May's arpeggiators are completely brilliant. I really love Minilogue have changed up their style but still incorporate what made them so brilliant years ago. Their arrangements are so interesting. Lots of layers and movement. I also like the depth that Monolake and Burial create.
Tell us a little more about Further Music?
Further is my new label which will feature my own music as Raica, as well as other artists. I really hope people like it. The first release will come out after the summer.
What major milestones are in store for you over the next 6 months?
I'm going to play at Global Gathering UK in the Bedrock Tent with some incredible guests. I'm really looking forward to that. I'm also traveling to some new places to play including Russia, Turkey, and Tenerife in August with Diggers. I also have my first release coming out on Mashtronic Records I'm really excited about. Oliver Lieb did a remix of it and he created a sparkly gem.
What do you do in your down time (Chloé time) if any?
I'm pretty obsessed with high fashion. I'm quite a nerd about it really. The creativity in design, the layers, textures and colours of fabric, makes me giddy. I would love to DJ while models walked the catwalk for Balenciaga. I also do boring stuff like work out, eat food and sleep. The boring stuff sometimes is the best of all though innit.
If you were not immersed in music like your are today what career path do you think you would have chosen?
Cat lady? or superhero Jean Grey.
www.MySpace.com/DJChloe
www.ProgressiveSounds.com
www.ProtonRadio.com/B-Sides
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