Damian Harris interview
Photographer Diana Frangi meets Skint Records co-founder Damian Harris
God, isn’t Brighton just full of talent? My guest this week is Damian Harris, who, as the man behind Skint Records, has been creating some of the most exciting music of recent times – not surprising when you learn his first artiste was our local saint, FatBoy Slim.
If all that wasn’t enough, in his alter ego as DJ MIDFIELD GENERAL, whose new album General Disarray came out in April, he has put himself at the forefront of creative dance music, and has earned the soubriquet, ‘the supremo of big beat‘.
I really like the song on his album where the voice of Ralph Brown (actor/musician) tells the tragic story about a boy who stands on the road talking to truck drivers.
How did you get your big break?
I tend think it was more a number of small breaks really… One of the first things I did when I arrived in Brighton, to attend the art college, was to get a job at Rounder Records.
There I met a lot of people involved in Brighton’s club scene, in particular Norman Cook, who came in handy when I was looking for records to put out on Skint. Chris Mellor, who was doing the Coco Club at The Zap, gave me my first Brighton DJing opportunity there.
And of course Tim Jeffrey and JC Reid who were running Loaded Records, they gave me a job, taught me how to use a recording studio and allowed me to start up Skint as its offshoot.
What would you be doing had you not become a DJ and a record producer?
I think I would be doing something in design or writing. I was at art college and always saw myself heading down a graphics or illustration path. I never really presumed I could make a career out of music at that time.
Which famous DJ or musician would you like to be?
I can’t really pick one, so I think I’d like to be a weird hybrid of Jack White, Jay-Z, John Peel and Kevin Saunderson if that’s possible.
What is your biggest regret?
I was asked to write the sleeve notes for a compilation by Boys Own, a British record label that was a huge influence on me. I was incredibly honoured to be asked, but it was at the time when things where incredibly hectic with the label and I never got round to doing it in time.
Which song do you like to sing when you are in the shower?
I sing the: ‘What do I have to try and get done today‘ song!
If I gave you £20,000 tomorrow, what would you do with it?
I would feel incredibly guilty, knowing that I should do something honourable with it, whilst really wanting to spend it on studio equipment.
