HARRISON

The collaborator to stars including Guetta, Aoki and Hardwell has a studio packed with some of the best hardware on the planet but is now ‘95%’ in the box. Time for Harrison’s 15 answers…

The collaborator to the stars on going solo and blending the best studio gear

Vocalist, DJ, producer and major star collaborator Harrison has made a name for his live shows that combine his vocal talents with huge dance tunes. As well as touring this around the world, he has worked on tracks with some of the biggest names in music including David Guetta (the track Ain’t

a Party), Hardwell ( Sally), Laidback Luke (the album Focus and track Never Rave Again) and Steve Aoki ( Holding Up The World) among many others. More recently he has launched

his own Outlaw imprint with a focus on solo productions and now has a studio that really does combine the best in hardware and software. Take it away Harrison…

1 Tell us a little about your musical background and upbringing…

Harrison: “I’m 27 years old and I’m now signed to Virgin (Universal) Records, but before that I also made records with David Guetta, Alok, Hardwell, Steve Aoki and many more. I’ve been making music since I was 13 years old but I have also been singing for as long as I can remember. I don’t really think I am that successful yet – there is still a way to go – but I never really thought I would get as far as I have done. I have always loved music from a super young age, and who knew back then that it would end up being my job to tour the world as a DJ one day?”

2 When did you get into using a computer to produce music?

“Don’t trust anyone. People bigger than you are only going to use you. The industry is full of sharks”

H: “I had Apple Garageband when I was super young on my first Mac and just loved the idea back then that you could make songs by yourself. I ended up spending around two years with a Grammy and Emmy producer who made Sting’s records. He introduced me to Logic 9 then I progressed over to Logic Pro X naturally a few years later.”

3 What would you say is your overall philosophy or approach when it comes to music production?

H: “Logic is now my go-to DAW; it’s where I get all my work done, from the initial writing process and messing about with ideas to mixing and mastering the final pieces. I play guitar, and I guess that’s where I learnt the music theory which has really helped me to produce the music I make today, but nowadays I work 95% in the box with the exception of recording vocals through my Manley outboard and SSL desk.”

4 Even though you do most your production in-the-box, that is some pretty serious hardware you have there… H: “Yeah, I have Barefoot MM27 monitors, an SSL Matrix in my studio man cave. I also have other gear like the SSL G-Series buss compressor, an 1176, original 4000e Channel strips, the Manley Voxbox as my go-to preamp, and I record all my vocals on a Sony C800G mic. ”

5 You do a lot of travelling, doing live shows so do you have a mobile setup as well as the man cave?

H: “Yeah, now I can open my Mac on a plane on the way to a show in Japan, and finish mixes or projects and mashups wherever I am.

Everything is just so much faster these days. I remember when I was 13 producing music and I used to look at the wheel of death on my projects and know they were about to crash, and that was using a desktop machine…”

6 What are the five plugins you couldn’t do without?

H: “Melodyne is an absolute must for any vocalist because it’s so versatile compared to other tuning plugins on the market. You can specifically tune each note meaning you get a more realistic sound instead of vocals sounding too auto-tuned.”

“Secondly I have to say Arturia Mini v3. I use this synth so much in my music, especially for bass, as the initial waveforms have a really analogue feel, but as it’s a polyphonic synth I like to use it for pads as well.”

“A third choice would have to be FabFilter

Saturn. It’s a multiband distortion effects unit that I pretty much always use on my drums, but I also tend to use it on any sound because of the multiband option so I can distort certain frequencies while keeping others dry. When using it on my drums I can really bring those high frequencies out without pushing the overall mix too much.”

“Fourth would have to be XFer Records

Serum. It’s a wavetable synth that I predominantly use on lead sounds. You can create endless amazing sounds because of the amount of modulation you can do in it, and the built in FX unit is so versatile meaning you can modulate pretty much anything with the LFOs and Envelopes.”

“Lastly the XFer Records OTT plugin. This multiband compressor is on almost every bus and master chain in any of my projects. It instantly brings out all the elements in your track, and as soon as you bring down the depth about halfway and touch up the three frequency ranges you’ll notice how great it actually is.”

7 How do you tend to produce and arrange a track?

H: “I usually quickly get a really basic bass melody so I can get a hook down as soon as possible and go from there really. It’s so important that you have a great hook people will remember, whether that be a cool riff from a

synth or a memorable vocal phrase, so once I have a basic melody I get to work on that hook. Then comes the drums which are so important in creating the kind of groove and feel you’re after. Swinging your drums even the slightest can change the track so much, so I like to play around with that quite a bit.

“Once I have the main spine of the track created, I will get the ‘extra 10%’ in with all the effects and fills that break the track up to keep it interesting. Finally I get the feel of the vocal in working from hook first then back to verse and so on.”

8 Do you have any particular production tricks that you employ?

H: “OK, so one process I have with my vocals, which I touched on above, is that I actually do start with a hook and work in reverse from there. I’m always most creative at the start of my projects so I like to get that down, and once I’m happy with that I finish off the chorus, then finally the verse.

“Another thing I like to do is as soon as I open a project, I load my master chain and work in that instead of mixing a whole project without knowing what the final product is going to ultimately sound like. It’s the opposite of what I was taught but there’s no right or wrong with creating music.”

9 Is there anything on your wish-list studio gear wise?

H: “I want some MM12s because they look amazing.” [ That’s over 20 grand’s worth of studio monitor from Barefoot – Ed]

10 So what would you like to see developed in terms of studio technology and why?

H: “I’d like to see more vocal effect plugins that emulate hardware effect units such as the TC Helicon VoiceLive Touch. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t found a decent emulation of this that has so many amazing effects in one unit. I think in this day and age and with my working process I like to get things down as quickly as possible. And all in one units like the VoiceLive Touch are perfect for doing that – an emulation of this would be great.”

11 What advice have you picked up from playing live?

H: “Playing live is really an art form. I’ve been doing shows for around eight years now and recently I’ve got some cool gear by Pioneer to take my shows to the next level. The DJS-1000 is super cool because you can play and sample live. So I would say make your shows different to the person before you.”

12 And from working in the studio? H: “Just that if you are really stuck on a track, try to work on something else and come back to it.”

13 And from working in and around the music industry?

H: “Don’t trust anyone. People bigger than you are only going to use you. Unfortunately it’s really hard to find someone that you can 100% guarantee has your back. The music industry is full of sharks, but when you find the right team, stay loyal and bring everyone together.”

14 Tell us about your new live shows? H: “My shows are really different because I sing and DJ at the same time and I have not really seen anyone do that before. Yes you could say The Chainsmokers but that’s different because there are two of them.”

15 And finally your music? H: “This year I have the best music I have ever made coming.”

Harrison’s track Touch Me came out in spring and his new single Praise You (his interpretation of the Fatboy Slim track) is out now on Virgin Records.