Today sees the full release, across all platforms, of the debut single on the LoveThatBass label. The artist fronting our labels first ever release is 28 year old Harley D, one of the hardest working new skool drum & bass producers in the scene right now! We caught up with the Margate based beat maker for a chat about his earliest experiences of drum & bass, and to find out about the current slew of releases he’s about to unleash on the world…
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first discover D&B music?
It was back in 2004 & I remember hearing Flava 4 Rava, that track took me on a mission to find more DnB. It was bit harder to come across back then, HMV had one drum and bass album (Tru Playaz in The Mix Vol. 3). I was looking for something with a bit of MCing on as well, eventually I discovered Plantdnb.com and CD packs!
And how did that then evolve into starting to make your own music?
I always used to go into the chat room on Planetdnb and to listen to the live streams. Speaking to some guys in there we got into talks how they went about making music. That’s how I found my first ever DAW “Orion Platinum” (I bet not a lot of people know of this one!) and at the same time in 2006 I got a pair of Stanton T60 vinyl decks.
We first became aware of you through releases on Serial Killaz. How did you link up with those guys?
One day at work someone overheard me talking about DJing and we ended up getting into a long chat about music etc. It turned out her boyfriend was Graham (Vital Elementz) from Serial Killaz! She said to send over a demo, which for a couple years I didn’t get round to. I finally ended up doing so after bumping into Graham at an event in Margate and having a hour long chat with him about hardware and music.
When we were putting the feelers for tracks for our LoveThatBass label DJ Phantasy told us that you were sitting on a ton of music! What’s your secret to being so productive in the studio?
Passion! Sometimes I would work from 11am – 8pm, then come home and do music till 4am in the morning and repeat. Also setting goals for myself helps, at the moment I’m just aiming to finish at least one track a week. A big secret is that I’ve always saved every idea I’ve had over the many years I’ve made music, so I have always had something to take inspiration from. Some of the tracks I have released recently have been in the making for maybe 2-3 years.
How does it feel to be fronting the debut release on LoveThatBass?
Absolutely great! I’m in the mindset to take every opportunity I can get and this was a great opportunity to have. Thanks for having me onboard.
You got a busy month of releases this month! Tell us what you’ve got coming out
This month, apart from the Ninety Degrees single on LoveThatBass, I have the Evacuation EP on Digital Terror Recordings which is focused around the more jump up / roller side of D&B. A free download coming out with a vocalist named Immy on Immersed and then a free download and EP dropping in March with Faded Audio.
And we hear you’re launching your own label soon? Tell us more!
I have always wanted to do this but doing all the artist stuff makes this quite a challenge. The premise of the label is to showcase talent from around the area I live in so it’s not something that I need to push hard, it’s a platform I want to grow over time. The first release on my label Xtract will be The Nocturnal EP dropping on 1st March, featuring me, Teej, Scotty & Indecision.
You’re from Margate in Kent, a county that has always been a hotbed of talent for D&B. What do you put that down to?
Good question! I really couldn’t answer that, but there’s so many people getting involved in the music scene in this area, it’s great.
Some of the first raves I ever went to were at the Lido in Margate. Is there still a club scene down there (Or was there until Covid hit?)
There’s always been some sort of scene down here be that the Lido (which we still use sometimes), little clubs around the area or a beach.
What’s does the rest of 2021 have in store for Harley D?
2021 is looking very busy release wise. Unfortunately there are no events on the cards as of yet, so I’ll continue to make the best music I can and aim to get 2022 planned out as releases for this year are pretty much sorted.
Follow Harley D on Facebook or Soundcloud to stay up to date with his forthcoming music
Listen To Ninety Degrees
Stream Harley D’s release on our label from your favourite music streaming site, or get the download directly from our shop.
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