 22/08/2007 Current buzz boy Calvin Harris is nursing his hangover with Notion and his keyboardist Sean (vs The Robots) over a burger and chips. Not so fresh from his very first London gig – ‘people were even nodding their heads by the end’ – and unaware of his impending love-in with the mainstream media (the Dumfries dude’s electro ditties have been rinsed across the airwaves and now even daytime TV is dipping its greasy fingers in to sample his bedroom beats and bleeps) he likes to deflect questions with cheeky awkwardness. Scruffy and bemoaning his recent experience as an M&S employee, not even Calvin could have guessed that a couple of months down the line he’d be booked up by Global Gathering and making much more than music with the delectable Kylie Minogue – boy dun good! While his forthcoming record ‘I Created Disco’ is a D.I.Y dream, all bogus homespun samples, dodgy lyrics and comical vocal manipulations, you get the feeling that his future tunes will have a high tech studio sheen. Oh, and Ms Minogue’s sugar frosted tones, of course: poptastic!
WHO’S THAT BLOKE TALKING DISCO ON YOUR TITLE TRACK – AN ALTER EGO?
CALVIN: I did it in a funny voice in my garden - one of my many massive egos. I was just replicating what someone else said; this dude invented disco with his wife, Mary. They had a good thing going. You know, they invented it in the 40s and it lay undiscovered for almost 30 years.
WE KNOW YOU’RE ALL ABOUT THE COLOURS, BUT ISN’T THAT A BIT SUPERFICIAL?
CALVIN: Yeah, pretty much, but I just love it. When I was at school with Sean he wore yellow trousers and see-through waistcoats. SEAN: It was just like a yellow bag, round my waist with a purple string.
SO YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO WEAR SCHOOL UNIFORM?
CALVIN: He didn’t. He was special.
SEAN: They just let me get away with it. I wasn’t actually officially registered at that school, I just turned up anyway. And nobody said anything.
CALVIN: He had the last laugh. He passed art.
WITH FLYING COLOURS... WHAT IS ‘COLOURS’ ON THE ALBUM REALLY ABOUT?
CALVIN: It’s just a daft little song about nothing in particular. Very loosely based on a dude who’s kind of... You know when you can’t think of words?
YOU PICK YOUR MOMENTS, DON’TYOU? BLOODY HELL!
CALVIN: Now we do a song about girls who should wear colours. It’s slightly sexist and a bit out of order, but quite funny...
WHAT ABOUT ‘I LIKE GIRLS,’ SURELY YOU DON’T LIKE THE SCORES OF BIRDS LISTED IN THOSE LYRICS?
CALVIN: I do, yeah. I can get on with any girl. I don’t necessarily meanin a romantic way...
SEAN: He just wrote that to make a point, basically thathe wasn’t gay, I reckon.
CALVIN: You see, I produce the music, then make upentirely fictional situations and characters to fit each song. That’s why myaccent might change slightly. It’s kind of tongue-in-cheek, but it’s not GoldieLookin’ Chain.
HAD YOU BEEN WAITING TO DROP ‘ACCEPTABLE IN THE 80S’ UNTIL THE MASSES GOT ALL NOSTALGIC OVER THE ERA AGAIN OR IS THIS JUST HAPPY TIMING?
CALVIN: It’s all part of our cynicalgame-plan implemented some years ago. I have a team who spot trends and Igot a fax in from Jonathan, my guy at head office, and he said: ‘Yeah, mate. It’sthe 80s next year. Can you write a song?’ So I was like, ‘OK. The most obvious80s record I can.’ It’s paid off brilliantly.
AND YOU’VE GOT ALL THOSE KIDS WEARING LEGGINGS OUT ON THE STREET...
CALVIN: No. That’s the Klaxons. I don’t force anyone to do anything. I’m not starting any sort of trend. I’m just making tunes.
SURE, BUT WHEREVER WOULD WE BE NOW WITHOUT THE 80S?
CALVIN: People who were adults in the 80s didn’t have a very enjoyable time, which is fair enough. They’re alright. We need the 80s. Or the 90s would have been... different... We’d still be listening to T-Rex and Slade...
NOT CALVIN HARRIS?
CALVIN: Well, you probably would be, but I’d just be making really shit music.
THE GUARDIAN SAYS YOU’RE ‘A MORE THAN SLIGHTLY COMIC ELECTRO-FUNK EGOMANIAC HAILING
FROM BONNY DUMFRIES’...
CALVIN: It got a lot worse by the end, when they were doing the ‘Hello’ sort of quips. It was: ‘Most likely to make us laugh, least likely to make us dance.’ Which comes across politely as if he’s not listened to any of the tunes. Or he’s a fucking twat. And I wouldn’t say I’m more than slightly comic. I’d say I’m slightly comic.
OK, AND DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER ALIASES THAN CALVIN HARRIS?
CALVIN: Stouffer. The cat in Harry Hill. I had a really shit house record out when I was 17. It sold five copies I believe. I think my mum bought four of them, and we distributed them down the local church.
WHAT ARE THE KEY INGREDIENTS TO A CALVIN HARRIS TUNE?
CALVIN: A bit of melody, a big funky bassline, fucking rocking beats and some kind of nonsensical vocal... The album is on HMV.com for £8:95 to pre-order. That’s a fucking bargain. 15 tracks for £8.95. I would buy it.
WHO WOULD WIN IN A FIGHT BETWEEN YOU AND MARK RONSON?
CALVIN: I was speaking to him yesterday, he came to the gig. I reckon he would.
SEAN: Well, basically, Calvin’s got a band behind him so we could all gang up...
CALVIN: But Mark Ronson produced tunes for Nate Dogg and Ghostface Killah. Bang bang.
‘I CREATED DISCO’ IS OUT ON 11TH JUNE (COLUMBIA) |
