inthemix | Features | Calvin Harris: Merrymaking everywhere but Corey's place

You’ve probably heard of Calvin Harris by now. The guy that sings All The Girls and Acceptable in the 80s, and goes about boasting how he created disco (ironically, or course). And while in our country he’s known mostly within dance music circles, over in the UK he crossed over to mainstream success fairly early in the piece to the point where he’s practically a household name. His tunes are played all over commercial radio, he’s since worked as a producer for high-profile poptarts like Kylie Minogue and Sophie Ellis Bextor and now, he’s making a trip back to Australia to play on the Good Vibrations tour. Yep, he’s certainly a popular lad.

And a cute little anecdote that occurred at some point during this rise to the top was the controversy surrounding his single Merrymaking at My Place. To promote its release there was a competition on his website that invited listeners to throw their own house parties, but the tabloid dailies were unimpressed and gave him heaps of stick for encouraging underage kids to throw wild, out-of-control parties. Not so, reckons Calvin. “It was a slow news day in the UK, so they kind of got the wrong end of the stick on purpose, which they like to do sometimes. It really wasn’t a big deal!”

But when ITM got wind of this, we couldn’t help but think about the infamous Corey Delany, the 16-year old Australian who was responsible for a little bit of merrymaking of his own. Innocently throwing a house party while his parents were away, over 500 people turned up and rampaged through the neighbourhood, throwing rocks at the police when the tried to break up the ruckus. Corey held a press conference the next day to sort out the mess and, surreally, was transformed into a media star. Is he the sort of person that would have won the comp if he’d entered?

Calvin wasn’t too impressed with this line of questioning, replying with a stern and monosyllabic, “No.” Alrighty then! Let’s move onto the next question. ITM’s Angus Paterson talks to Calvin Harris about cracking the mainstream, dancefloor remixes, working with Kylie Minogue and how much fun he’s been having on the Good Vibrations festival tour so far.

Hi there Calvin, this is Angus from inthemix. I hope you’re well! At the time of writing, you’re in Australia and you’ve already done two of the Good Vibrations shows. How have they been so far?

The reaction has been so great so far, its always interesting going to a different country and seeing how we go down, and the first sideshow in Melbourne really set the tone for the other two shows. I personally can’t wait for the gig at the Enmore in Sydney tomorrow, I think its definitely going to rock.

Are you happy to be back in Australia and actually get to play some shows this time around, instead of just doing the whole promo/media thing like last time?

Yeah totally. When it’s just a promo mission, it always feels like I’m unable to justify what I’m talking about when it comes to the live show. It’s good to let people well and truly judge for themselves.

In Australia you’re quite a well known name in dance music circles, but I understand that over in the UK you crossed over fairly early in the proceedings and you’ve enjoyed quite a bit of mainstream success. What’s it been like for you?

The only real difference is you go on the TV a bit more. It’s amazing that so many people bought the record though, and I’m very grateful for that.

Has it been strange or surreal at all?

Not really, people just inhabit different worlds, and I’ve been lucky enough to dip my toe into the world of pop, but I can’t see me hanging out there much longer.

Something that a lot of people might not necessarily know is that as well as being a pop musician, you’ve also got quite an impressive career as a studio producer and you’ve worked with people like Kylie Minogue and Sophie Ellis Bextor. Do you often feel like you’re wearing two hats in your job, and straddling two worlds?

Not at all. My world is definitely different from most people’s at the moment, but that’s what I enjoy, I enjoy working on music projects for other people and myself because I love making music! I became an artist pretty much because of my productions, and I don’t see any reason to stop producing for other people just because my record did well.

On your MySpace page you list All Saints as one of the acts you’ve remixed, and after that you’ve added, “What was I thinking?” Is that one of those jobs that in hindsight, you perhaps regret taking on?

No, it’s really just a ‘witty’ and quite pointless remark. I like that remix. In fact I’m gonna take that comment down now!

I’m sure that your work with Kylie Minogue has been a bit of a talking point. Are you getting a fair bit of attention now from parties that would otherwise be oblivious to your existence?

Probably, but they don’t like to make me aware of that, understandably. Initially it was circles of the press that were giving me coverage because of the Kylie work, but I think that whole thing has died down now, and because the typeface on the inlay sleeve is barely legible, I doubt there will be many people checking me out solely because of Kylie in the future.

All your music has been really heavily remixed to give it more a clubbier feel. I’ve literally heard more than I could even name with all sorts of different producers, including big-hitters like Deadmau5, Mr Oizo and Stanton Warriors. Do you listen to them all, and which ones stick out in your mind the most?

Yes, I listen to them all, it’s always interesting seeing what other producers see as a ‘club mix’. Mr Oizo was the only guy I really wanted to do a remix for a long time, so I was so happy to get that one done.

You can catch Calvin Harris merrymaking at the following shows…

Thursday, February 14 – The Forum, Sydney
Saturday, February 16 – Good Vibrations, Sydney
Sunday, February 17 – Good Vibrations, Perth

And here’s the video of the Kylie Minogue song that Calvin Harris produced, being performed live on European TV. Calvin says that watching it is a particularly surreal experience…