Midfield General

Midfield General is the DJ/Production alter-ego of Damian Harris and this April sees the release of his second album General Disarray, a mere 8 years after the release of his debut album, Generalisation in 2000.

In 2005, after 11 years running Brighton's infamous Skint Records, Damian realised that he was much happier in the studio then behind a desk and decided to leave his full time role at the company in order to concentrate on making music again. Seeking inspiration, and in a bid to rejuvenate his passion for music, which, by his own admission had been slowly ground down by the music business, Damian moved to Paris... partly because it rhymed, but mainly to finish his ridiculously delayed second album. So, with a laptop full of samples and a mini keyboard he set off on the afternoon London beat Paris in the bid for the 2012 Olympics to spend a year immersed in music-making and fun. The year previously Damian had been over to license a record from Ed Banger Records and he was kindly taken under their wing when he arrived. As part of the cultural exchange program he went out a lot, smoked fags and took looks lots of pictures. He taught them how to swear in English while they taught him how to chop up audio files properly.

The love-in extended to Damian remixing Krazy Baldheads' track Crazy Moth. He also took on the  Executive Producer role for Justice's single D.A.N.C.E. and in return Xavier De Rosnay helped produce Damian’s forthcoming single Disco Sirens, while label head Pedro Winter popped in for brief vocal appearance on the new album’s Self Referencing Intro...

Finished back in Brighton, the album is an exciting collage of Damian's production skills, and a very original and varied set of vocal collaborations. After an early career appearance on Generalisation, Noel Fielding from the Mighty Boosh returns to tell one of his surreal adventures over a dirty funk track. Actor Ralph Brown features on the track Teddy Bear, which revisits the curious truck driving CB radio Country hit by Red Sovine that tells a tale of a young crippled boy over a melancholy soundtrack. Disco Sirens, the first single from the album, features vocals from Vila of the Bumblebeez and production and mix help from Xavier De Rosnay from Justice and David Dewaele from Soulwax. Elsewhere Robots In Disguise, 70’s soul singer Pat Stalworth, and excitable Dutch football commentator Jack Van Gelder also appear. The album manages to contain leftfield pop, hip hop, cinematic epics, house, techno and soul, yet still sound like a cohesive and personal album, taking in Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, New York and Whitstable along the way....

Damian comments: "Going to Paris was excellent for me. I wasn't enjoying the music industry much to be honest; the business had overtaken the fun side. I was very lucky being around Ed Banger when they were going through that really golden period when things are starting to happen, while putting out brilliant music  and putting on great parties. It just reminded me that it should be fun, and it had a great effect on my music making."

Damian moved to Brighton in 1989 to do a Fine Art degree. Although enthusiastic at his coursework it was in Brighton's nightclubs and record shops that he was learning the most. After being rejected by the conceptual art world, he started Skint Records as an offshoot of Loaded Records in 1994. Kicking off with Santa Cruz by Fatboy Slim, the label has gone on to release a broad spectrum of music including The Lo Fidelity Allstars, X-Press 2, Goose, Kidda, Alloy Mental, Dave Clarke, Freq Nasty, Alter Ego, Super_Collider, Lucky Jim, Tiga, and International Pony. The label has managed to navigate the tightrope between art and commerce, riding the big beat wave to both underground and commercial success and selling over 10 million records around the world. This success also bought many great and bizarre opportunities and situations. Brits and Ivor Novello Awards, the sponsorship of the local Brighton & Hove Albion football team, a DJ set in front of thousands on Brighton beach and, Damian’s personal favourite, getting to hold Julia Roberts's Oscar at the Vanity Fair Party in LA in 2001 where Fatboy Slim was DJing.

Damian remembers: "I didn't so much as have a vision for what I wanted Skint to be, but I definitely knew what I didn't want it to be. Dance music and clubland had got a bit bloated and self important, and it was an ideal time for a change. The Heavenly Social was really inspiring, it just opened things up again, tore up the rule book and it was very liberating. When we heard that Santa Cruz was a big favourite with the Chemical Brothers it was such a boost, it made us realise we weren't mad or deluded. It became obvious that there was a generation who grew up equally inspired by the euphoria of Acid House, the funk and machismo of hip hop and the power of guitars and Indie. So subconsciously we were introducing Dance music to Indie Kids. Much like Justice are today.."

Damian continues: Of course with the success somewhere down the line youâ're going to become part of the establishment yourselves and then it's time for another group of snotty kids to make you feel old and in the way.. it's all part of the cycle and why Dance music can still be so exciting. You can see it in what is happening now; while the established music industry was working out how to deal with the negative aspects of the digital revolution a new generation were suddenly liberated by it and that's why things are so exciting again. The DIY ethic mixed with good ideas always inspires great things.

In 1996 Damian started a club night, called The Big Beat Boutique. He thought it would be nice to have somewhere for himself, Norman Cook and other Skint artist and DJs to play the records they where putting out. The club enjoyed an amazing time in the sun, with Damian and Norman playing host to some truly memorable nights, special guest spots and live performances, and also spawned the On The Floor At The Boutique mix series. The third of which was Damian's own, where he tried to capture the 'anything goes’ ethos of the night by gluing together his own personal Boutique favourites of soul, hip hop, drum'n'bass, house, techno, breaks and some old jazz funk records. The club is now part of nightlife folklore and remains the benchmark for eclectic club nights even today.

I always had this feeling, maybe it comes from working in a record shop where you get to hear so much music, that theres just too much good music coming from everywhere to ignore it. Norman and I were very lucky with the club. We could genuinely play whatever we wanted, there were no expectations.. apart perhaps from the fact they wanted us to surprise them. Its much easier to be adventurous in smaller, more intimate clubs. That's when things are most inspiring for me.

Damian's DJ career started at the seminal Whitstable Labour Club, and went on to the giddy heights of Canterbury Art College, The Coco Club at The Zap in Brighton, The Heavenly Social, Bugged Out, Reading, Glastonbury and various places around the world. In the summer of 2002 he toured Japan during the World Cup and then came back to open up the Big Beach Boutique where, as he likes to constantly remind his 'electroclash friends, he played to 250,000 people on Brighton Beach. All of them there just to see him...

The first Midfield General artist release was in 1995; a double A-sided 12" Bung / Worlds which was a kinda electro, hip hop thing. For his second release he invented Nu-Skool breaks with a track called Go Off. After tarting around remixing lots of indie bands, he finally released his first album Generalisation in June 2000. The critically acclaimed album was a wonderful mixture of styles, from sweet soul to banging techno but all with Damian's distinct style. It featured collaborations with Linda Lewis on the track Reach Out and a track called Midfielding featuring a pre-Mighty Boosh Noel Fielding.

As a solo producer I was always looking for vocal content to make tracks more interesting. I'd always really liked the idea of telling stories over my music. One night I saw a very early TV performance from Noel Fielding on Channel 4. He was telling these very funny surreal rambling stories and I thought he’d be perfect. So I tracked him down and he liked the idea, recorded some pieces for me and I put them over my music. I remember a lot of the reviews at the time didn’t quite get it but it became something of a cult track, people where making T-shirts with quotes from the song on them. All very bizarre.

“When I was making the album, it was very tempting to try and make tracks influenced by the new music and current sounds that I find so inspiring. Every time I'd get blown away by a new Justice, Sebastian or Switch track I'd have a go at making something like that. But usually to no great success! And it made me realise that I shouldn't neglect the characteristics that are.. well, me. Their influences are in there but I would like to think I've kept my own identity.

An identity forged on the south coast and shaped by sonic travels around the globe, General Disarray is an album uniquely Damian. Enjoy the ride.

For licensing and syncing of music by Midfield General visit syncinc