“There’s a fear of rejection if you go up to someone and say ‘Hey do you want to do this song?’ And they’re like ‘Hmm, I’ll get back to you.’ So I wait to be asked.”
- Calvin Harris, on collaborating.
"I’m my biggest fan."
- Calvin Harris, on loving the music he makes.
"She’s really good at music. She’s not just one of those pop stars that is puppeteered. She’s proper.”
- Calvin Harris, on working with Kylie.
Feb 10, 2009. By Jordana Borensztajn.
Inviting an artist to collaborate can be just as daunting as plucking up the courage to ask someone out on a date. World-class DJ/producer Calvin Harris says the fear of being turned down is very real, so he doesn't put himself on the line.
The 26-year-old doesn’t have a wish list of artists he wants to work with. Harris says he prefers musicians to come knocking on his door. “I’ve never had a list. I’ve been lucky enough to have been approached and have people ask me,” Harris explains to Nova. “There’s a fear of rejection if you go up to someone and say ‘Hey do you want to do this song?’ And they’re like ‘Hmm, I’ll get back to you.’ So I wait to be asked.”
Despite not being on the prowl for musical partners, Harris has a pretty impressive history of collaboration, working with influential musicians like Dizzee Rascal, Kylie Minogue, the Ting Tings, Kaiser Chiefs and plenty more. Believe it or not, he’s even turned down work with Lady Gaga, which apparently he doesn’t regret at all.
Check out the video interview - Part 2
“They sent me a song and they wanted me to work on additional production. So I wasn’t going to be writing the song, and I wasn’t going to be solely responsible for the production. It wasn’t very good, so I said ‘No thank you.’
“The good thing about working with Dizzee was that we’d never done it in the studio together. We’ve only done it via email so that gives us time to come to terms with what we’ve just heard from the respective person. He sends me vocals, I work on the music and put everything together, and send it to him. Then he feeds back and I change some things – or don’t change some things. It works quite nicely with him.”
“And Kylie was great. She’s really good at music. She’s not just one of those pop stars that is puppeteered. She’s proper.”
When Harris first hit the scene with his debut I Created Disco back in ’07, he climbed onto album charts in six different countries. He backed this up with an impressive sophomore delivery – Ready for the Weekend – which secured Harris’ position as a disco ruler with huge tracks like “Dance Wiv Me,” “I’m Not Alone” and “Ready for the Weekend.”
Harris’ ride over the last three years has been wild. He’s won an NME award, a Music Producer’s Guild Award and has also been nominated for a host of other prestigious music titles. Harris admits to never, ever foreseeing people responding to his music so well. “You can only hope. Once you get into the position where you have a record deal and it’s your job to make an album and then it’ll be released, it’s down to you whether it’s good or not,” he says.
“For the sort of thing I’m doing it needs to be danceable, they need to be poppy songs, and it needs to be, kind of, hands-in-the-air inducing as well. It needs to be all those things for me. I’m my biggest fan. Obviously if you don’t like the music you’re making yourself, then you should be doing something else.”