DJ Harvey is set to release three separate singles on a new label by the name of International Feel.
The imprint will launch on Monday 26th October with a chugging piano-led space-boogie cut from Uruguayan duo Rocha, with accompanying remixes coming from Reverso 68, Mugwump, Gatto Fritto and Harvey himself, but it's the releases after that which should get disco aficionados worked up.
Harvey Bassett has become something of a deity in the international community for his crate digging and DJing skills, but it's been over ten years since he lent his hand to any original material. That's all set to change later this year, as off the back of this remix offer, Bassett has signed a three-single deal with International Feel. Exact details of who's behind the label are yet to be revealed, but we were put in contact with a mysterious man by the name of Mark, who was able to tell us about Rocha, the Harvey deal and the disco scene in Uruguay.Can you tell us a bit about Rocha? Are these their first productions?
Rocha are two students from... Rocha. I met them via a friend of a friend, as the electronic music making community in Uruguay is quite small. They came to the office/studio in Punta and played a very basic version of "Hands of Love" on two iPhones using two very basic music making programs. Even then I could hear a great song and helped them finish the song in our studio and then tried to get them a deal for it. No one at all was interested in offering them a deal (and boy did I try), so I decided to form a new label and make this the first release. Ironically, many of the people who were sent the original track and never responded are now e-mailing us saying it's the release of the year. Rocha themselves are very shy and happy at this stage to "hide" behind the label until they have more releases ready and feel more confident and assured in what they are doing.
How did the Harvey hook up come about?
The Cult Leader sent out interplanetary vibes through the global consciousness that he was ready and able to make music again, and after many days of deep meditation we received his message, got a bag of uncut diamonds ready, and headed off to his private island HQ to start negotiations. Oh... and he loved the Rocha track!
Have you heard all three releases yet? What can we expect?
He's been scouring second-hand stores for exclusive and weird equipment to give each release a unique sound, and working with some fantastic musicians, so you can expect fantastical amazingness. Music from the soul... music he's been waiting his whole life to record and release. Oh, and a nasty curse if anyone posts the tracks on torrents when we send them out. That's the philosophy...weird Russian synths, mixed with Harvey's whole musical experience and a dash of voodoo doll just in case.
Will there be remixes on the Harvey twelves?
Maybe, maybe not. If producers out there are interested in remixing an original Harvey production, we’d love to hear from them and then I guess we’ll see. Although at the same time, why mess with perfection?
How is the disco scene in Uruguay?
Well we just had the Night of Nostalgia – an annual holiday every August which is as big as NYE over here, where they celebrate the '70s and '80s, so on that one night its very big! If you mean the ahem... the "Nu" or "cosmic" scene then its very very new here. In Punta Del Este off-season it's very quiet, which is perfect for making music and getting on with things. The season (when the population goes from 20,000 to 500,000) is December to February and the music is either big-room house or plastic chill out, so hopefully what we're doing will, on a local level, open peoples minds to real music, not just ring tone music and music by numbers.