CALVIN HARRIS BRINGS TOP 100 CELEBRATIONS TO CALGARY
Electronic dance music no longer just influences mainstream pop music; it has gradually become mainstream pop music. Faceless beat makers have now been replaced by the superstar DJ who makes headlines as well as music: Afrojack was dating Paris Hilton, Deadmau5 graced (and I use this term loosely) the cover of Rolling Stone, and most notable this year for mainstream breakout, winning the VMA for Video of the Year in his collaboration with Rihanna, is none other than Scottish producer, DJ and vocalist Calvin Harris (who was front and center at the awards in a customized DJ booth tweeting live during the whole event).
Calvin Harris began his career at 14 when his older brother left for university and little brother Calvin nabbed his old computer with music software. He started toying around and discovered a passion for music. His first album I Created Disco was released in 2007, followed by Ready for the Weekend released by Ultra Records in 2009. The hype associated with EDM in media was the catalyst, which began to push Calvin, not solely as an artist, but as a brand similar to that of such DJ’s as David Guetta. His success with We Found Love spawned the campaign by Ultra Records founder, Patrick Moxey and marketing executive, Richard Palmese, to support the track Feels So Close with an artist-integration program and a frenetic publicity tour for Harris. Ultra Records goal was to associate the music with Calvin directly and attach a persona to the track. Hot off the massive win at the VMAs and his brand new album 18 Months that dropped at the end of October, Harris won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
Calvin was once quoted saying to Billboard magazine that he aspired to be like Norman Cook (a.k.a FatBoy Slim):
“Nobody knew what he looked like, but every song kind of sounded different. He made this kind of catchy dance music where there were vocals in it; it wasn’t all instrumental and still had an identity. There just wasn’t necessarily a human face that you attached to it.”
Now Harris is on the fast-track to be the direct opposite of Fatboy Slim, seen before every commercial break during the VMAs, appearing in all his music videos, and being mass-marketed to a diverse fan base from the older aficionados of dance music culture to the younger generation just getting their first taste of dance music while listening to the radio. This displays Harris’ ability to effortlessly transcend genres while still maintaining credibility.
Calvin arrived in Calgary’s Big Four Building in mid October to perform in part of the largest indoor EDM production that the city has ever seen. Hype was building since
this Top 100 DJs event was announced by Aqua Audio and Connected Entertainment in the summer, bringing not only Calvin Harris, but 2012 standout Burns to cow town for one night of massive tunes and over the top production. Find your pictures in our photo albums at djmag.ca!
SHELANE KERR Syndicated in part from FREQ | Photos: Zoobis and Monty Curran