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Quentin Harris

 

Quentin Harris Bio

Growing up in Detroit before moving to New York, Quentin Harris burst onto the international scene in 2002

Long before that however, he was making a name for himself as a technically brilliant resident DJ at seminal New York club The Shelter. More recently, Quentin has dived head-first into production, releasing a collection of high-quality 12” cuts on labels including Space Kat Records, 157 Shelter and NRK.

Growing up in Detroit before moving to New York, Quentin listened to Prince, Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones as a boy and was classically trained in piano and a slew of other instruments by the time he was twelve years old. Quentin was introduced to his craft by DJs like Mike Huckaby and Ken Collier when he was frequenting Detroit clubs like Heavens and New York institutions like Sound Factory and Shelter throughout the mid 90s. He soon picked up his first gigs and has since played at some of the finest clubs in the world including at Stereo in Montreal, Balux and Home in Athens, Cheers in Paris, Roxy Blue in Toronto, Ministry Of Sound in the UK, The End Up in San Francisco and, of course, at Shelter and Cielo in New York.

Drawing inspiration from producers like Martin Solveig, Charles Webster, Alix Alvarez, Dennis F and Carl Craig, Quentin embarked on a production jaunt in 2002. His first release was a joint effort with Tyrone Francis called Sincere/Too Hott 2002 and it was the debut release from UK-based label Space Kat Records. The cut received praise from Danny Krivit, Joe Claussell and Francois K among others and gave Quentin great encouragement to continue with his production. He followed up with remixes with Lathun and India Arie’s When Love Came In and Kenny Carvajal’s My Words before his remix of Donnie’s Cloud 9 was played twelve times by Timmy Regisford one night at Shelter, signalling the arrival of Quentin Harris the producer.

He has since worked tirelessly in the studio, releasing several dozen productions and remixes. He teamed up again with Tyrone Francis to release Sincere on Space Kat in 2004 and then signed The Episodes EP on 157 Shelter Recordings. Travelling, Happiness and the Robert Owens collaboration Always followed later in the year, as did remixes for Junior Vasquez, Jill Scott and Patti LaBelle.

2005 was Quentin’s busiest year yet. He released The Shelter Anthem on Restricted Access in January, Got 2 Love on Space Kat in June and Let’s Be Young on Unrestricted Access in July; Quentin then compiled and mixed disc 3 of the Southport Weekender Volume 3 compilation alongside Dimitri and Jazzie B. From August onwards Quentin released The Unreleased Mixes alongside Cordell McClary, signed two remix EPs of Let’s Be Young to NRK in October and November and teamed up with Timmy Regisford and Rokia Triore to release Mirama on Unrestricted Access. Quentin capped off an unbelievable year when Travelling was named “Song of the Year” in the 4th Annual Choice Awards.

2010 saw the releases of the single Do The Right Thing, a collaboration with Inaya Day, and the highly anticipated album Sacrifice (Strictly Rhythm) that showcases impressive collaborations as diverse as Jason Walker, Ultra Nate, Georgia Cee, Koffee, Denise Henderson and Drew Vision.

2012 will see Quentin Harris juggle his hectic release schedule while DJ-ing extensively at Cielo and Shelter. While these days he considers himself first and foremost a producer, he adds that “being a DJ helps you to understand music even more.”

 

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