| 784. | Jamie Lie a Kwie |
| 785. | Seamus Haji |
| 786. | Wally Lopez |
| 788. | Kasey Taylor |
| 789. | Ruthless |
| 790. | Harrison Crump |
| 791. | shanto |
| 792. | The Outsiders |
| 794. | Ben Cullum |
| 797. | Audiophox |
Some people have to work hard to be successful. Others are simply born with talent ready to be discovered. Harrison Crump is one of the latter. His skills as a vocalist and musician were found out early on in his life. I first started out when I was eleven, singing to doo-wop songs and soul songs he says. Then in High School I started writing songs and singing them myself.
Though he had found a natural niche, Harrison didn't pursue it immediately. First of all, he studied film at Columbia College (School of Arts). During that time he stayed in a neighborhood rife with gangs and ended up rediscovering music as a diversion. I had to have something to get me away from all that he recalls. So I went to house parties, started throwing my own and also started playing records and so on.
Harrison was born and raised in Chi Town. Not only was he bought up funk, soul and doo-wop records, but also he was right in the middle of the house music explosion. Does he have any fond memories? I remember the beginning of Move Your Body and Time To Jack he affirms. People wearing pumps is what they called it back then. We wore these pants that were like parachutes, they were so big and wide so we could look good when you danced to the music. It was a great time.
Following on from throwing parties and learning how to spin records, Harrison moved into production. His first experiences, though, weren't as positive as they could have been. I was so eager to buy used gear for my studio that I tried to make a deal on the streets in a bad place, he recalls. I tried to buy an MPC 3000 and a Kurzweil 2000 for half price from someone I didn't know. He pulled out a .45 Magnum, stuck it to my stomach and told me to give all my money up and take off my pants. Then they hit me over the head and fired three shots. It was so loud, I thought they had shot me but I wasn't feeling any pain yet.
Harrison's next musical moments were somewhat more positive admittedly, things couldn't have gotten any worse. I got paid for my first EP on Strictly Rhythm he beams. I loved the feeling of someone wanting my work. Before that EP, Harrison worked alongside Felix da Housecat (a cut through Chicago Underground), an artist he has worked with ever since.
As well as Felix, Harrison has worked with an incredible amount of talent in his various roles as songwriter, vocalist and producer, and has appeared on a plethora of internationally respected labels, including Motorbase, DJ Pierre, Marshall Jefferson, Freetown, Dust Tracks, East West, Power Music, Play It Again Sam, Essence and of course Subliminal, for whom he dropped his hottest tune to date Get Boogie.
So how do his skills all work out together? I love to DJ and sing live,he says. It works out well to let the people see who you really are and what you are made of. I love programming too, but haven't been doing so much engineering these days. It's hard to produce and sing and then write and mix the song afterwards - I just end up being very busy all the time.
In between all of his studio work, Harrison has also found time to travel the world, recording and performing all over the USA and Europe. Of course, where there's a traveling DJ/vocalist, there must be an anecdote... I remember in Spain, this girl took out her tits to show me she loved me and then threw liquor over me. I had her thrown out of the party - only to find out later on that she was the promoter.
And the moral of the story? Always be good to all your fans.
Harrison is about to spoil his fans more than ever before as he prepares to release his debut album for Subliminal. It will be my first and it will be amazing and different to some degree, promises the don. I want to show a musical side of me, a deep house side and how I can create great songs. It's been needed for so long to release an album because I release so many singles. Not only that, but his prodigious talents can be heard on the much-talked about Puff Daddy dance music project, alongside his old pal Felix Da Housecat. If you didn't know - now ya know.
Preview*
